Jeanne Johnson and Michele
Faljean, co-presidents, welcomed everyone back, welcomed new members, and
introduced the officers and community leaders in attendance.
The minutes from May 11 had been
distributed. A motion to accept was
made by Maria Puccio and seconded. All
were in favor.
Cathy Carlson, treasurer,
reviewed the monthly expenditures for May/June and July/Aug.
It will be submitted for audit. She
reviewed the Proposed budget for 2009-2010, which had been distributed.
Motion to accept the budget by Karen Malone, and seconded.
All were in favor.
Council member Mitchell will
give $1,000 to the PTA in each school in his district through Federation.
We do not have the money yet.
Cathy Carlson reviewed 501C3
status. Treasurer’s binders were
given out in June at the officers’ workshop and the rest will be given out at
the upcoming officers’ workshop on October 1.
The tax-filing deadline for those PTAs who are 501C3’s is November 15.
If you are under Federation’s status, please send us a copy of your
filing.
Margaret Schultz, District 31
Superintendent, told us that the District had gotten off to a good start.
She covers all District 31 schools and can be reached through her
secretary, Linda Guarneri, at 718-420-5657.
This year the state tests will be given later than usual this year.
The ELA will be April 26 – 28 and the Math test will be given May 5 –
7 in both the elementary schools and the intermediate schools.
The state has said that results will be available by the end of the
school year.
Linda Waite, HS Superintendent,
said that the HS got off to a good start also.
She covers the 12 high schools in District 31 as well as a total of 60
other high schools in Districts 18, 20, 21 and 22 in
Brooklyn
. The High School fair will be at
Brooklyn Tech 10/3-4 and the PSAT will be on October 14 for all sophomores and
juniors at no cost to them. She also
stated that Metrocards are available for Saturday academy.
Michele Faljean discussed what
happened at the CPAC meeting in September, and was helped by Zulma Cruz and
Marie Castelucci. Because of the new
school governance law, DFAs will be reporting to superintendents.
Zulma Cruz is our District Family Advocate working with Margaret Schultz
and Marie Castelucci is our Borough Family Advocate working with Linda Waite.
Parent Coordinators will now be trained by the Deputy Borough Director
– Raymond Pierre Louis (Rpierre@schools.nyc.gov)
who also covers much of
Brooklyn
. It is especially important now
that all complaints are put in writing. Marie
and Zulma will be working with parents, and PTA issues will be dealt with by Mr.
Louis. The Office of School
Improvement will now be doing training for Title I, CEP, CEC, etc.
Joan McKeever-Thomas, the UFT
Parent and Community Outreach Liaison, reviewed the school governance changes.
She will be happy to attend any PTA meetings if she is invited.
One change she pointed out is that the CCSE now covers issues of all
children with IEPs, not just District 75 students.
An additional change dealing with School Leadership Teams is that the CEP
and the Budget must be built together by the SLT.
The SLT can evaluate the Principal on ‘shared’ decision making and
the Superintendent is responsible for evaluating the school curriculum.
There also must be one public school safety meeting each year.
Jeanne Johnson discussed the
Officers’ workshop on 9/30 and the Presidents’ Council meeting this
Thursday. There will be a Title I
meeting with the PC meeting to discuss how to start the school year.
High school PC and Dist 75 presidents will be welcome at the District 31
PC meetings.
There will be a canned food
drive at every meeting. Let us know
if you have a place you would like us to donate the food – we will rotate the
location.
Lisa Giagrande welcomed everyone
and mentioned that the minutes from last year are on the website.
H1N1 shots will be available in all elementary schools with parent
approval. Central locations will be
set up for older students.
Gemma Picataggi reminded us that
the scholarship luncheon is on Monday, June 7.
It was pointed out that that the 4th grade Science test and
principals might be reluctant to come. We
will investigate.
The proposed changes to the
bylaws were read and discussed and are attached to the permanent copy of the
minutes. No changes were proposed by
membership. They will be posted on
the website and the changes will be reread and voted on at the next meeting.
Joe Schiltz and Bob Christy from
the Boy Scouts spoke about opportunities available.
Joan Ventriglia from the Girl
Scouts discussed opportunities and asked us to spread the word about them.
Joan McKeever-Thomas discussed
the upcoming 31 IDEAL forum on October 1 on Alcohol/Drugs/Teen Dating/Eating
Disorders.
Ann Marie Caminiti discussed the loss of the local diploma.
IEP diplomas are not good for entry into college.
Children who are alternately assessed in early grades will not get a HS
diploma. Also, regular ed students
already have to get a 65 on all 5 of the required regents to graduate where in
the past they could get 55 on some of them.
