Northshore Council PTSA 6.10
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WSPTA 2022-2023 Awards Recipients

5/19/2023

 
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​Each year, Washington State PTA recognizes the work of individuals, PTAs, and Councils across the state via a variety of awards, including Leadership Academy and the Awards of Excellence Program. Cottage Lake Elementary and Council  submitted applications and were recognized for their efforts at the WSPTA 2023 Spring Training Conference held on May 6th and 7th.

Awards work to celebrate the efforts of local PTAs and Councils in a variety of different areas. The criteria reflect a strong knowledge and application of best practices and the submission process can be rigorous. These awards are truly reflective of the dedication and strength of these PTAs and the powerful contributions they make to their communities.

This year's recipients included:

2022 - 2023 WSPTA Awards Recipients

​​Standards of Excellence for PTAs & Councils
Recognizing the effective use of WSPTA best practices as a guide for local PTAs and Councils to be child-focused, responsible to members, knowledgeable, fiscally responsible, involved, and well-trained.
  • Northshore Council PTSA - Gold
  • Cottage Lake Elementary PTA - Silver
Leadership Service Award
The purpose of this program is to recognize and acknowledge leadership skills attained by PTA leaders throughout all levels of the association
  • Carrie McKenzie - Crystal 
    North Creek High School PTSA President
Outstanding Communication Strategy
Recognizing the effective use of multiple communication channels to reach members and community. 
  • Northshore Council PTSA - Gold

Outstanding Newsletter
Recognizing the effective use of newsletters as a communication tool. 
  • Northshore Council PTSA - Gold​

​​Outstanding Website
Recognizing the effective use of websites as a communication tool
  • Northshore Council PTSA - Gold
  • Cottage Lake Elementary PTA - Bronze
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Congratulations!
Learn more about the WSPTA Standards of Excellence Awards and Leadership Awards and apply for your PTA next year. 

Contest: Donut Forget - To Complete Your SOA

3/2/2023

 
Win Donuts for Your Next Board Meeting!
March 20, 2023 Update - 
Winning PTA: Lockwood Elementary PTA

​SHOUT OUT to the following PTAs for submitting your SOA forms for the contest:
  • Canyon Creek Elementary PTA 
  • Cottage Lake Elementary PTA
  • Frank Love Elementary PTA
  • Innovation Lab High School PTSA      
  • Woodin Elementary PTA
*Winner was randomly selected using an online tool.
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How to Enter:
Snap a picture of your PTAs completed Standards of Affiliation (SOA) form and email it to vpsupportel@northshorecouncilptsa.org to be entered into a drawing to win donuts for your next board meeting (up to 3 dozen).
​Entries due by 6pm on Monday, March 20, 2023.

Who is Eligible?
All local Northshore PTA/PTSAs

 
When Will Winners Be Announced?
Winners will be announced at our next General Membership Meeting on Monday, March 20 at 7pm. Join the zoom early for Meet & Greet at 6:30pm.
What is the Standards of Affiliation (SOA)?
​

It is a checklist of 13 items that every PTA should do annually. Completing this checklist will help local PTAs ensure their independent nonprofit business remains current with all IRS, state, insurance, and PTA requirements. We encourage you to include your entire board of directors in this work, to keep your membership up to date with your progress, and to record progress in meeting minutes.
​
  • SOA Checklist (wastatepta.org)
Questions? Email ​vpsupportel@northshorecouncilptsa.org

AIM Insurance Renewal & Submit Certificates to NSD

11/3/2022

 

​​Insurance renewal notices from AIM insurance have started to arrive!

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​Remember to review coverage with your board before paying the premium.
Please note that premium payments are due before the end of November.

WSPTA Recommendations for Insurance include:
  • General liability (covers your PTA),
  • Officers’ liability (covers the board of directors, who make the decisions),
  • Property if you own anything (short-term coverage is available for cookie dough or other physical items PTA holds during sales), and
  • Fidelity bond to cover the PTA assets for loss due to fraud and embezzlement.
You may also want to consider social media insurance if you have active social media accounts.

Also be sure to add Northshore School District as an additional insured and request the endorsement from AIM when you renew - they do not automatically send that each year. NSD requires an updated copy of the form each year by December. If your PTA does not submit the updated endorsement, you risk cancellation of existing facility reservations and will be unable to make new requests until they have updated insurance paperwork.
​Renewing with Additional Insured and Endorsement

There are two ways to request an Additional Insured with endorsement:

(1.) If you have not yet renewed, when applying for insurance online, choose to add the Additional Insured and add:
Northshore School District
3330 Monte Vista Parkway
Bothell, WA 98021

​In the description request put: “Please send Endorsement with certificate.”
You will be emailed a copy of your Insurance and the Additional Insured certificates. A copy of both of these then need to be forwarded to Vanessa Greek at the NSD office.

