Call to Order #
The virtual meeting was called to order at 8:00pm. Executive Board members in attendance:
- Sharon Burd, President
- Ken Venable, VP for Educational Programs
- Clare Rosenberger, VP for Fundraising
- Meredith Greene, VP for Events
- Christian Lindstrom, Treasurer
- Dan Burd, Secretary
Members of the incoming Executive Board in attendance:
- James Harlow, President-elect
- Tina Kelly, VP-elect for Educational Programs
- Sara Kirschner, VP-elect for Community Relations
- Maggie Bush, VP-elect for Communications
- David DeBoer, Treasurer-elect
- Erin Cassidy, Secretary-elect
The board voted to approve the April 25 Executive Board Meeting Minutes.
Audit Committee #
Dan Burd
The board voted to approve Lauren Shaub, Erica Brown, and Dan Burd to serve on the Audit Committee to review the 2022-2023 finances of the PTA.
Signed Meeting Minutes #
Sharon Burd
The May General Memebership meeting minutes need to be signed by the entire Board to ensure that the PTA’s bank account is transferred smoothly. This is by request of the bank. Sharon will place the meeting minutes in the PTA closet so each current board member can sign them.
Buddy Bench #
Sharon Burd
The 2021-2022 board had purchased a “buddy bench” in memory of Andrew Vitols, a former PTA co-president who passed away from cancer in 2020. Sharon, Dan, and Andrew’s widow Lizzie assembled the bench this past weekend. There will be a dedication ceremony on June 8 at 5 PM which will be attended by school and PTA officials past and present. The buddy bench is intended to give kids a place to sit if they would like to make a friend.
Field Day #
Sharon Burd
We will send out a SignUpGenius to support Field Day when we receive information on the timing of volunteers needed.
Graduation #
Sharon Burd
Let Sharon know if you are interested in helping with graduation. She may send out a SignUpGenius to support this as well.
Selling Yearbooks #
Sharon Burd
Yearbooks will arrive the Monday of the last week of school. We ordered about 350 yearbooks. 107 will be gifted to all fifth graders as per tradition. The rest will be sold for $25 each. Let Sharon know if you’d like to help sell yearbooks.
Summer Garden Expectations #
Sharon Burd
We expect that we will continue to water the garden during the summer as we did last year.
Rising Kindergarten Playdates #
Sharon Burd
Sharon will pick out a few days with the school to host Rising Kindergarten Playdates. Let her know if you are interested in helping with those.
Raising Membership Dues #
Dan Burd
Dan stated that the PTA may need to raise annual membership dues from $5 due to the National PTA proposal to raise their cut from $2.25 to $4 per member. Currently the Virginia PTA also takes $1.50 per member, the CCPTA takes $0.25 per member, and credit card processing (Stripe + Memberhub) takes $0.50 + 3.5% so we need to not lose money on dues. Most Arlington PTA’s charge at least $10 per member per year. This matter is for the new board to decide.
Email Account Transition #
Dan Burd
James asked about the email account transition and where documents are stored. Currently they are stored within several different Gmail accounts, in Google Drive folders. Dan created a “shared drive” that can be shared by all @abingdonpta.org accounts. He is working on transitioning presently-used Gmail accounts to those @abingdonpta.org accounts.
Enrichment Transition #
Ken Venable
Ken is drafting a memo to aid his successor.
Other Transition Guidance #
James asked for guidance from past board members regarding what they wish they knew when they started the school year.
- Meredith recommended paying attention to the budget.
- Christian recommended getting to know each other better so that differences can be settled peacefully.
- Christian recommended setting up a Slack or other robust communication mechanism.
- Ashley recommended using Talking Points.
- Ashley recommended getting more teachers involved in the PTA.
- Sharon recommended continuing to use the CCPTA as a forum and a resource.
- In response to a question, Dan recommended putting about the same amount in the grants program as last year.
Adjournment #
- Meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm
- Next Board Meeting: At a date, time and place to be announced later.
/s/ Dan Burd, Secretary