We will continue to get the word out about this situation.
Kathleen Boyer discussed the Legislative Forum on Thursday
evening, Nov 19 at 6 PM in the
Conference
Center
. There is a special Ed meeting on
10/8 from 7 – 9 at IBR.
Motion to adjourn by Kathleen Boyer.
Seconded. Meeting adjourned
11:55 AM.
Meeting called
to order 9:45 AM.
Schools not in
attendance: PS1, PS3, PS5, PS6,
PS11, PS14, PS19, PS20, PS21, PS22, PS25, PS26, PS29, PS30, PS31, PS35, PS36,
PS38, PS39, PS42, PS44, PS45, PS48, PS50, PS52, PS54, PS56, PS57, PS58, PS60,
PS69, PS373, IS27, IS49, IS63, IS72, Concord, Curtis, Hungerford, McCown
Sue Dietrich
reviewed the minutes. She pointed
out that the September meeting minutes need to be corrected to show the actual
start time of 9:40 AM. The October
meeting minutes were corrected to accurately reflect the schools in attendance
and to correct the spelling of Lillian Cipoletti’s name.
Motion was made by Marisel Rios to accept the minutes as corrected.
Seconded. All in favor.
Cathy Carlson
reviewed the treasurer’s report and it was submitted for audit.
She pointed out that she included both that month’s expenditures as
well as year-to-date expenditures to make sure she keeps an eye on the amount
remaining in the budget categories.
The tax filing
deadline is this coming Monday, November 16.
If you need more time, be sure to file for an extension by then.
Remember you must fill out Schedule A.
If your school is covered by Federation’s 501C3, you must give us a
copy of your return or we will remove you from our umbrella.
Those schools under our umbrella are:
Ps22, 31, 41, 52, 65, IS7, 24, 61, 63, Tottenville and Hungerford.
Council member
Mitchell’s money is in. Schools
in his district in attendance today received the $1,000 check.
The books were
audited and Cathy reviewed the findings. It
was noted that we were supposed to have a January in house audit (according to
our bylaws) and it was not done. The
auditor did not see a reason to have the audit, so we should either remove the
requirement from our bylaws or do it this coming year.
He also mentioned that our reserve fund of $60,000 is probably too
large for an organization of our type.
The Legislative
forum will be held November 19, 6 – 9 PM.
We are following up with the legislators we have not yet heard from to
make sure we get good representation. People
will be writing down their issues.
The school food
issue (A-812) was discussed. Lisa
Giagrande read a letter she had written on behalf of Federation (based on last
month’s motion) which she will forward to the DOE and legislators and other
interested parties. We will also
send it out on the relay. Copy is
attached to these minutes.
Federation
officers had a meeting with Assemblyman Cusick and Regent Cea.
They were astonished that many elementary schools have no gym or
recess. Michel Faljean sent around
cards so that Delegates could turn in information on what was happening at
their schools.
The IEP diploma
and the Regents diploma were also discussed with the Regent, and follow-up
discussions will be held. State
tests will be later this year, and results will be available to parents over
the summer. Apparently, the
schools will have the results available to make promotion decisions in June.
The comment was made to Regent Cea that the tests are far too long, and
shorter tests would be far better for the students.
Jeanne Johnson
mentioned Toys for Tots drive for next month.
Please collect unwrapped toys from your school and we will donate them
to the Teddy Atlas toy drive, which is for children on Staten Island.
There is also a food drive going on along with the DOE.
Bring donations to Petrides Building A, Room 153.
Michele Faljean
discussed the information we received from Emily Zyko, who came to our
executive board meeting. She spoke
about a new initiative she is developing for the DOE to help parents navigate
the system. Please look at www.thirteen.org/schoolsourcenyc
and see what you think. There will
be a focus group in December, so please contact Federation if you are
interested in participating in making this a better tool.
There was no
CPAC report because the meeting will be on Thursday and hopefully elections
will be held. More information
next month.
Gemma Picataggi
gave the scholarship committee report. The
theme this year is “Knowledge” and the quote is “It is the supreme art
of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge” by Albert
Einstein. The artwork contest has
a $500 award given by Wayne Miller in honor of his mother, Agnes Miller, a
former President of Federation. It
is open to all graduating high school seniors in our schools. More details
were discussed.
Margaret
Schultz spoke about the new promotion policy, which will be voted on by the
PEP panel this month. She
discussed the timing of the ELA and Math exams.
The H1N1 Pods were open this weekend, but only about 300 were
vaccinated between the two days. The
question was asked what if your young child gets the first shot and no weekend
sites are open to get the second required vaccine.
The answer was to email the Department of Health for that answer.