(2.) If you have already renewed but did not submit the request with the AI information at renewal, fill
out the Additional Insured Request Form
. Make sure you put on the request that you need
an “Endorsement with certificate”. Then send the form to aim@aim-companies.com. Once you
have both certificates, send a copy of each to Vanessa Greek at the NSD office.

For questions, contact AIM toll free at 1-800-876-4044.

Northshore PTAs Connect: Focus on PTA Success Roundtable - 10/14 @ 7PM

9/23/2021

 
Northshore PTAs Connect: Focus on PTA Success • Online Roundtable • Thursday, Oct. 14th @ 7pm
​Join us for ‘Northshore PTAs Connect’ – an online roundtable discussion for PTA/PTSA leaders to ask questions, share ideas, and connect with one another.

This evening (7pm) roundtable will feature a focused discussion on the topic of PTA Success. Local leaders will have the opportunity to ask questions and get support to make sure their PTA/PTSA is in good standing and on track to meet upcoming deadlines and SOA requirements. While there may be a focus topic, Northshore PTAs Connect Roundtables are an open discussion and there is always opportunity to ask questions and tackle emerging or ongoing areas of interest or concern.

Date: Thursday, October 14th
Time: 7:00PM 
Location: Online via Zoom

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81122278122
Meeting ID: 811 2227 8122
Passcode: Available upon request

Questions? Contact Council!

Important Checklist for PTAs!

9/7/2021

 
Start the school year off right by being sure to check these important tasks off your PTA To-Do list!
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This is a busy time of year for PTA Leaders with so many things to get done in order to run your PTA, plan programming for students, and provide support to your school community. Here at Council we want to make sure a few key "to-do" items don't get overlooked so we've created the checklist below. We've included links and resources for these items, but remember, Council is always here to help and support our local Northshore PTA Leaders! Visit our Contact Page to connect with a Council officer.
PTA Back-to-School Checklist for 2021-2022
File Size: 567 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Planning Your 1st General Membership Meeting

9/6/2021

 
Tips & Resources For: Planning Your First General Meeting
The 2021-2022 school year is upon us and the PTA year is about to get into full swing! By now your PTA has held its summer board retreat and has begun planning a membership campaign. So what's next?

Now it's time to plan your first general membership meeting of the year! While some PTAs may be planning for in person meetings, many will plan for their meeting to be held virtually, which may require a little additional preparation.

If you are new to hosting virtual meetings, get to know your virtual meeting tool’s online support – there should be tips for setup for all the features, including screen sharing, enabling closed captioning, and login requirements.

TIP: Host one or more practice meetings with a few board members ahead of time to get accustomed to the online meeting tools and platform you'll be using.


Whether the PTA meets virtually or in person, the same items of business must be done.
  1. Approve the 2021-2022 budget – Even if your membership approved a 2021-2022 budget in the spring, adjustments may need to be made. The board of directors should review the approved budget before the meeting and make recommendations to the membership for any necessary changes.
  2. Approve the standing rules – Standing rules are the set of conditions the members impose on the running of the PTA, and they need to be approved annually. They should be reviewed by the board prior to the meeting to ensure they are up to date with all requirements. The Leadership Guides section of the WSPTA website has standing rules templates. One important addition to your PTA’s standing rules is to add language around electronic voting if it's not already included. Electronic voting by electronic ballot, survey, poll, or email is allowed by law but only if it is explicitly permitted by the PTA’s standing rules. Check out Council's Planning for Virtual Elections blog for resources and a template to use as a guide for adding electronic voting to your standing rules.
  3. Present the 2020-2021 financial review – Results should be presented to the members of your PTA. If your PTA still needs to complete the review, which is required in order to maintain your fidelity bond, visit our Online Financial Review blog for tips and resources.
  4. Hold elections – If you have vacant positions, you'll want to hold elections. Washington state nonprofit laws require a President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer to be elected by the members. Some PTAs may not have elected a complete slate of officers in the Spring. If your PTA falls into this category, you will need to take several steps to make sure you can hold a legal election by virtual meeting. Check out WSPTA's Taking Care of Business through Virtual Meetings resource for a walk through of each of the steps.
  5. Elect a nominating committee – This is required by the WSPTA Uniform Bylaws and is part of the WSPTA Standards of Affiliation. Three members must be elected to a nominating committee at least 30 days prior to the election.  Electing this committee early means that they have all year to do the work, you are asking for volunteers at one of the best-attended meetings of the year (hopefully, before people are over-committed), and if you are unable to get three nominees at this meeting you will have additional meetings at which you can continue to work to get three nominees.

Bonus Tip: Plan on having something additional to offer your members once the business is complete. The first meeting is a great opportunity for your principal to give an update on the start of the year – there are lots of things about this school year that are different! Plan ahead with your principal and make sure you know what format for taking questions they are comfortable with. During the meeting, act as the moderator by setting ground rules and expectations for how members will participate and ask their questions.

Questions about planning your 1st general membership meeting of the year? Contact Council - We are here to help!

