June 9, 2003
6:30 p.m.

1. Mission Statement - Kathy Pielage
   
   
2. Introductions
   
   
3. Treasurer's Report - Kathy Pynnonen
   • We made $1100 profit on the spring book fair.
   • We continues to run ahead of budget on income from SCRIP and Schwan's.
   • We paid out a mini grant to MS. Faulkner for supplies.
   • We also paid the Institutes for Chemical Education for the science fair kickoff.
   • Kathy also presented a proposed budget for next school year.

 

May 12, 2003
6:30 p.m.

1. Mission Statement - Kathy Pielage
   
   
2. Introductions
   
   

3. Treasurer's Report - Kathy Pynnonen
   

   • We received SCRIP money from Lands' End, Pick & Save and Schwan's.
   • We paid out money for the Atwood Players and the art panels. We also had some expenses for International Night.
   • We paid out mini grants to Ms. Lehr, Mrs. Price, Mrs. Kreienkamp, and Mr. Pedretti.
     
     

4. School Update - Mr. McNallie
   

   • We opted out of the 1 full day/month off for elementary students. We plan to follow the 1 early release day a month.
   • Badger Ridge Middle School would like the 1 full day off for the year instead of 3 early release days. This has not been accepted, it is just an idea.
   • We are trying to get grants for the next school year, but they are hard to come by unless we have a specific need. Some fundraising ideas were also brought up. We do need money for the homework club.
     
     

5. Mini Grants - Becky Deal
   

   • There were no mini grant requests.
     
     
6. Old Business - Kathy Pielage
   
   • The Science Fair went very well. Mr. Gaylor made mention that the 5th graders seemed to have more fun this year both with their projects and the night of. We need to thank Su Wong, Nancy Minarik, The Burnham Family, and Nancy Connelly for all of their hard work with the science fair.
   • Many thanks to Denise Rakel for all of her work with the spring book fair. We sold over $000 in books.

7. New Business
   

   1. We discussed the playground rules regarding the boots and snowpants rule. The snow pant rule is in effect during the winter months and usually until spring break. There needs to be some contingency that children are not expected to wear snow pants when the weather does not dictate it. When it is cold or there is snow on the ground snow pants are required. However if a student has forgotten snow pants standing against the wall does not help the student stay warm. This practice does not support good health or help prepare the student for a full afternoon of learning. It is counterproductive to the child's needs. Therefore the PRT would recommend that the child be allowed to play on the black top. Mr. McNallie will find out how other schools handle this situation. One point brought up was that our children have worked very hard all morning the high structure they experience needs to be lifted at recess. It was suggested that this high structure should be eased in the lunch room and assigned seating should be used only when behavior warrants it. Children want a chance to sit with their friends and make their own choices. We hope this suggestion be tried before the end of the year. There was more discussion using no recess as a punishment in the classrooms. It was suggested that parents talk to the teacher. As a rule, Mr. McNallie said that "no recess" should not be used as punishment for not performing well on tests.
   2. Kathy Pielage finalized the 2003-2004 school calendar.
   3. We also discussed the 0° policy and when kids should go right into school. The rule is 0° - either temperature or wind chill. Students are also supposed to come right into school when it is raining. Mr. McNallie cleared up some confusion regarding parents not being allowed to walk students into the building before 8:20. This rule exists because some parents bring more than one student into school and they can't watch all of the children, therefore, some kids are in the halls unsupervised.
   4. We will be offering logo apparel again next year. We are looking for other ideas as to what to offer to students and staff.
   5. The 2003-2004 PRT executive board has been finalized. Kathy Pielage and Karen Christianson will be CO-chairs, Becky Deal will be Vice President, Denise Rakel will be the treasurer and Sara McCormick will continue on as the Secretary.
   6. We would like to see more information in the student directory and to have it available earlier in the school year.
      
      
8. We continued last month's discussion on the activity account and how it is used. Currently PRT pays $4.00 per student for field trips and wellness week. Not all of the money is being used, mostly due to families being generous and donating money for field trips for students who may not be able to afford it. We are going to wait until the end of the school year to see the ending balance and decide if PRT is going to put the same amount of money into this account next year.
   