Corresponding
secretary Claudia Tedeschi Sheiman read off the list of schools which still
have not given us their contact information.
That is very important so we can get important information out to our
member schools and member parents.
Marie
Castelucci and Zulma Cruz spoke about SPA training tomorrow.
Workshops are available from 10 AM to 1 PM in room A-118.
It was pointed out that it was a half-day for parent teacher
conferences and that would be a conflict.
They also mentioned that SLT information still comes to their office.
It can be faxed to 718-390-1550.
The SAGE
program does not continue into the middle school.
The superintendent has met with the principals of the IS schools who
have each said that they have an advanced program to address the needs of
those children. The SAGE parents
have not yet started complaining.
Sid Rubinfeld
has resigned from the CCHS because it is dysfunctional.
Motion to
adjourn by Doreen Sluder, seconded, all in favor.
Meeting adjourned at 11:20 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Sue Dietrich
Recording Secretary
***********************************************************************
Staten
Island Federation of PTAs Delegate Assembly
Petrides
Conference Center
December
14, 2009, 9:30 AM
Meeting called
to order 9:40 AM. Pledge followed.
Schools not in
attendance: PS1, PS3, PS4, PS5,
PS6, PS11, PS14, PS16, PS18, PS20, PS21, PS22, PS23, PS25, PS26, PS31, PS32,
PS35, PS37, PS38, PS39, PS41, PS44, PS45, PS48, PS50, PS52, PS54, PS56, PS57,
PS58, PS60, PS373, IS7, IS27, IS72,
IS75, Concord, Curtis, CSI, McCown
Cathy Carlson
read the treasurer’s report and it was entered into the record for audit.
She read the list of schools that still have not picked up the check
from Council member Mitchell: PS14,19,20,21,
IS27, PS31,35,44,45,57,Concord, Curtis.
The schools
still not paying dues was extensive: PS 1, 3, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22,
23, 26, 29, 31, 35, 37, 39, 41, 44, 45, 50, 57, 80, 373, IS2, 27, 34, 51, 72,
Concord, McKee, Tech, CSI, South Richmond, Port Richmond.
Everyone was reminded that the bill for dues was included in the packet
given to the PTA president at the beginning of the year.
The minutes
were reviewed. Marisel Rios mad a
motion to accept the minutes with the change that PS54 was not in attendance.
Motion was seconded and all were in favor.
Jeanne Johnson
reminded members of the ongoing food drive.
Toys can still be dropped off to Teddy Atlas at 543 Cary Ave near
Elizabeth Ave – phone 718-980-7037. She
also gave the Title I update. Title
I information books are available. If
you have not yet received them, please come after presidents’ council
meetings to learn more. Cathy
Carlson said that there are limitations to how parent involvement money is
spend at her school since the money comes for the Federal Stimulus package.
Pat Payne will be at Presidents’ Council on Thursday and we can ask
her for information then.
The guidelines
for additional staff development days were discussed.
The Legislative
forum will be held in the morning within the next couple of months.
More details will follow.
We are trying
to get out a newsletter by the end of January.
Please send any items you feel should be in the newsletter to Michele.Faljean@Verizon.net
Sue Dietrich
has been elected an officer of CPAC. Discussion
followed on what CPAC is. Michele
discussed the presentation made at the last meting by a representative from
the Office of Portfolio Management.
An updated
A-660 has been proposed by the DOE and will be voted on at the PEP meeting in
January. Sue Dietrich made
comments, and they are attached to the minutes.
One of the major changes is that it now says that PTAs may not sell
raffles. Margaret Schultz had
spoken to Robin Merrill from legal, and she clarified that there are
definitely no raffles because there is no gambling.
Margaret pointed out that now is the time for us to get our comments
about this and any other issues in to the DOE.
This will be discussed again in January.
Keep your comments going in!
There has been
no response to our letter concerning the school food issue.
We will resend it in hard copy.
Take a look at
www.thirteen.org/schoolsourcenyc
It has some good tips and information for parents.
Lisa Giagrande,
1st Vice President, will contact the schools that have not been in
attendance to try to encourage them. She
also distributed the Health report and stated that Christine Quinn is looking
for input on the “healthy food” rules.
Gemma Picataggi
stated that the art contest is up and running.
The essay contest will follow in January.
Cathy Carlson
said that all PTAs should be 501c3 and must be current with their tax filing.
Be sure you file or the IRS may make your EIN inactive.
Marie
Castelucci stated that the CCHS has a vacancy.
Please consider! The food
drive is continuing this week – thank you for your donations up to now.
Thank you for all you do for the parents and children of District 31.
