MINUTES of the October 18, 2016
MCVSD Academies District-Wide Meeting
Meeting Called to Order at 7:00, after dinner.
Welcome to all PSFA officers and parents, Superintendent McCorkell/Assistant Schaible, and Academy Principals: CHS Principal Gleason and CHS PSFA Co-President Jody Sackett welcomed everyone. The Hospitality Committee was thanked for their delightful decorations and delicious appetizer & dessert buffet.
Administration Q & A
- Budget Stability and Funding for Academies: Mr. McCorkle reported that funding levels are stable for now based upon the following current formula of 1/3 MCVSD budget paid by the county, 1/3 budget paid by home-district tuition, and 1/3 paid by the state.
- Calendar – Snow Days Possible? 2 Snow Days are built into the calendar; no more are planned to be included.
- Consolidating Costs for Better Pricing (student photos, SAT prep, Driver’s Ed): This is fine with Mr. McCorkle but it is up to the academy Principals and PSFAs to set up. Other academies liked the idea.
Academy Parent Organization Discussion Items:
- Kelly Reilly – MCVEA. Ms. Reilly discussed the recent MCVEA dinner meeting with PSFAs, who were asked to pick a district-wide event or project for all the academies to participate in. The MCVEA participates in the Mary’s Place by the Sea walkathon in springtime, and many felt it might be best if the PSFAs just joined in this with the MCVEA, instead of arranging a separate event/project; however, a final decision wasn’t reached. Ms. Reilly requested that each PSFA subsequently contact their MCVEA Teacher Contact with their preference.
- Fundraising Events – Share ideas, effective & efficient recommendations. Most academies do a Gift Auction as their primary fundraiser: AAHS has a fall event in their school that raises $26,000; BTHS has a Dessert Social that raises $20,000; MAST has a March event at Branches that raises $17,000; CHS does a late spring event at Jumping Brook Country Club that raises $18,000; and HTHS will be holding their first Casino Night at Eagle Oaks this year. All academies also do annual donation campaigns (except for MAST, which does a Super 50/50 where each family has to sell 2 books of tickets and raises $15,000). Generally these donation drives raise about $7,000 except at HTHS which raises $30,000 in donations. CHS’s Wine & Design painting fundraiser and their upcoming Mini-Golf Tournament are fun ideas for both community-building and revenue.
- Non-Profits – IRS requirements. Attendees weren’t sure if there were any IRS limitations on carrying over profits from one year to the next. HTHS created an endowment for specific purposes when they did financially well; money can be used for that purpose but not general operating costs.
- Sportswear/Swag sales – share ideas for sales of school promotional items (online, etc.). MAST and HTHS use MyLocker.com to sell sportswear online. BTHS has a school store to sell its sportswear. AAHS cautioned against ordering too much and having stock around too long (e.g many sizes of just one item take up a lot of storage room). CHS is just beginning to sell unique swag items like flash drives, cell phone accessories, & coffee mugs, hopes to move to online sales with PayPal.
- Alumni Committees – Reaching out to graduates, PSFA members, events. HTHS has a closed Facebook group run by the PFA that it uses to schedule events, etc. They have an Alumni Day the Friday after Thanksgiving & open the school up just for these alumni to hold a reception gathering. There were 20 years of alumni attending last year to meet each other and tour the school; and they update their alumni database at this event. Other schools have Alumni Day during school day. MAST signs up its freshmen students’ email addresses at its Family Picnic so they have it for their alumni records. It was recommended that schools sign up their Seniors as alumni before they leave the academy (e.g. at a Senior Banquet or pre-graduation function). CHS has a new Alumni Newsletter to reach alums.
- Communication among Members: Type, frequency, effectiveness, website management. All schools use email blasts, some more frequent than others. Most have monthly newsletters. Flyers sent home with students not effective, but mailing is better. HTHS has capability to quickly update its website for announcements. CHS also uses Remind Me text alerts. Facebook pages also used.
- Member Recognitions: Sunshine Cte (encouragement, congrats); Final PSFA meeting. Some schools have a Sunshine Committee that sends cards; others use their Corresponding Secretary. MAST has a $800 budget for its active Sunshine Committee. End of year final PSFA meeting: thank-you gifts given to departing chairs/officers, range from a plant, $15 gift card, Panera Bread GCs, to $50.00 Visa GC. HTHS remaining officers chip in to purchase gifts for departing officers.
- Board Transition at End of Year: Share ideas for recruitment, transition. Recommended to get to know members during year on various committees so can promote from within. Also widely publicize needed positions in advance. Notebook binders best to pass on critical info, documents, and timelines from departing officer/chair to new ones; documents on flashdrives also good way to pass on info.
Wrap Up: Allied Health will be hosting next year’s MCVSD Academies District-Wide Meeting.
Meeting Adjourned at 9:15 pm.