   
9. There was not other business to discuss.

April 7, 2003
6:30 p.m.

1. Mission Statement - Kathy Pielage
   
   
2. Introductions
   
   

3. Treasurer's Report - Kathy Pynnonen
   

   • We received a donation in the amount of $925.00
   • Scrip continues to run ahead of budget. About 12 families participate in this program.
   • The EEN committee raised $3562.57 towards the cost of the power assist doors. Their goal was $3500.00.
   • We paid out mini-grants to Mrs. Devine and Ms. Tabrizi. Mr. Pedretti returned the money given to him for a mini-grant request. The purchase that he made was done through the central office.
   • We have paid out $128.42 for international night so far.
     
     

4. School Update - Mr. McNallie was not present at the meeting. He was attending a school board budget meeting. Kathy Pielage mentioned a few things that have come up at school.
   

   • The other elementary schools are presenting a proposal for elementary schools to have an early release day every day or 1 full day a month.
   • Mrs. Dotson resigned. Ms. Childers has been the full-time substitute in this classroom.
   • Mrs. Dillis has also resigned. Her duties will be split between Mrs. Haack and Mrs. Beamsley.
   • The functional analysis can be found on the Verona Area School District website.
     
     

5. Old Business - Kathy Pielage
   

   • Science Club is now finished. We had 75 kids at the first and last week, with about 40-50 kids the other weeks. A big thank you to Rebecca Collaer and Kathy Pielage for organizing this fun program for the kids. Also many thanks to the many parent volunteers who gave up lunch hours to help.
   • International was a wonderful success with big thanks to Sue Gullickson and Karen Christiansen for their wonderful organization. There are many, many other parents to thank for their help that night. There was some discussion regarding the concert part of the evening. One thought is to split the K-2 and 3-5 graders and have different programs. This will be discussed further at a later date and with Mrs. Siemens.

6. Mini Grants - Becky Deal
   

   • We had a mini-grant request from Mrs. Kreienkamp and Mrs. Price for prize box goodies for the 2003-2004 school year. A motion was made to approve by Kathy Pynnonen with a second from Kathy Pielage. The motion passed.

   
   
7. Playground Rules - Mr. McNallie was not present, so no discussion was held.
   
   
8. Zero Degree Policy - Mr. McNallie was not present, so no discussion was held.
   
   
9. Activity Account Policy - A discussion was held regarding the school activity fund. Each year PRT puts $1400 into an account that Mrs. Beamsley uses to pay for field trips for those students who can't afford the trip. This fund, however, is growing and is rarely used. It was decided that we need to use this money in this account, and we need to figure out how to best use it. We also discussed possibly not putting money into this account until the fund nears zero. Kathy Pynnonen was going to talk with Mr. McNallie about this fund and our ideas.
   
   
10. 2003-2004 Calendar - September 2, 2003, is going to be the orientation day for K-5. We would like to have October 24, 2003 as family fun night. Other event dates will get added to the calendar at upcoming meetings.
    
    
11. Celebrate Learning Festival - Science fair forms were due April 7, 2003.
    
    
12. Spring Elections - We have a complete ballot for PASS and Governing Council, but no extras. Therefore, there will not be an election. The people on Governing Council are Whitney Schorr and Ed Burnham. Craig Christiansen has agreed to sit on the PASS board.
    
    
13. Spring Book Fair - This will be held the week of the science fair. Set up will be April 29. Student preview day will be April 30, and May 1st and 2nd will be purchase days. We still need to figure out where the proceeds from this go.
    
    
14. Other Business
    

    • Will we be having a TV turn off week this year? We need parents to coordinate this event.
    • We will need volunteers and supplies for the Celebrate Wonderful Learning festival. This is held on April 30. Ingrid Beamsley is the contact person for this event.