Joan McKeever
Thomas spoke about budget cuts. As
of a few days ago, they stopped the budget cuts by borrowing from next
year’s budget. That means that
we’re already in the hole for next year.
Be sure to look at all the regulations and make your comments.
Email and go to the PEP meeting. 31
IDEAL will have a meeting on March 11th at St John’s University
called “How can Johnny pass the state test and still not be able to
read”..
Motion to
adjourn by Jennifer Appel, seconded, all in favor.
Meeting adjourned at 11:20 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Sue Dietrich
Recording Secretary
***********************************************************************
Staten
Island
Federation of PTAs Delegate Assembly
Petrides
Conference
Center
Monday,
January 11, 2010, 9:30 AM
Meeting called
to order 9:55 AM. Pledge followed.
Schools not in
attendance: PS3, PS4, PS11, PS13,
PS14, PS16, PS18, PS20, PS21, PS22, PS25, PS26, PS32, PS35, PS38, PS39, PS44,
PS45, PS52, PS56, PS57, PS65, IS27, IS72,
Concord, CSI, Curtis
Lillian
Cipoletti made a motion to accept the minutes.
Seconded. All in favor.
Cathy Carlson
made minor corrections to the November treasurer’s report and then reviewed
the December report and the January interim report.
The were put into the record for audit.
Michele Faljean
asked for volunteers for the nominating committee.
Gloria Stirton-Blake and Doreen Sluder volunteered.
We need three volunteers for the audit committee to conduct an in house
audit during this meeting. The
volunteers were Karen Malone, Hungerford, Kathleen Cafiso, PS55 and Patricia
Ernst, PS46.
Michele Faljean
discussed the Legislative forum to be held on March 12 from 10 AM – 12 PM in
the conference center. Jeanne
Johnson asked members to email us with suggested topics or questions.
Michele
mentioned that the newsletter would be coming out within a couple of weeks.
We will continue to send information electronically.
Sue Dietrich discussed 2 bylaws changes we would like to make.
First, we will remove the mid-year audit from the bylaws.
Our auditor did not think it was necessary to leave it in.
We will still do the in house audit at this meeting, so this will be
for next year. The second issue is
to remove the restriction, which says that co-presidents may not have children
in only the same school. Jennifer
Appel made a motion that these changes be voted on at the next Delegate
assembly. Motion seconded.
All in favor.
Michael Mulgrew,
Mmulgrew@uft.org, the president of the
UFT addressed the assembly. He
discussed school closings, chancellor’s regulations and other issues.
He doesn’t think that the PEP should vote on the regulations at the
next meeting. He asked us to give
him a recommendation, which he can follow on a proposal to put off the vote on
the regulations. We felt that the
February meeting would also be contentious, so recommended a delay until the
March meeting. Mid-year budget
cuts will be 1% to the schools. The
NYS budget deficit will be about $8B (which is less than expected).
It might be worse the following year after the stimulus money stops.
The city deficit is about $4.1B, but may be less since revenue has been better
than predicted.
Emil
Pietromonaco discussed that the DOE is proposing a significant change to PS16.
They will be adding another school at the site to be located in the
annex.
Michele Faljean
reviewed upcoming trainings. The
Title I SLT training is also good for Title I members who aren’t on an SLT
and is on 1/21 at 11 AM. The SLT
training is on the same day at 5 PM.. Sue
Dietrich asked why the SLT training doesn’t cover the two topics that the
new regulation says are mandatory for SLT members to take.
Marie Castelucci said that the new regulations are not yet in effect.
The training is mandatory for SLT members to get their stipend.
Please email OFEA if you have concerns about the time.
Marie
Castelucci said that there will be Outlook training on February 25 at the
Presidents Council meeting. Outlook
accounts are available for all PTA presidents and for all SLT chairs.
It is essential that you look at these accounts on a regular basis.
Marie discussed
the family day parade to be held on Saturday, June 5.
They will be forming a committee to work on it, and are looking for
schools to participate to show off the talents of their students.
Jeanne Johnson
mentioned that Staten Island Parent to Parent (SIPTP) will no longer be
mailing out their flyers, so make sure you are on their email list.
The CEC asked
us to mention that at their February 1 meeting there will be a school
governance review for PTA leaders.
We discussed
A-660 and A-812 and encouraged schools to send comments in.
They did listen to us and make some changes already.
Lisa Giagrande
discussed health issues.
Gemma Picataggi
said the Art Contest was still on. Boosters
have been given out and Scholarship applications will be out soon.
Joan McKeever-Thomas
told everyone to email Mharrris@schools.nyc.gov
with comments on the regulations. She
also reviewed the 31 IDEAL forum for March 11.