Information provided in this blog was originally posted by WSPTA in a 2020 article. Click here to read that article.

2020-21 WA State PTA Standards of Affiliation (SOA)

9/11/2020

 
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​The Washington State PTA Standards of Affiliation Agreement Checklist 2020-2021 is now available!

This checklist is a tool to help your PTA keep up with its legal requirements, both as a non-profit and as a PTA. The requirements come from the IRS, the State of Washington, your insurance company,  and WSPTA.
What your PTA needs to do:
  • Take care of all SOA requirements
  • Use the SOA checklist to keep track of progress
  • Keep a copy with your legal documents and/or Treasurer's binder
  • Involve your entire board
  • Update your membership on your SOA progress
  • Ask for help if you need it!

There have been a few updates this year to make the SOA even better, including an introduction page that has clear instructions, calls out what’s new to the checklists in 2020-21, and offers a number of resources to answer questions and give more detail on all requirements.

This video from WSPTA offers a great overview of SOA and what it means for your PTA:
In addition, WSPTA offers a number of tools to help support your PTA in completing the SOA checklist, including:
  • SOA Tips & Best Practices
  • SOA FAQ
  • SOA Standing Rules Suggested Language
  • Training Requirement Flyer
  • Training Tracking Spreadsheet
  • 2020-21 Deadline Dates
​
Remember that sharing the progress of your SOA with your members also lets others know about how your PTA operates and shows the work that goes on, often behind the scenes, to keep your PTA legal, safe and operating within the very best practices of our state.
Questions? Council is here to help!
  • Elementary PTA/PTSAs with questions should contact Grace Jurado.
  • Middle and High School PTSAs should contact Nancy Chamberlain. 

Standards of Affiliation Checklist, 2019-2020

9/8/2019

 
Standards of Affilliation Checklist, 2019-2020
The Washington State PTA Standards of Affiliation Agreement Checklist 2019-2020 is now available!

If you are looking for it from the home page, navigation is as follows:
Home --> PTA Leaders --> Governance - scroll down and click on "Standards of Affiliation (SOA)"
This checklist is a tool to help your PTA keep up with its legal requirements, both as a non-profit and as a PTA. The requirements come from the IRS, the State of Washington, your insurance company,  and WSPTA.
What your PTA needs to do:
  • Take care of all SOA requirements
  • Use the SOA checklist to keep track of progress
  • Keep a copy with your legal documents and/or Treasurer's binder
  • Involve your entire board
  • Update your membership on your SOA progress
  • Ask for help if you need it!
New this year on the Standards of Affiliation Checklist is to update IRS Form 8822-B. The IRS added this requirement in 2018 for security reasons. Form 8822-B should be filed when the PTA’s mailing address changes or the identity of the “responsible party” as listed on the IRS Form 990 changes. The "responsible party" for a PTA should be a principal officer (usually the president or treasurer). There is no penalty for late filing, but it is important that records with the IRS are up to date.  Do it as soon as you can!

Because this form requires that the responsible party include his/her Social Security Number, the suggested best practice is that the outgoing responsible party should make sure that this form is filled out by an incoming responsible party during transition, to ensure their personal information is not left on this account.

This video from WSPTA offers a great overview of SOA and what it means for your PTA:
In addition, WSPTA offers a number of tools to help support your PTA in completing the SOA checklist, including:
  • SOA Best Practices & Tips
  • SOA FAQ
  • 2019-20 Deadline Dates
Remember that sharing the progress of your SOA with your members also lets others know about how your PTA operates and shows the work that goes on, often behind the scenes, to keep your PTA legal, safe and operating within the very best practices of our state.
Questions? Council is here to help!
  • Elementary PTA/PTSAs with questions should contact Cindy Jensen.
  • Middle and High School PTSAs should contact Melissa Kline.

2018-19 Standards of Affiliation

9/7/2018

 
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Each PTA is a legal corporation and your officers have fiduciary responsibilities to keep your organization on track. Some requirements come from the IRS, others are Washington State law, your PTA insurance company has requirements and WSPTA also has standards.  Keeping on top of it all can be a challenge!

Washington State PTA (WSPTA) offers the Standards of Affiliation (SOA) as a guideline for keeping all the important requirements for your PTA up to date. Taxes to insurance to best practices-- all can be tracked with the help of the Washington State PTA SOA checklist-- and the 2018-19 SOA is now available!

Tracking your PTA’s compliance with the SOA checklist is a great way to stay on top of things this year. Sharing the progress you’ve made with your members also lets others know about how your PTA operates and shows the work that goes on, often behind the scenes, to keep your PTA legal, safe and operating within the very best practices of our state.

If parts of of SOA don’t make sense or you need further help and clarification, WSPTA has also created a Best Practices and Tip Sheet with details on each of the 13 requirements. And, of course, Northshore Council is here to help you as well! Contact us with any questions or concerns you may have!

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