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MARCH 2003 CSCA MEETING MINUTES

The Center School Community Association
Board Meeting Minutes
March 3, 2003

Attending

Blair Butterworth, Andrea Edwards, Wendy Graff, Jon Greenberg,. Teru Lundsten, Bob Moore, Judith Peterson, Mollie Price, Denise Sobieralski, Anna Tolvey, Brian Vance, Ben Wheeler.
Guest: Denise Healey, Tanya Sorenson

Minutes of February 3, 2003: M/S/P to approve minutes as written.

Officers: Wendy Graff and Bob Moore assumed co-chair duties, and Wendy chaired the meeting. Board members again expressed great thanks to Teru Lundsten for leading the CSCA through its first year and a half.

Reports

Treasurer: Donations are still coming in. Materials that promote donations to TCS should state that we can accept Visa/MC. Will re-do the financial report. Wendy and Bob have to sign documents to be able to sign for bank disbursements.

Students: There will be a talent show at the Rep; parents are asked to attend if possible. Student Senate rules are being tightened to assure that students meet minimum attendance requirements (two Senators have been dropped due to nonattendance). Students are interested in the possibility of having music piped in during passing periods; cessation of music would be a clear indication that classes are starting again "like musical chairs." The Student Senate is also trying to address apathy and disrespect issues, and it was noted that it's hard to get advisory groups engaged reliably. Students would like to have more input into lesson planning. TCS students are collaborating with Garfield in Post 84 outdoor group survival skills training.

Administration:

There has been brisk turnout for the school introductory sessions for eighth graders and their parents.
First Grade-level Parent Coffee well-attended; others scheduled for rest of the year.
A new National Honor Society student group (17 students) is coming in.
"TCS student sighting" on CNN-Jon Greenberg's students were interviewed, but not identified by school.
Judy Peterson shared the draft "transformation plan" for TCS, which includes goals, budget, staffing needs, and other planning topics. Comments were invited, and were asked by the end of the week.
TCS budget allocation is holding firm at this time, despite financial troubles faced by the school district; Initiative 728 (mandating lower class sizes) is largely responsible for this. 85% of TCS budget is staffing, so there's not much left over to play with when those line items are filled in. There should be enough money to consider funding a seven-class schedule next year; state support generally allows five or six classes, but a seventh may be possible if flexible scheduling can be implemented. A journalism class is also under consideration (the volunteer newspaper has received enthusiastic support, and parent Grace Reamer is providing technical advice to the students involved in producing it). Ms. Peterson also mentioned being interested in looking at development of other classes that would reflect TCS' arts emphasis, such as film, dance/drama, and art history.

Community Relations:

A postcard highlighting the upcoming college night will be mailed to parents.
Grace Reamer's spouse is working on a short video that will showcase TCS and can be used to market the school to interested parents and middle school students.

Development Committee: The auction is ON, and will be held on May 19, with co-sponsorship by Seattle Center. Committee met with Ginny Anderson (Seattle Center) who was encouraging of doing something with Center tenants. The goal for this key fundraiser is an attendance of 250, with a revenue goal of $30,000.

Volunteer Coordinator: Still not much response from parents, and it was recognized that we need to focus more attention on prompt outreach to the many parents who indicate interest in being involved at the beginning of the year. Carol Hepburn suggested that it would be invaluable for volunteer coordinators to have a list of classroom and teacher needs; there was positive discussion of promoting "class sponsors" among parents, who could "adopt" a classroom and provide focused support.

Building Leadership Team: Andrea Edwards, Wendy Graff, Bob Moore, Judith Peterson, and Brian Vance attended this Gates Foundation-funded training work last week.

Unfinished Business

Policy on broadcast emails: This policy, originally to address the narrow issue of limits on access to the "official" group e-mail list, has been drafted to encompass communication policy more broadly. It was moved, seconded, and adopted as policy.

Funding Requests: A set of criteria to guide Board decision-making on requests for funding was adopted; the goal is to provide guidelines for the use of requesters and Board members alike in making these decisions. Brian Vance will look at making sure that the funding request form incorporates the criteria. A total of $1,550 in funding was approved at this meeting, including the following:

Sukutai dance $450
African wildlife speakers $150
Student newspaper (has been named "The Epicenter," and a sample logo was displayed) $500 w/direction to use school copier if possible instead of Kinko's
$450 for poetry activities ($150 Hugo House, $200 poets in classroom, and $100 second semester 'zine)

Golden Acorn: Names of two parents were taken in nomination for these recognition awards. Applications have to be completed for any nominee, and Wendy Graff will follow up on that.

CSCA Elections: Planning needs to be done (including solicitation of nominations) for election of officers and new Board members. Board members have "staggered" terms, to assure that the Board has a mix of experienced and newer members. Blair Butterworth noted that his term will end this year. During a discussion of how best to get the word out to interested parents, it was suggested that e-mail and direct mail be used, in addition to including an article in the newsletter; it would be useful to have a nominating committee, too. Officer positions that need to be elected include the Co-Presidents, vice-president, treasurer, secretary, and at-large position.

Recruiting: Brian Vance is doing the lion's share of this, and has made (or plans to make) many visits to middle schools. He will follow up after getting the names of interested students and parents during these visits. It was noted that TCS is relatively "un-diverse" at this point in its development, and that recruitment of a more diverse student body is a priority.

New Business

Carol Hepburn nearly got a standing "O" when she volunteered to attend the upcoming weekend PTA leadership conference.
April CSCA meeting moved to March. 31.

Announcements

Jon Greenberg noted that there are still chances to develop a cross-country running program; the advantage of this sport is that it can be done independently (schools don't have to join a league and incur the high costs of doing so); Northwest Yeshiva School participates in cross-country on this basis. Schools do have to join WIAA, the umbrella athletic governing body, and there is a cost associated with that. It was suggested that an auction item might be developed as a fund-raiser for team uniforms, or pledges could be collected at the auction for that purpose. About 15 students are interested in participating.
TCS students made the front page of the P-I today.
An updated school profile needs to be done. Members of the Community Relations Committee will take this on.
"Thank-you's" for parents and supporters who have donated money this year are going to be sent soon.
16 students signed up for Math Day at UW…a good response.
Dance team will perform twice at Whirlygig on the Seattle Center campus.
The sexual orientation group is planning a film showing.
May 2-4 is the PTA annual convention.

Next Meeting: Monday, March 31, 2003 from 5-7 p.m. (moved up one week, since spring break will conflict with the normal first-Monday schedule in April).

Respectfully submitted,

Bob Moore
CSCA Co-President


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