The audit
committee came back with their findings: The
Federation of PTAs treasurer’s books are in compliance and no material
errors were found.
Lillian
Cipoletti, PS8, said her school got a letter from an attorney about PCPs in
their school. No one else in
attendance was aware of his or her school getting a similar letter.
Martin Krongold
discussed the new seats coming to
Staten Island
. Why is PS48 going to be shut
when the new building is put in service? Why
did it take so long to get the Doctor’s Hospital site?
The DOE has not made a good case for closing schools.
Michele Faljean
told us that there will be a blood drive at the next meeting.
We are looking for a new location for the May meeting since the
conference center is not available. Also,
the date of the Presidents’ Tea may change because the new A-660 would stop
us from having it on the original date we reserved.
More information to follow.
Motion to
adjourn by Jennifer Appel, seconded, all in favor.
Meeting adjourned at 12:10 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Sue Dietrich
Recording Secretary
******************************************************************************
Staten
Island Federation of PTAs Delegate Assembly
Petrides
Conference Center
Monday,
February 8, 2010, 9:30 AM
Meeting called
to order 9:45 AM. Pledge followed.
Schools not in
attendance: PS1, PS3, PS6, PS8,
PS11, PS14, PS16, PS20, PS21, PS23, PS25, PS26, PS32, PS35, PS37, PS38, PS39,
PS41, PS42, PS44, PS45, PS48, PS50, PS54, PS55, PS56, PS57, PS58, PS60, PS69,
PS373, IS2, IS7, IS27, IS34, IS51, IS72, IS75, Concord, Curtis
Laurie
Daghestani made a motion to accept the minutes.
Seconded. All were in
favor.
Maura Timmins,
Staten Island University Hospital, asked members to come over and give blood
during the meeting. All blood
taken remains at Staten Island University Hospital.
The officers
picked the following members to be part of the nominating committee:
Michele Faljean picked Jeanne Johnson, Lisa Giagrande picked Gemma
Picataggi and Gemma Picataggi picked Laurie Daghestani.
Michele Faljean reminded members that we would love to get some new
members on the executive board of federation, so please consider running.
Michele Faljean
discussed the Legislative forum, to be held March 12 at 10 AM.
Letters to the legislators are in the mail and phone calls will follow
to assure their attendance. Jeanne
Johnson said that if there are any questions, please email them to us now.
If necessary, we could let the legislators know the questions so they
could do research before the meeting.
Michele Faljean
discussed the A-660, to be voted on in March.
Please send comments to papolicy@schools.nyc.gov.
Lisa Giagrande mentioned that the A-812 will be voted on in late
February, but we are still trying to push it to March.
There is still a problem in that PTAs can sell for Haiti and not for
themselves. Need to push other
issues – more gym, etc.
Victoria
Anderson, President District 31 Presidents’ Council, said that Raymond
Pierre Louis and the CEC and Joan Correale were told about the parents’
concerns about A-812. The
logistics are important – we don’t want to be selling food outside of the
cafeteria for many reasons. Joan
McKeever Thomas suggested that we let other PEP representative hear our
concerns, because our representative, Joan Correale, must vote how the borough
president tells her. Andrea Lella
suggested that we sit with the borough president to try to be more proactive.
Cathy Carlson
reviewed the treasurer’s report. It
was placed into the record for audit.
Gemma Picataggi
said that today was the deadline for the art contest.
The scholarship information is at the schools and the deadline is March
10. All essays must go to the
college advisor. Ads for the
journal are due April 12 – black and white only and fitting the template
included in the package. Please
continue to pass the boosters around at your PTA meetings.
Michele Faljean said she had mailed the letters out requesting the
scholarships.
Margaret
Schultz and Linda Waite discussed the biennial review, which is a review of
how SLTs are functioning in relation to state regulation 100.11.
The results show Staten Island is doing well.
They reviewed the New Children’s first networks, which will replace
the ISCs. There will be 6 clusters
of 10 networks each with about 25 schools in each network.
There will be 7 people in each network doing much of the work which the
ISC currently does. If a parent
has problems, the first place to go would be to the PC and principal.
Then they would go to Marie Castelucci and Zulma Cruz (the BFA and DFA
who will work with Linda Waite and Margaret Schultz.
They will contact the network leader if necessary.
Dina Tush
discussed Dating Violence. She
would like to see a curriculum developed for New York State and a respect
program including self-respect. Information
with a resource list was given out. Please
write letters to your elected officials asking for this curriculum to be put
into effect.
Marie
Castelucci and Zulma cruise mentioned the two upcoming treasurer’s training
given by OFEA. They will be held
in Queens and the Bronx. If you
want copies of the materials, please email Raymond Pierre Louis.