March 10, 2003
6:30 pm

1. Mission Statement - Kathy Pielage
   
   
2. Introductions
   
   

3. Treasurer's Report - Becky Deal
   

   • We received the bill for the Entertainment Books. We had a profit of $207.00.
   • We paid $635 for the Jazz Diva performance.
   • We paid a mini grant for the letter writing project for the 6th graders.
     
     
4. School Update
   
   • On March 15, 2003, there is a meeting regarding the CKCS budget cuts for the 2003-2004 school year. We are looking at about $100,000 in budget cuts for next year. Parents are highly encouraged to attend this meeting.
   • March 14, 2003, is the student lottery. We have another good response for students entering CKCS.
   • March 20, 2003, is International Night.
   • March 24, 2003, is the district functional analysis release and meeting. All site councils are invited to attend this meeting.
   • Jen Mayer had her twins last week, which was about 3 months early. She will be coming back to school the week of March 17th to continue teaching.

5. Old Business - Kathy Pielage

   1. Many thanks for Lori Fleming, Becky Deal and Joann Elfman for organizing the book swap in February. The kids loved getting new books for at home. We donated two very large boxes of books to the Literacy Foundation.
   2. We have not received any nominations for Governing Council, PASS or PRT positions that are available. These are due at the end of March.
   3. Thanks to Su Wong for providing the structure for the science club which had it's first meeting on Friday, March 7, 2003. The kids learned about crystals. There were over 70 kids involved in grades K-5, with 10 parent volunteers. The next three weeks will cover topics such as heart rate, respiration and perception. The last week will be on rainbows.
      
      
6. Mini Grants - Becky Deal
   

   • We had a mini-grant request from Mrs. Tabrizi for $75 to cover the cost of science class supplies. Kathy Pielage made a motion to amend the amount to $50 with the stipulation that these items are requested from families and possibly put on the back to school list. A motion was made to approve by Kathy Pielage with a second from Dawn Gold. The amended motion passed.
   • Mrs. Tabrizi had another mini-grant request for prize box goodies. This was for the amount of $20 - $40. The students go to the prize box if they score 100% on tests. A motion to approve for $20 was made by Kathy Pielage. Sara McCormick seconded the motion. The motion passed.
   • Jennifer Devine had a mini-grant request for $55.60. This would cover spring projects, mother's day projects and prize box goodies. A motion to approve was made by Becky Deal with a second by Kurt Campbell. The motion passed.
     
     
7. Representatives from Sugar Creek, Country View and Stoner Prairie will be making a presentation to the school board suggesting early release days every Friday for elementary students. This would give teachers time for planning every week without using teacher aides. The idea is that this could save schools about $60,000 to $80,000 a year.
   
   
8. The science fair kick off was a great success. All the forms are out to students with registration forms due April 7, 2003. The information from these forms will help us coordinate the Celebrate learning Festival on May 2. A program recognizing the scientist will be printed, tables need to be rented and Pizzas need to be ordered.
   
   
9. International Night will be held on March 20, 2003. Sue Gullickson and Karen Christianson are heading up this committee of volunteers. Mrs. Siemens is hosting a work party Friday, March 14, for all students, to help get costumes and musical instruments ready for the concert. If students are going to attend this work party, they must be accompanied by an adult.
   
   
10. Celebrate Learning Festival Nancy Connelly will be coordinating this event.
    
    
11. Spring Elections - see above under Old Business.
    
    
12. The spring teacher appreciation breakfast will be held on Thursday, May 8, 2003 beginning at 7:15. The Badger Ridge representative will be coordinating this breakfast since CKCS coordinated the fall breakfast.
    
    
13. Kathy Pielage and Tammy Wacek are working on possibly using other fund raising ideas for next school year. They have met with a couple different companies. Kurt Campbell told us about a school fundraiser that would run all school year. It would be using quickstar.com
    
    
14. The other business that was discussed was the international night raffle by the EEN Committee.

February 10, 2003
6:30 pm

1. Mission Statement - Kathy Pielage
   
   
2. Introductions
   
   
3. New Business
   
   

4. Treasurer's Report - Kathy Pynnonen
   

   • We received another check from Schwan's bringing our year-to-date total to $127.46.
   • We also received more money for Entertainment books. The bill has not been received.
   • We paid out 3 mini-grants to Mr. Pedretti, Ms. Lehr and Ms. Teteak.
   • Money for the power assist doors will be going through the PRT account. They have received $989, with a bill for the Valentine's Day flowers yet to be paid.
     
