January 19, 2023 Membership Meeting Recap

On Thursday, January 19, 2023, Northshore Council PTSA held its third General Membership meeting of the school year.

We would like to say thank you to all of the local leaders from across the district, as well as community and school partners for taking the time to join us!

Continue reading below for a recap of the meeting. ​

Meeting Recap: 

Council Business

• After reviewing and approving the meeting minutes from our November General Membership meeting, Council Treasurer Serena Xu presented the December 2022 financial report for review, as well as reporting SOA updates.
  
  
• Next up was the 2023 Nominating Committee election. Jane Chiodo, Cherry Holmes, and Laura Staneff were elected to serve on this year’s Nominating Committee. Nominating Committee training will be available on February 3rd for all PTAs.

Community Partners

• We next heard from our community partners. School Board Director Bob Swain provided an update on the Northshore School District Superintendent search, Bond and Levy Capital Projects, and the Student Safety and Health and Wellness Task Force.
  • Superintendent Search: The search process began in November 2022, with the hiring of GR Recruiting. GR Recruiting met with 40 different community and school individuals and compiled a list of qualifications for a prospective superintendent based on their feedback. The application submission deadline is February 6th. The Top applications that meet the requested criteria will be given to the School Board on February 21st. The top 2 or 3 candidates will be presented at Town Hall meetings for the public to ask questions.
    
    
  • Bond and Levy Capital Projects: Projects are going through the design stage, and will then move to the building stage.
    
    
  • Student Safety and Health and Wellness Task Force: The Task Force is comprised of 29 students, school staff, parents, and community members. They will present their recommendations in April 2023.
    
    
• Executive Director of Communications for Northshore School District, Carri Campbell, presented an update for NSD Community Partnerships and Volunteers.
  • State of Our Schools: This event will be held on February 8, 2023, from 8 am – 9 am. Council leaders and PTA presidents are invited to attend. The event will be live streamed for those who cannot attend in person.
    
    
  • ParentSquare: ParentSquare, a new Northshore School District communication app launches on Monday, January 23, 2023 for school admin and office staff. Families will receive invites to download the app as soon as Monday. Parent Square will better support all languages and dialects. Jennifer Piplic provided a brief demonstration of ParentSquare to those in attendance.
    
    

Council Committees

• Advocacy – Jennifer Drury
  • ​Jennifer shared WSPTA’s Focus on Advocacy Week 2023 will be the week of February 6th. Please visit Council or WSPTA websites to sign up for action alerts. Focus Day 2023 will be on February 20th. PTA members are invited to Olympia for Focus Day to meet with legislators. Transportation is being coordinated. Please complete the survey if you are interested in attending.  
    
    
• Membership – Kimberly Ortiz
  • ​We are currently at 96% of last year’s membership across Northshore PTAs. Congratulations to the eight PTAs who have received the WSPTA Membership Platinum Growth Award already this school year. They are Bothell High School PTSA, Cottage Lake Elementary PTA, Frank Love Elementary PTA, Kenmore Middle School PTSA, Shelton View Elementary, Sorenson PTA, Timbercrest Middle  School PTSA, and Woodinville High School PTSA.
    
    
• Reflections – Jasmine Lee Fry (presented by Mary Khouzam)
  • Submissions for WSPTA Reflections are being entered, and local PTA leaders have been informed that submissions have been received.
    
    
• Grants – Mary Khouzam
  • ​The application deadline for Educational Speakers and Community Events grant is on January 27, 2023. PTAs interested in partnering with Council should submit their application.

Reminders

• The next General Membership Meeting is on March 20th, 2023. The results of a recent poll asking attendees about their meeting preferences for meeting in person or virtually showed a majority preference for meeting virtually. Therefore, the March 20th meeting will be held via Zoom.
  
  
• Council is still looking for a VP of Events, and a FACE chair. Please contact Council Co-Presidents if you are interested in serving on Council.
  
  

Meeting adjourned at 8:45pm by Mary Khouzam.
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