The Parade committee is up and running.
The parade will be held on June 5, and we are looking for schools to
participate. Federation is
requesting schools to donate $25 each towards the parade expenses.
Sue Dietrich
reviewed the changes to the bylaws. Laurie
Daghestani made a motion to accept the changes as written.
Seconded by Vera Miceli. All
in favor. The changes are as
follows:
Remove
the following:
Article XI, Section2, C, (7) Candidates for the
office of Co-President must have, between them, children in more than one
school, as evidenced by the Registrar’s sign-in sheet.
The
section on auditing treasury records will now read:
A)
All treasury records shall be audited before the end of August (the
“year-end audit”).
(B)
An accountant selected by the President, with the approval of a
majority of the
Executive Board shall perform
the year-end audit.
(C)
When a mid-year change in the office of Treasurer occurs, an audit must
be performed. At the first Delegate Assembly immediately following said
change, the delegates shall vote on whether an accountant or an in-house
committee shall perform this audit. If an in-house audit is to be
performed, membership shall approve the selection of three volunteers to
serve on this committee. The committee shall consist of delegates and/or
Executive Board members who are not check signatories for Federation.
(D)
All audit reports shall be completed in a timely manner and read to the
membership
at a Delegate Assembly.
Sue Dietrich
reviewed the upcoming Star Jam show, which is open to students attending
school in Staten Island. Lisa
Giagrande reviewed the Health committee report.
Michele Faljean announced that the newsletter has been mailed out.
Michele
discussed the upcoming Federation meetings.
The Staten Island Yankees and Census 2010 will attend in March.
The Urban Parks Rangers and Parks Department will attend in April.
The May Delegate Assembly will be held at the Elizabeth Connelly
Center. Directions will be given
out next month.
Joan McKeever-Thomas
mentioned that if you want a representative from the Census to come to your
PTA meeting, please call Marianne Maloney at Marianne.Maloney@census.gov.
31 IDEAL will have a forum on March 11. The
Dial A Teacher conference in Manhattan will not be held because of cost, but
each borough will have their own conference.
A parent assessment survey is going out.
The UFT will be having a workshop on March 13 in Manhattan for Respect
for All week. You can contact her
at JMcKT@uft.org or D31IDEAL@yahoo.com.
SIDDC is having
a legislative breakfast Friday morning. Please
come. The cost is $30.
Motion to
adjourn by Jackie Tripodi. Seconded.
Meeting adjourned at 11:40 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Sue Dietrich
Recording Secretary
Staten
Island
Federation of PTAs Delegate Assembly
Petrides
Conference
Center
Monday,
March 8, 2010, 9:30 AM
Meeting called
to order 9:45 AM. Pledge followed.
Schools not in
attendance: PS1, PS3, PS6, PS11,
PS14, PS16, PS20, PS21, PS22, PS23, PS25, PS26, PS35, PS38, PS39, PS42, PS44,
PS45, PS48, PS50, PS52, PS53, PS54, PS56, PS57, PS58, PS60, PS69, PS80, PS373,
IS7, IS27, IS34, IS49, IS72, Concord, Curtis, CSI, McCown
Lillian
Cipoletti made a motion to accept the minutes with 2 changes: The date was
incorrect (should have been February 8) and added that Federation was
requesting $25 from each school towards the kids parade in June.
Seconded by Karen Malone. All
were in favor.
Cathy Carlson
reviewed the treasurer’s report. It
was entered into the record for audit.
Jeanne Johnson,
chair of the nominating committee presented the following slate:
Co-presidents:
Michele Faljean and Lisa Giagrande
1st
VP – Sue Dietrich
2nd
VP – Jackie Tripodi
Recording
Secretary –
Corresponding
Secretary – Claudia Tedeschi Sheiman
Treasurer –
We also need
chair people for committees.
Sue Dietrich
discussed the position papers for Federation to bring tomorrow to Lobby Day to
review with our State Legislators. The
papers are on Budget, Don’t Cut Metrocards,
Charter
Schools
, Parental Involvement, Safety Net for Students with Disabilities, Teen
Driving Laws. The Teen Driving
Laws paper included a request to do away with the need for dual brakes so
teenagers can get more practice. A
comment was made that if people can’t afford to pay for extra driver
training for their child, they should take a bus.
Discussion ensued. Cathy
Carlson made a motion to approve all of the position papers.
Seconded. All were in
favor.
Michele Faljean
discussed the new councils for ELL and Special Ed.
Larry Ambrosino,
SINY, suggested that we hold a meeting in the
Tibetan
Museum
. They could provide shuttle buses
for Petrides since there is a lack of parking at that location.
