President, Anne Hoke, called the meeting to order at the Columbus Alternative High School at 7:00 pm. In attendance were seventeen (17) members (constituting a quorum). Those present introduced themselves. Stephanie Ludwig was in attendance as Secretary.
Principal’s Report: Mr. Dodrill said that they are evaluating the honor roll assembly to see how many t-shirts to order. Mr. Qualls asked the PTA to pay for half of the t-shirt expense which would be about $1000. Toni made a motion to pay for half of the t-shirt expense. The motion was seconded and passed. Mr. Dodrill is making announcements at lunchtime for the dance. Gerry moved to pay $50 to support the fees for Mr. Kaufman and a PTA member for the Teacher of the Year celebration on May 13th. The motion was seconded and passed. Mary Ellen volunteered to attend on behalf of the PTA.
Secretary's Report: Stephanie presented the meeting minutes from April 7, 2009. Toni moved to accept the minutes as written. The motion was seconded and passed.
Treasurer’s Report: Kim reviewed the financial reports, and made a motion to accept the financial statements. The motion was seconded and passed.
Activity Coordinator Report: The next bake sale is May 15th.
Hospitality Report: We will sponsor a teacher luncheon this time on May 21st. Food is needed by 11:00am. A sign-up list was circulated.
Grant Writing Committee: Anne discussed the new procedure to link Kroger cards with the PTA. Gerry suggested that a flier go out in the summer mailing. Tracy suggested fliers at the spring celebration.
Publicity Committee: Gerry said that there is a Poetry Slam video on the school’s website and on the American Community website. The Heritage Celebration information was in the newspapers. The National Honor Society students and the valedictorians will be in the newspapers. Michele Sherman said that Truman Hatch has art video being shown at Wexner center this Saturday.
Old Business
Election of Officers: No other candidates were nominated. Toni made a motion to elect the previously nominated slate: Stephanie Ludwig--President, Mary Ellen Sinclair--Vice President, Lemuel Harrison--Vice President, Tracy Taylor—Secretary and Toni Dodge—Treasurer. The motion was seconded and passed.
Dance Update: Toni announced that so far we’ve sold 6 tickets even though the PTA sells tickets 7:30 to 8:00 every morning and at the door. Mr. Qualls offered to have students go through classrooms first block to sell tickets. Gerry made a motion to cancel the event unless we sell 75 tickets by Thursday afternoon, and let students know. Tracy amended the motion to be 10% of the student body (70) by 2:30 pm. The amended motion passed. Jeff made motion to convert the dance to a parent dance since the cost of DJ to cancel is the same as his regular fee. This motion was not seconded. We will ask Diane to send out an email just about the dance. Tracy suggested starting text messages from the students. If the dance is not cancelled, the plans will be:
Pizza and beverages will be delivered. McDonald’s will provide a cooler. We plan to use both the courtyard and the cafeteria, and will be stringing lights for decoration. Three police officers will cost $377. Mr. Qualls recommended two police officers if less than 250 students attend. Janitors will come after the event to clean up. Dr. Dixon will attend.
PTA Scholarships: Dr. Fawcett drafted an application to apply for a scholarship to attend the Stratford Trip. The PTA voted to change the question on the application, and the due date was revised to be May 20. Mary Ellen and Julie L. volunteered to review the applications to select some winners. Mary Ellen moved that in the event that we have sufficient qualified applicants that we award an additional $500 in scholarships for a total not to exceed $1250. The motion passed. The Scholarship Award will be made by June 3rd.
Spring Celebration: Potluck on May 17th, 1-4 pm at the Whetstone Park of Roses Shelter House.
Teacher Requests: Mr. Qualls sent email to ask if the breakaway rims for the gym could be added to the maintenance request. Mr. Dodrill doesn’t think that the backboards will even support break-away rims, and estimated the cost to be up to $1000 per basket. Mary Ellen moved that we table the decision, and the motion passed. Mr. Qualls will send out another email to Mr. Pedigrew and check into costs.
Murray Request: Mr. Murray requested a reimbursement for $144 worth of books that he has already purchased and is evaluating for his AP class. The PTA decided to table this discussion.
PTA Equipment Found: No report
T-Shirt Sale: Stephanie said that we had only pre-sold 9 t-shirts. Mr. Qualls recommended that we ask Dr. Dixon to include mention of this in the opening mailing in the Fall. He also suggested that they go with report cards.
PA System: Mr. Dodrill said some work was done to fix the PA system, but the annex was not completed and is scheduled to be completed over the summer.
Heritage Celebration: Julia announced that seven acts performed, and there was a good turn-out. A PA system would have helped, and she suggested this for next year.
Freshmen Luncheon: It was announced that the event was successful. Anne, Stephanie, Mr. Dodrill, and Dr. Dixon spoke.
Internship: Advisors are continuing to collect submissions this week and next. Mrs. Banks might go to the Freshman classrooms with Mrs. Norton to make announcements. If the students don’t turn in their internship paper, it will bump them down in the scheduling.
NEW BUSINESS
Author Series: Anne asked for volunteer to make posters for the next Author Series and Joe Mackall on May 27th. Stephanie volunteered to make posters.
Additional Freshman Orientation: There is one more additional Freshman orientation on May 27th for a small group of 40 students. Michele and Jeff Sherman volunteered to help out.
Cupcake Day: Cupcakes will be passed out 11-1pm on May 27th by Michele and Anne. Gerry will be accepting cupcakes in the morning.
Committee Chairs: Membership, Alumni and Community Outreach chairmen are still needed. Anne asked for volunteers.
Extra Hour at CAHS: Mr. Qualls announced that the teachers had decided to extend the blocks rather than add a recitation period next year. School will start at 7:30am.
Mentorship: Anne asked for suggestions regarding the Mentorship Program. Mary Ellen suggested that we just use the resource list provided at the Freshman Luncheon and the Freshman Orientations.
Amy Tan: Anne announced that Michelle Herman could get tickets to see Amy Tan speak, and asked that you email Michelle if you would like free tickets.
There was no further discussion and the meeting adjourned at 8:50 pm. The next PTA meeting will be June 2, 2009, 7:00 p.m. in Room 128 at CAHS.
Respectfully submitted,
Stephanie Ludwig, Friends of CAHS PTA Secretary
