Supt. Taymore was unable
to attend this monthly meeting yesterday due to a prior commitment.
The group reviewed the School
Committee/district 2017 budget timeline and process. (The relevant document can
be found in the Committee’s meeting packet of December 8, 2015.) The Supt.’s
Budget Message will be presented on 1/26 with the full Budget recommendation
presented on 2/23. March will include a six hour Saturday session where
administrators will present and speak to their budgets. The Committee will also
host a Public Information Session on the budget in which the Supt. will answer
community questions (sent in and/or presented that evening). Ed. Stations, ECC,
and Campus Kids fees are usually discussed in early March, although that is not
on the timeline yet. Segments of the budget will be discussed at each of the
March and April meetings until all are complete. Voting on the final budget and
associated fees is scheduled for early May. Presentation to the Board of
Aldermen will be in late May or early June.
The “Request for Local
Business Donation” form is complete, and is a collaborative document between
the Chamber and PTO members as a way to communicate the year’s major PTO events
to the business community so that businesses can plan when they might wish to
donate, and to what events.
Elementary school PTO
members continued to discuss how to involve more teachers in PTO meetings.
PTO’s raise money for a wide variety of efforts, including teacher grants for
various classroom and student needs, and hope to see the money fully accessed
and employed in classrooms. Teacher input and feedback is valuable in these
efforts. Various strategies were suggested, and PTO’s will continue to work
with principals and staff to engage in two-way conversations for the benefit of
students.
The Middle School PTO
needs a President next year! Parents indicated that the fundraising work is
substantially more limited than elementary fundraising, and that more effort is
invested in providing information to parents about content areas and other
academic issues. Interested parents can contact current PTO Board Members. More
info here: https://sites.google.com/site/melrosevmmspto/.
Fundraising was touched
on, with members talking about whether there is the will to join all elementary
PTO fundraising efforts together (maybe under the PTO, Inc. umbrella). Some
members felt that parents would rather contribute to their own schools rather
than a large, city-wide group. Large vs. small fundraisers were discussed (golf
tournaments vs. bake sales), with commenters noting that fundraisers can cycle,
and budget priorities can dictate the type and amount of fundraising employed.
Coming up:
·
2/10: Melrose Forward, the City’s next
iteration of its 10-year Master Plan, will hold a community forum at the Milano
Center to hear from citizens about their vision for Melrose. Areas of study
include transportation, sustainable energy, education, business, green space,
etc. Many (if not most) of the City’s capital and space plans have come from
this effort in the past, and is expected for this plan as well. Find them on
Facebook.
·
3/3: Community
Reading Day (when folks from around the community volunteer to read a book to
an ECC/elementary class). It’s scheduled as closely as possible to Dr. Seuss’
birthday, and is a wonderful event for readers and students.
·
3/19: The
Bridge’s main fundraising event, the annual Trivia Bee, will feature teams of three
facing off against each other to claim this year’s title. It’s not just a
competition, but also a community event, and is open to all. Registration
is beginning and the entrance fee is $250.