He also introduced Matt Schulman – school programs – and Jason
Cohen – VP of ticket sales – from the Staten Island Yankees.
Many schools are already taking part in their school programs, and they
are looking for more schools to take part.
School teams also have been taking part.
Michele Faljean
reminded everyone that the Legislative Forum will be Friday at 8:30 AM.
Please come.
Maryann
Maloney, Census Bureau, spoke about the Census coming up:
April 1, 2010. There are
only 10 questions or less to answer for each person in your household.
Everyone must be counted to get the correct government aid.
If you don’t get a form, go and get one.
They will be available at multiple cites including libraries and in
other languages.
Lisa Giagrande
reviewed her nutrition report. A-812
was passed on February 24. A
Fundraiser Guide was included in the attachments to give ideas to raise money
in other ways.
Michele Faljean
said that the A-660 vote might be switched to April.
Please come to the PEP meeting on March 23 at Petrides.
Sign up to speak ends at 6 PM.
Jan Wollney,
Brain Injury Association, discussed the FACTS program.
She will come to any school interested in brain injury prevention
training. She will supply
materials.
Gemma Picataggi
reminded everyone that the essay contest deadline is Wednesday, March 10.
Journal ads are due by 4/12 and so are boosters (please submit booster
money by check). Rebecca Lippe,
Tottenville, won the art contest.
Michele Faljean
reviewed the dates on the agenda. Sussman
sales will be at the Presidents’ Council meeting to discuss what they can
put together to help schools and parents, particularly with Title I parent
involvement funds.
The May
Delegate Assembly will be at the Elizabeth Connelly Center.
More details to follow.
Michele Faljean
discussed the Middle School scholars program.
It will be at IS2, 27, 49, 75. More
details will be available at a meeting on March 9 at 7 PM in Room 118A.
The new school
calendar has come out. The first
day of school for the students is September 8, and the second day is September
13.
Cutting out
some Regents tests is apparently on a list as a way to save money.
As far as we understand, this is not a serious consideration.
Marie
Castelucci, Borough Family Advocate, said that superintendents Linda Waite and
Margaret Schulz are at a quality review. Any
concerns should be given to her or to Zulma Cruz to pass on to the
superintendents. March 23 is the
day the students should get their high school matches.
Jackie Tripodi
discussed the transition fair at Kingsborough College.
It will be March 19 at 9 AM.
The
Children’s Parade committee is trying to get pizzerias around Staten Island
to donate 4 pies each. We are also
asking each school to donate $25 towards the parade.
Motion to
adjourn by Cathy Nicosia. Seconded.
Meeting adjourned at 11:40 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Sue Dietrich
Recording Secretary
Staten
Island Federation of PTAs Delegate Assembly
Petrides
Conference Center
Monday,
April 12, 2010, 9:30 AM
Meeting
called to order 9:50 AM. Pledge
followed.
Schools
not in attendance: PS1, PS6, PS11,
PS13, PS14, PS16, PS18, PS19, PS20, PS21, PS22, PS25, PS26, PS29, PS31, PS32,
PS35, PS38, PS39, PS44, PS45, PS50, PS54, PS55, PS56, PS57, PS58, PS60, PS69,
PS373, IS27, IS61, IS72, Concord, Curtis, CSI, McCown, South Richmond
The
meeting was called to order at 9:50 AM, followed by the pledge.
Jeanne
Johnson reviewed the slate for the nominating committee:
President – Michele Faljean
1st Vice President – Lisa Giagrande
2nd Vice President – Jackie Tripodi
Treasurer – Karen Malone
Corresponding Secretary – Claudia Tedeschi Sheiman
Recording Secretary – Gloria Blake Stirton
She
called for nominees for each position 3 times and had no further nominees.
The slate is now closed. The
election is next month.
Michele
Faljean reminded everyone that the May meeting will be at the Elizabeth
Connelly center because no rooms at Petrides are available.
Sue Dietrich mentioned that the same schools are absent from Federation
month after month. Please speak to
your friends in other schools to let them know the benefits of attending our
meetings. Jeanne Johnson
congratulated the PS22 chorus on being featured in an article in the New York
Post today.
Laurie
Daghestani made a motion to accept the minutes with two changes:
PS22 was not in attendance and IS75 was.
Motion was seconded. All
were in favor.
Cathy
Carlson reviewed the treasurer’s report.
The current balance is $26,258.45.
It will be submitted for audit.
Margaret
Schultz spoke for herself and for Linda Waite who was not available.
April 23 is the deadline for parent surveys – please send yours in.
High school predictives are being given this week.