     
5. School Update
   
   • On February 22, 2003, there will be a listening session for the Verona Area School District. This will be about long-range planning. The time is 8:30-11:00 and will be held in the Step Room. One thing that will be discussed is the severe cuts that the schools district-wide will be facing.
   • On February 17, 2003 the math committee will be meeting to review the current curriculum.

6. Old Business - Kathy Pielage

   1. Spring Book Fair will be held on April 28, 2003.
      
      
7. Mini Grants - Becky Deal
   

   • We had a mini-grant request from Ramona Gasser for $87.95 to cover the cost of students writing letters to businesses asking for donations to the end of the year auction. This is part of the business writing curriculum. There was a motion to approve by Becky Deal, a second from Kathy Pielage. The motion carried.
     
     
8. The book club is up and running with Mary Kay Zimbrick leading the club. The science club will start meeting March 7 during lunch hours. It will meet for 5 weeks. There are 2 parent volunteers, so there is a limit of 20 kids that join this club.
   
   
9. Science Fair kick off will be held on February 24, 2003. We will be having people from the UW Chemistry department doing presentation. There will be 3 sessions for the various grade levels. Kathy Pynnonen will be coordinating a lunch for the presenters. Packets will go out to all student with the registration forms due on April 7, 2003. The projects will be due April 28, 2003 and the actual Science Fair will be held on May 2, 2003 in the step room and the auxiliary gym. Grades 4 and 5 are required to participate. Third graders are encouraged, and kindergarten through 2nd graders only participate if they want to.
   
   
10. International Night will be held on March 20, 2003. Sue Gullickson and Karen Christianson are heading up this committee of volunteers. There will be a planning meeting on February 25, 2003.
    
    
11. Celebrate Learning Festival Nancy Connelly has offered to coordinate this event.
    
    
12. Spring elections are right around the corner. There is one positionon the PASS board and two on Governing Council. The treasurer and president positions areon PRT. Kathy Pielage will be coordinating the nomination forms.
    
    
13. Book Swap will be held on February 19, 2003. Lori Fleming is coordinating this event and needs volunteers.
    
    
14. Other Business
    
    

    • On February 12, 2003 the Jazz Diva will performing at the school. Sara McCormick will send out an e-mail inviting parents to join the students for the exciting performance.
    • We discussed the dangerous crossing area in front of the school. Cars aren't paying attention to the fact that this is a school zone and therefore don't slow down or watch for people in the cross walks. Kathy Pielage suggested calling the Verona Police Department to voice concerns about this.
      

January 13, 2003
6:30 pm

1. Mission Statement - Kathy Pielage
   
   
2. Introductions
   
   
3. New Business
   
   

4. Treasurer's Report - Kathy Pynnonen
   

   • We received $600 towards the playground improvement fund. So in total we were only $56.31 short.
   • We received checks from Schoolpop.com and Pick-n-Save.
   • We still have not received the bill for the entertainment books.
   • Expenses last month were for family fun night, mini-grants to Julie Bie, Judy Klitsch-Anderson and Jennifer Devine, and some recess/playground equipment was purchased.
   • Taxes have been done are being filed. Thank you to Amy Willson for assisting Kathy Pynnonen with this.

5. School Update
   
   • We will be having 3 CKCS information sessions on January 22, 23 and 29. We are in need of help for these events. Both in calling prospective kindergartners and for child care at these meetings. Call Bob McNallie or Ingrid Beamsley if you can help.
   • Karen Schmerler is doing a fundraiser to help raise money to put in automatic doorrs at the CKCS end of the building. They are selling carnations for Valentine's Day. Flyers will be sent home backpack express soon.
   • A functional analysis is being done in the district to see how the district can save money. They have hired an outside consultant to help with this process. A concern that has been mentioned is if the school board will have more control over the money in the district. Currently with the district being site based, each site has control over the spending of the money. All schools in the district are asking this question.
   • Mr. McNallie also mentioned that in an effort to keep parents informed, letters will be mailed to parents of children who have missed a certain number of days of school and/or have been tardy 5 times in a quarter.

6. Old Business - Kathy Pielage

   1. Spring Book Fair - Mr. McNallie will be seeking input from all the teachers regarding how the spring book fair should be handled. This information will then be given to Becky Deal, Ann Camillo, Kathy Pielage and Denise Rakel so they can plan the spring book fair accordingly.
   2. School concerns section of the family handbook. Kathy Pielage read the following section of the family handbook as a guideline for parents to follow if they or their child is having problems. "Parents are strongly encouraged to contact teachers when conflicts develop. Sometimes a problem develops and a teacher is unaware of the situation. If a problem does occur, please contact your child' teacher immediately. If the problem cannot be resolved between the parent and teacher, please contact the director. IF the problem is still not resolved, it should then be taken to the superintendent. If appropriate school personnel have been involved and the problem is still not resolved, a member of the Verona Board of Education should be contacted."
      
      
7. Mini Grants - Becky Deal
   

   • We had a mini grant request from Joff Pedretti to purchase the Fitnessprogram software and 3-year license agreement with Human Kinetics and for cadence ED for PACER. It would cost about $162 to purchase this. We had a motion to approve from Becky Deal, with a second from Kathy Pynnonen. The motion passed.
     
     
8. School Clubs will be starting up soon. The book club is looking to start up right away. The science club is looking to start up in March and end with the science fair. They need help to get this club up and running. The chess club is starting up over the lunch hours. Contact Su Wong if you are willing to help with any of these clubs.
   
   
9. Science Fair kick off will be held on February 24, 2003. We will be having people from the UW Chemistry department doing presentation. There will be 3 sessions for the various grade levels.
   
   
10. International Night will be held on March 28, 2003. Sara McCormick is lining up people to help coordinate this event.
    
    
11. Celebrate Learning Festival Nancy Connelly has offered to coordinate this event.
    
    
12. Spring elections are right around the corner. On Governing Council: Susan Butler's (6th grade) and Rob Cramer's (3rd grade) terms are over July 1, 2003. On the PASS board Scott Bukolt's term is up July 1, 2003. On the PRT board the Treasurer (Kathy Pynnonen) and President (Kathy Pielage) positions will become available. Talk to the current and out going board members about the time commitment and responsibilities. Job descriptions will go home in January and Nominations will be accepted in February. It is the hope that the new members would participate in the May and June meetings before their terms start in July.
    
    
13. Book Swap - Lori Fleming is coordinating this. She gave three dates for us to consider and it was decided to try and do it on February 19, 2003.
    
    

December 9, 2002
6:30 p.m.

1. Mission Statement - Kathy Pielage
   
   
2. Introductions
   
   
3. New Business - the bullying policy will be discussed at a later point in the meeting.
   
   

4. Treasurer's Report - Kathy Pynnonen
   

   • We finally received the $250 Microsoft grant for the playground improvement. We also received the concrete bill. The playground improvement fund fell about $656.31 short.
   • We made a $91.58 profit on the CKCS apparel. This was not intended to be a fundraiser, so this is a pleasant surprise.
   • We paid out 3 mini grants from last month to Ms. Hunerdosse, Ms. Valley, and Kathleen Ernst - the author who spoke to the 3-5 graders in the library.
   • It was also decided that we will have to charge families a $25 fee if a check is returned for any reason. We had 2 checks this past month that were deposited but returned. We had over $15 in service charges this past month.
   • We had over $5,000 in book fair sales. From the profit, we took 10% in books, 25% in cash. With the cash profits, we purchased books for teachers that were still on wish lists. $400 is going to Carol Maxon to purchase early reader books. The vouchers were a good success. The middle school students who received these vouchers were very grateful.
     
     
     1. Taxes - Kathy Pynnonen sent the financial information to one parent who thought he might have time to help with the taxes, but being such a busy time of year for everyone, he didn't think that he would have time to help. Amy Willson, a former parent, volunteered to help with this.
   
   

5. School Update - Mr. McNallie was at the PASS meeting, so we didn't have a school update.
   

6. Old Business - Kathy Pielage

   1. We took in about $1000 in pizza sales, and had about $900 in expenses. So we made about $100 in profit at the Family Fun Night. Many thanks to all of the parent volunteers, especially Carolyn Pelton for chairing the event.
   2. We had an e-mail from Jennifer Devine regarding the book fair during school hours. Kathy Pynnonen mentioned that she was subbing for Jennifer that day and it was not a good experience for some of the kids in the class. One child that didn't have money to spend cried when the other kids got to go and buy books. Some of the kids that had vouchers wanted toys instead of books. There will be a meeting with the Scholastics, Book Fair coordinator, Becky Deal and Kathy Pielage to talk about how the Spring Book Fair will run. Other schools will be contacted to find out how they handle this event and input from teachers will be requested. All the suggestions will be reviewed. This meeting will take place after winter break. Contact Kathy or Becky if you would like to be included in this meeting. Some suggestions that were made to help with this day are:
      • Only books should be offered during the day when children are making out their wish lists.
      • Don't have a purchase times during school hours. If there is a time, make it during recess, but not during class time.
      • Have a couple of nights or after school where kids and parents can come and purchase books.
      • Spring Book Fair suggestions:
        • Leave it up to the kindergarten teachers as to whether or not their classes will go and make wish lists during the day.
        • Books only! No toys will be out during the day, only at night when parents are with.
        • Use the voucher system again. It seemed to go over very well with teachers and the students who received them.
        • Try a multi-day event for after school and evening purchases.
        • No purchases will be made during school hours. Let's talk to the teachers to see how they feel about this.
          
          
   3. Student Directory - Many thanks to the people who helped put together the student directory. These went out to students the first week in December.
      
      
7. Mini Grants - Becky Deal
   

   • We had a mini grant request from Jennifer Devine to purchase the Ready, Set, Relax program. It would cost about $39 to purchase this. We had a motion to approve from Becky Deal, with a second from Ed Burnham. The motion passed.
   • We had a request from Mrs. Klitsch-Anderson and Mrs. Bie for prize box goodies. The total cost is $83.13. We had a motion to approve from Kathy Pielage, with a second from Ed Burnham. The motion passed.

   
   
8. Bully Policy & Procedure - Kathy Pielage read the NO Tolerance Behavior and consequences from the Family Handbook: The policy has all the steps available to the staff and the administrators. Kathy has received a letter from one family, a phone call from another, and e-mail from another family regarding situations that have been happening lately at school. Unfortunately, Mr. McNallie was at the PASS meeting, so he wasn't there to discuss how the policy is enforced with different situations. The ideas of removing the bully from the kids being bullied was discussed. The repeat offenders are the biggest concern to the families at the meeting. Parents need to make sure that their concerns are written down, either in a letter to Mr. McNallie or in an e-mail. Parents need to know what steps to follow when there are problems. This would mean talking to the teacher and Mr. McNallie first. We also talked about the need for parents to get some feedback as to how their particular situations are being handled. The privacy rights are why parents of victims can't know how the bully is being handled. Kathy Pielage was going to take all of our concerns and comments to the Governing Council meeting. School policies are handled by the Governing Council. The conclusion of the discussion was that Bob McNallie and the teacher should be contacted.
   
   
9. Science Fair was not discussed due to time limitations.
   
   
10. International Night was not discussed due to time limitations.
    
    
11. Celebrate Learning Festival was not discussed due to time limitations.
    
    
12. Economics Bazaar will be held on December 13, 2002. The fifth graders will be selling their goods to the other classes.
    
    
13. Other Business

 

November 11, 2002
6:30 p.m.