CSCA Meeting – Dec. 13, 2011

Meeting notes submitted by Janet Sleath, CSCA Secretary

Present: Sam Star, Janet Sleath, Oksana Britsova, Paul Dieter, Aimee Bramble, Maureen Kostyack, "Clay" Clayton, Kristen Storey and Dr. Josh Penner from Magnolia Chiropractic and Massage

Seven CSCA members present – Twelve CSCA members are required for a quorum.

Meeting called to order at 6:30 pm.

1. Dr. Josh Penner of Magnolia Chiropractic and Massage presented the CSCA with a check for $450 on behalf of the organizing committee of the inaugural Magnolia 12K and 5K race that was held in October. The committee originally planned to donate all money raised by the race to Successful Schools in Action (SSIA), but following the closure of SSIA is instead splitting the donation between the seven schools that were part of SSIA.

2. Following the closure of SSIA, all money left in the SSIA will be donated to the seven Queen Anne/Magnolia schools with the amount going to each school being based on the level of involvement of the school in SSIA. The CSCA will be receiving a check shortly.

3. Oksana: TCS has moved from a Level 3 on the state calibration of schools to the top level – Level 5! This is a great achievement, particularly as only one other high school in Seattle (Ballard) reached this level. Oksana is planning a small all school celebration on Friday, which coffee and goodies from Starbucks. The cost will be approx. $300 that will come from the $5,000 fund that CSCA allocated to Oksana for a beginning of school retreat. Since the retreat didn't take place (too expensive), the money has been reallocated for positive-behavior reinforcement and community building activities (i.e. 1st day of school picnic, all-school retreat on campus, motivational speaker, Dragon Dollar Store, etc.).

4. Oksana stressed that all bookings for space for events in the Center House, including any changes, additional requests, etc., must go through Tracey so that the proper procedure is followed.

5. Oksana is beginning to work on next year's budget and is concerned that TCS may need to eliminate AP Biology, Spanish 4, Spanish 3 and/or Wynn's position. She believes that the school may be short $75,000, and asked the CSCA to consider helping fund teacher salaries next year.

6. Sam noted that the CSCA had previously allocated $5K to pay for math tutors, but needed documentation to show exactly how this money would be spent. Oksana provided this to Sam and Aimee.

7. There was a discussion about the fact that the current teacher's wish list contains several items for which the CSCA has previously allocated funds to the teachers. Oksana, Sam and/or Aimee will talk to the teachers about this. There is a concern that the CSCA does not currently have sufficient money in the checking account to cover all the allocated funds. The fund-raising committee needs to meet sometime soon.

8. Aimee Bramble, CSCA treasurer will convene a budget committee meeting in early January to review expenditure so far this year, and a discussion about whether the CSCA wants to fund teacher salaries next year.

9. The fundraising committee needs to meet and arrange for follow-up calls to parents regarding the enrichment fee. These phone calls will be made around mid-January. There are plans for a fundraising party in March. This committee needs more members.

10. Treasurer's report: CSCA has raised $33,945.36 as of December 12, 2011, with $10,000 from the Mother Earth Foundation, $19,544 coming from Enrichment Fees, and $1,875 from the letter campaign. This compares favorably with the $36K that was raised over the whole of the last school year, but the '11 – '12 spending plan was increased significantly compared with last school year. The CSCA will need to dip into its savings this year.

11. There has been a proposal that the CSCA by-laws be changed to allow students to vote in CSCA meetings if they've attended three committee meetings in one year. This privilege would be carried forward to the following school year. Due to the lack of a quorum, this was tabled to a subsequent meeting.

12. Students are welcome, and encouraged, to come forward with agenda items and to join any committee. It's been suggested that there be more student involvement with this year's theater night, such as Improv. Several students helped with the Open House for private and parochial middle schoolers. Several middle schools hold events to give students an idea of what life is like at high school, and it was suggested that current TCS students could be recruited to represent TCS at those events.

13. The Student Senate would like a detailed accounting of all deposits and withdrawals to their account over the past year.

14. Paul Dieter reported that the Model UN trip to San Francisco was a great trip and that he was in awe of the students.

15. Senior events committee: Paul reported that the designs and colors for the student wear are being finalized and that the seniors will take orders in January. This is not anticipated to be a big fundraiser. The main fundraiser is going to be a Service-a-thon that will take place at a Seattle Port park along the Duwamish River on March 31, 2012. The students will work for 4 hours and will get sponsors. Parents will provide supervision and food. It's hoped that this will raise approx. $10K for grad. night and prom (although Paul has pointed out to the students that they pay for prom and therefore don't need to fundraise for this).

16. The current volunteer coordinator, Jessica Wesch, is moving on – her daughter Tess is going to take classes through Running Start. A new Volunteer Coordinator is needed. Sam distributed a list of parents who have offered to help with various things, and recommended that people contact these parents directly as they have a need for volunteers.

17. It has been suggested that the CSCA consider joining the Alternative School Coalition, in which case we would need 1-2 people to attend their meetings. This will be discussed further at a later meeting.

18. Oksana requested that the CSCA consider providing a small stipend for the ASB advisor. It was discussed that the CSCA does not feel wealthy enough to add new items to the budget. However, we would rather see Oksana and the teachers propose how to scale back the budget in one area in order to find funds for an ASB advisor stipend.

19. It was suggested that Oksana, the teachers and students be encouraged to contribute items to the blast. Sandi could include a brief "teaser" with a link to an article on the website, such as a review of this week's play.

20. Sam expressed concern that the CSCA is losing its enthusiasm and its energy as reflected at the low turnout at the meeting and that we need to energize the committees.

Meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm