Announcements
The winning PTA from our Donut Forget to Complete Your SOA Contest was randomly selected at the start of the meeting. Congratulations Woodin PTA!
 
Community Partners Updates

• Marco G., NSD Community Partnerships
  • Spring Art Docent Training is April 26 (Friday) from 11 AM - 1 PM.  
  • Networking meeting will be on April 30 from 11:30 AM - 1 PM to focus on how to partner with the district better. 
  • Complete volunteer now since processing time for applications, especially Level 2 clearance will take longer due to staff vacation schedule.
  • A Family Symposium will be held in May where all of the family engagement groups are meeting together.  More information to come later.

Council Business

• Treasurer Report
  • Standards of Affiliation (SOA) were reviewed.
  • Mid-year Financial Review Report – The reviewers Diana C., Terra D., and Laura S met in January and completed the mid-year financial review. 
  • The End-of-year review committee was selected. Diana C., Terra D., and Laura S. volunteered to serve on the committee in July. 
  • The treasurer presented the February treasurer report.
  • Budget for 2024-2025 will be presented at the next general membership meeting on May 20, 2024.

 

• Officer Elections – Holly M., chair of the nominating committee, read aloud the report of the committee and announced that all candidates meet the requirements of the WSPTA Uniform Bylaws. A vote was taken to elect the officers. Our new Council Executive Board for the 2024-2025 school year is as follows: 
  • President – Grace Jurado
  • First Vice President – Diana Christiansen
  • Secretary – Christine Roehnelt
  • Treasurer – Brenae Brix
  • VP of Events – Melissa Bennett and OPEN
  • VP of Advocacy – Holly Muenchow and Terra Droney
  • VP Communications – OPEN
  • VP Elementary Support – OPEN
  • VP Secondary Support – OPEN

Congratulations, new Executive Board members!
 
The positions of VP of Communications, VP of Elementary Support, VP of Secondary Support, and Co-VP of Events are still open. ​Council will continue to seek volunteers for the OPEN positions to hold an election at our General Membership Meeting on May 20, 2024. Learn more about the open positions and self-nominate by Wednesday, May 08, 2024.
  
Council Committee Update

• Membership – Currently 5,093 members, about 92% of last year's members. 
• Reflections – The Reflections Art Reception was amazing.  Over 250 people attended the event at Brightwater Center.  A music piece from Skyview and a 3D visual art piece from Canyon Creek is moving on to National level.
• Events – Save the Date: Council’s Spring Recognition will be held on June 7th, 2024. It will be the same format as last year with brunch. Local PTAs are encouraged to present their local recognition awards before the event so they can invite their awardees to come celebrate.
• Council Recognition Award Nomination Form will be ready to accept nominees in April. Consider nominating someone who deserves to be recognized for their service to the community. Complete nomination form and learn more about the varioius types of awards. 
• DEI/FACE – The DEI/Face Chairs have been involved with the NSD Family Engagement and Resource Center events this year. Each event has focused on cultural events. Local PTAs are encouraged to share with their local members about the resource center located at the Northshore District Administrative Center where families are provided with resources and/or directed to the providers of various services by local non-profits, cities, counties, and the state agencies. 
  
  

​Upcoming Reminders given by President
Please check Council’s calendar for upcoming events.

• Council is gathering messages of gratitude! Send a message of appreciation to the many Northshore School District Administrators and Staff.
• WA State PTA Convention is May 17 – May 19, 2024, at the Lynnwood Event Center. Register will open by end of March. Please considering sending voting delegates. There will be a review of bylaw amendments. Each PTA is allotted 4 voting delegates. Registration fees and more can be found on the WSPTA website. 

 
​We hope to see you on May 20, 2024, at 7 PM via Zoom. Register for Zoom meeting link.  

Council meetings will build your PTA knowledge, give you the opportunity to network with other PTA, school district and community leaders, and they can be a lot of fun, too. Each PTA may send up to 4 voting representatives - but we encourage ALL who are interested to attend. We look forward to seeing you there!

Questions? Email Council President, Rachel Fitzgerald at [email protected].

Save the Date - View calendar for future meeting dates.

Missed a meeting? Read a recap of the meeting.

Announcements

• Council Office Hours
  • The remaining scheduled Coucil Office Hours for the school year have been cancelled, however, Council leaders can set up 1 on 1 meetings with local leaders to answer questions or concerns! Email us to set up a meeting! 
• WSPTA Upcoming Deadlines
  • WSPTA Programs have upcoming February deadlines for their student programs for the Essay Contest and Scholarship Program. The Awards of Excellence applications are due in March. Also, the applications for 100% Staff Membership Award and 100% PTA Membership Award are due in March. Visit the WSPTA website links for specific deadlines.

Community Partners

• School Board
  Director Elisabeth Sotak is our new liaison. Welcome Director Sotak!
• Community Partnerships & Volunteer Coordinator - Marco Garcia 
  Northshore School District's 6th Annual State of Our Schools will be on the morning of Feb 7th. Northshore School District is in need of a few volunteers from 6:30 am to 7:30 am to help with set-up. Treats will be provided and volunteers are welcome to stay for the event.  E-mail Marco Garcia if you are able to volunteer. 

 Council Business

• Bulk Mailing Permit Survey
  • ​​Council has maintained a bulk mailing permit which has been available for local PTAs to utilize. It has not been used much, if at all, the last few years.  A survey is being conducted to help determine if there is a need to renew the bulk mailing permit or let it lapse. A motion passed to cancel the bulk mailing permit with an amendment that council can renew the permit if it is determined from the survey that there is a need to renew the permit from the local PTAs. Complete survey here. 
• ​Seeking Grants Proposal Committee Members 
  • Holly M. volunteered to chair the committee. Council is seeking two or more local PTSA leaders to join her in researching and formulating the grant. The grant is about trying to achieve more equity in the PTSAs. Council would like to appoint volunteers to the committee during the next board meeting in February.  Contact Council President, Rachel Fitzgerald, if you would like to volunteer for this committee.
• Letter to School Board and Superintendent Tolley
  • Diana C. presented a draft letter to be presented to the school board and Superintendent Tolley regarding concerns about the 2024-25 budget cuts. The letter was drafted by a committee formed at the December 2023 board of directors meeting. A motion passed to amend the letter and it will be read and emailed to the Northshore Council Board and Superintendent Tolley. The letter will be signed by Northshore Council PTSA Members and Board of Directors. Read letter here. 

Council Committee Updates

• Membership
  • ​Please encourage people to become members of their local PTA. The Great PTA Sign Up Day is January 31. WSPTA goal is to increase membership across the state by 5000 members. 
• Nominating Committee
  • ​If you would like to nominate yourself to be part of the 2024-2025 Northshore Council PTSA Board, please contact the committee by emailing ​[email protected] or complete the nomination form by January 31, 2024. We have many key positions open. Also, looking for a Co-VP of Events. Learn more about the positions. 
• Events
  • First meeting of the Reflections Reception Committee is being held on January 18. If you are interested in joining the committee, please contact Melissa B. An in-person Reflections Reception to celebrate our Northshore students will be held on Thursday, March 14. More details coming soon. 
• Reflections
  • ​There were 211 entries from across the district. We have 51 entries moving up as state qualifiers.  
• Advocacy
  • Focus Day was Monday, January 15, 2024.  Northshore was represented by 25 leaders, students, NSD staff, and school board directors. They traveled to Olympia to meet with legislative representatives and senators and advocate for our students and schools.  

After the meeting was adjourned, membership was invited to join Co-VP's of Advocacy Terra Droney & Holly Muenchow to discuss how to continue the advocating momentum after Focus Day. 

We hope to see you at our next March 18, 2024 at 7PM via Zoom. Register for Zoom meeting link.  

Council meetings will build your PTA knowledge, give you the opportunity to network with other PTA, school district and community leaders, and they can be a lot of fun, too. Each PTA may send up to 4 voting representatives - but we encourage ALL who are interested to attend. We look forward to seeing you there!

Questions? Email Council President, Rachel Fitzgerald at [email protected].

Save the Date - View calendar of future meeting dates.

Council Business
We elected our 2023-2024 Nominating Committee Anna Jensen, Holly Muenchow, and Laura Staneff. If you are interested in joining Council's Executive Board next year, please reach out to ​[email protected]. Online nomination form and more information coming soon. Learn more about what is a Nominating Committe on our blog post Everything You Have Wanted to Know About Nominating Committees.  

Community Partners

• Bob Swain, School Board Director - Report given by Rachel F. 
  Superintendent, staff, and the unions affected continue to review options for budget. A school board study session was last night, it is accessible online.  We have two new incoming board members, they have been attending the study sessions. There will be additional public study sessions and 6 community and family budget meetings. Next one is Nov 30th at 11 am online. If you have budget questions, email [email protected] so all board members get the email and copy Superintendent Tolley at [email protected]. This ensures your question goes to all of the people who will make the decisions. The new board members will be sworn in 12/11.  The board liaison position will be elected then.​
  
•  Community Partnerships & Volunteering Coordinator - Marco Garcia
  • Dec 7th | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Superintendent Engagement Session for East Asian Families | NSD Admin Offices
  • Get volunteer applications in if needed
  • Community Resource Fair with Bothell City Council is November 18th

              

• Northshore Schools Foundation - Executive Director Cara Anderson-Ahrens
  • Hoping to partner with Northshore Council more. 
  • Their goal is to raise money to pump into Northshore schools, support teachers and building staff, and connect local businesses to schools. 
  • Care Teams in Northshore schools are still relevant and active. There should be one person at each school. Heather Erickson from Northshore Foundation can connect the staff member to the correct school representative.  Not every school has a family engagement specialist.

​We had our first general meeting on September 18, 2023.  It started out with a land acknowledgement and general information on how to find out more about this important topic. 
 
Council Business
We reviewed the purpose of Council and the benefits of contacting Council for help.  Some of the advantages of Council is that we can help answer questions you may have in your local PTSA, communicate training, resolve conflict, or help you find answers on the Washington State PTA website.  As a reminder, Council will not ask to review your books or report you to any agency - we are not the PTA Police. We are here to support our local PTA leaders. View the PTA Leaders Resource Chart that was shared with members at the meeting. 

We had an open board position and Christine Roehnelt was elected Secretary for the 2023-2024 year. Installation of all Council members was made by WSPTA Finance Officer Liz Nord. 2022-2023 Council Co-President Mary Khouzam was recognized for all of her work last year.

During the meeting two breakout rooms were created. Membership Co-Chair Allison Torgesen​ presented and answered questions about memberplanet in one room while Brittany Hernandez, AIM representative, provided an overview of what you should know about your PTA insurance and answered questions in the second room.

The proposed budget for 2023-2024 was presented and approved by the members at the meeting.
 
Committee Updates

• Advocacy – Update from Holly M. 
  • On 10/3 from 6-7 pm, Council will be hosting an in-person School Board Candidate Forum.  Submit possible questions to be asked at the forum by September 25, 2023 
  • Legislative Assembly will be held virtually on Oct 21 & Oct. 22. Registration is now open. 
  • Please join our Council hosted Advocacy Facebook Group for PTA leaders.
• Events – Update from Melissa B.
  • Presidents and Principals is 10/26 from 11-12:30 at Brightwater Event Center. Digital invites will be emailed to the PTSA Presidents and Principals with a reservation link.
• Membership – Update from Allison T.
  • Approx. 2100 members have joined Northshore PTA/PTSAs so far this year. There are only 7 PTAs that have not yet entered their members - that is good start for being so early in the year.
• Reflections- Update by Jasmine F. 
  • I am Hopeful Because… is the theme for this year's 2023-2024 Reflections Program. 
  • Council is hosting two Reflections Roundtables on 9/25 and 10/4. In addition to the two Council Roundtables, Jasmine is also presenting Reflections Leaders Training for WSPTA on 9/21 at 6:30 p.m. and 10/7 at 9:00 a.m.
  • Student are invited to submit a theme to WSPTA for the 2025-2026 Reflections Program. Student with the winning theme will receive $100.  
• Speaker and Events Grants Program – Update by Grace J. 
  • First grant cycle was this summer, Council did not receive any applications. 
  • Applications are open for the second Educational Speakers and Community Events grant cycle. Local PTAs/PTSAs interested in partnering with Northshore Council PTSA to host speakers or events may apply for a Northshore Council PTSA Educational Speakers and Community Events Grant. The grant deadline is 10/27.

 District and Community Partners

• School Board Director Bob Swain  
  • The Northshore School District Graphics Center was cut from budget. Negotiations with a company/union are underway to explore third party printing. No official solution yet.      
    • In regards to the machines, no response yet as to what will happen to them. One machine was 100K to repair so that was taken into consideration when the print shop was closed. 
  • School design capital improvements are happening now with designers and committees. 
  • There is approximately $13.5 million saved from the Ruby Bridges building budget. This excess will stay in buildings and facilities. 
  • There will be budget cuts again next year, maybe $17-20 million. Board will be in study sessions to discuss cuts. 
  • Director Swain did not seek another term for School Board. Elisabeth Sotak, is running unopposed in the November election for his seat. The transition to the new school board member will take place after the election in December 2023. 
  • Student enrollment is approximately 200 more than budgeted.   
• Dr. Srinivas Khedam – Assistant Director of Family Engagement and Resource Center at Northshore School District 
  • On 10/4 at 6:30 p.m. Superintendent Tolley will be hosting a Listening Session for Spanish Speaking families.
  • The Family Engagement and Resource Center opened this summer. They receive referrals of families from NSD staff. Staff will check in with the family to see what resources are needed and NSD partners with the state and local agencies and connects them to help. Goal is to eliminate barriers for students and families. More information is on their website.
  • Staff is currently working on 5 minute PowerPoint informational presentations, done by students. An example of a video they will do is “What is PTSA?”. 
  • He also shares his learning from immigrant communities.

 
The President ended the meeting with a review of the upcoming events. All of the events dates and times are listed on the Northshore Council’s Calendar. 

We hope to see you at our next General Meeting on November 14th at 7 pm.  

Election Information:
Since the position of Secretary was not contested, the election will be by voice vote at the next General Meeting on Monday, September 18, 2023, at 7 PM.
​
Questions? Email Council President Rachel Fitzgerald.