A-655 has just been passed, so please review it at your SLT meeting to
make sure you are in compliance. Laura
Rodrigues will be discussing Special Education at the CEC meeting tonight.
Michele
Faljean discussed our very successful Lobby Day on March 9 where parents,
students and teachers went to Albany together to work for our children.
We also had a great turnout by legislators at our Legislative forum,
and had some great discussions. The
Scholarship luncheon will be on June 7 at the Hilton.
Invitations will be going out shortly.
Remember to pay for your delegates.
Journal ads are due today, but we only have about 20 so far.
Boosters are also due today. Please
mail in any you have right away. Michele
Faljean and Jeanne Johnson had the honor of calling the winners of the essay
contest. The theme this year was
to discuss a teacher who inspired you the most.
The UFT will help us invite the teachers to the luncheon.
The band this year will be Staten Island Tech and the ROTC will
be Wagner. Michelle Ericksen is
putting together the journal again this year.
Officers
training will be on Friday, June 18. For
those unable to attend, it will also be given on an evening early next year.
The Presidents Tea will be on Tuesday, June 15, so please try to have
your elections complete by then.
Michele
Faljean welcomed Laura Timoney, the President of the Family School Association
of the Lavelle Charter School.
Michele
Faljean gave a review of the last CPAC meetings.
In March, Kim Sweet from Advocates for Children spoke.
Their focus is on at-Risk students and their parents.
She can be reached at info@advocatesforchildren.org
or at 212-947-9779. In April,
Ewell Napier, OFEA, spoke about the role of OFEA.
They support the parent organizations.
The District and Borough Family Advocates (Zulma Cruz and Marie
Castelucci) are for family support. Our
OFEA contact is Raymond Pierre Louis: Rpierre@schools.nyc.gov
Sue
Dietrich discussed the CCELL/CCSE elections coming up.
There will be a candidate forum for the CCSE on Wednesday at the
Richmondtown library. There is a
survey on line about A-660. Please
fill it out to let your opinions be known before the PEP vote on it.
Lisa
Giagrande is particularly concerned that the same person can be on PEP/CEC/PTA
executive board/SLT. The DOE is
incorrectly citing state law when saying that it is illegal to stop a person
from running for more than one of these offices.
The
Children’s Parade will be on June 5. Federation
is asking for a $25 donation from schools.
All parent coordinators were emailed a form requesting information to
see if their school wanted to participate.
Lillian Cipoletti made a motion to have Federation donate $250 towards the Children’s Parade Fund.
Seconded by Wendy Vaphides. All
in favor.
Chris
Caropolo, NYC Parks and Recreation was a guest speaker.
He let us know about the Greenbelt Recreation center on Brielle Avenue
where membership is free for those under 18.
There are many things going on there – please check it out.
In addition, NYC Service is a way to give back to the community with a
skill you might have: www.nycservice.org
Sergeant
Geoffrey Martin, Urban Park Rangers, spoke about the opportunities they have.
They have free classes available through their natural classroom
programs. You must book early
since they are very popular: nyc.gov/parks/rangers.
There is also a Junior Rangers camp for ages 8 – 11 at Blue Herron
Park. More information available
at 718-967-3542. The ranger
conservation corp. is also available on Wednesday afternoons for community
service.
Zulma
Cruz discussed upcoming SLT training on April 26 at Petrides.
There was a lot of feedback saying that the time of the training, 5 –
7 PM, is just about the worst choice.
Joan
McKeever Thomas spoke. She was
congratulated for the award she received yesterday.
The UFT will be giving a $2K scholarship this year at the Scholarship
luncheon. They are working with
their Chapter leaders to raise the money, so everyone is excited about it.
Saturday, October 23 will be the first Staten Island Dial A Teacher
Conference at the Hilton. More
information to follow. Budget cuts
are coming …. Again. We all have
to be ready to deal with them.
Lisa
Giagrande reviewed the Health Newsletter.
She has helped organize a week in honor of students with special needs
at Barnes and Noble.
Claudia
Tedeschi Sheiman – corresponding secretary – read a letter from Lou
Tobacco congratulating us on our scholarship essay contest.
Jackie
Tripodi, special ed committee, discussed the spring seminar on Accessing
Supports and Services throughout a Lifetime to be held April 28.
Andrea
Lella gave a CCHS update. She is
on a budget committee for fair student funding which is trying to help fully
fund special ed services. They are
piloting a FSF in 200 schools.
Sabatiana
Swain from the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services spoke about
her organization. They have groups
working with parents and children with emotional or behavioral challenges in
both English and Spanish.
Motion
to adjourn by Jackie Tripodi. Seconded.
Meeting adjourned at 11:45 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Sue Dietrich
Recording Secretary