November 19, 2024 AND January 21, 2025 Membership Meeting Recaps

On November 19, 2024, Northshore Council PTSA held a virtual General Membership Meeting.

That evening, we were unable to meet quorum due to power outages from a windstorm. We reviewed important upcoming events and received updates from officers and committees. Any business was tabled until our January 21, 2025, meeting.
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Continue reading below for a recap of the November meeting. 

Community Partners

• Director Elisabeth Sotak - NSD School Board Representative
  A budget review was done by the district and school board to look at costs to cut in the 2025-2026 budget. The district is hoping the legislature will allocate more money to schools in the upcoming legislative session. NSD is currently on a “financial watch” list, along with other districts. The recent "Conversations with the Board" event was well attended.
• Marco Garcia - NSD Community Partnerships & Volunteer Coordinator
  With many possible power outages tomorrow, district communications will send out information early in the morning regarding school closures. The communications department is discussing the release of directory information to PTA leaders. The communications department is also working on a handbook for PTA use. Volunteer background checks have halted temporarily because of a WA state court system outage.
  
  

Council Business

• All Council business was tabled until the January 21, 2025, meeting due to not having quorum. This included the election of our 2024-2025 Nominating Committee and approving our 2024-2025 Mission and Goals.
  
  

Council Updates

• Treasurer - The Council Treasurer was not able to attend. Their update was given by Council President, Grace Jurado. The September 2024 and October 2024 monthly Treasurer reports were presented. Taxes have been filed, and the insurance renewal has been completed.
• Events - Our Co-VP of Events, Melissa Bennett, recapped the Presidents and Principals Luncheon. The luncheon went well. There was some feedback regarding time of day the event is held and increasing opportunities to connect with other leaders.
• Advocacy - Our Advocacy team is planning for Focus Day happening on February 17, 2025.
• Reflections - The Reflections Art Reception will be held on Saturday, January 11, 2025. It is hoped that high school National Honors Society students will fill all volunteer needs.

On January 21, 2025, Northshore Council PTSA held a virtual General Membership Meeting.

Thank you to the PTA local leaders from across the Northshore School District, as well as community and school partners, for taking the time to join us!
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Continue reading below for a recap of the January meeting.

 Community Partners

• Marco Garcia - NSD Community Partnerships and Volunteer Coordinator
  The communications department has been able to resolve the PTA directory issue. They will send directory information to Council to distribute to local PTA leaders. It was suggested that volunteers request their Level 2 Volunteer clearances as early as possible for Spring camps, fieldtrips and parties. The communications department is looking to share Art Docent projects. If your Art Docent program would like to share an example of a project at your school, please send Marco information by end of February. There will be an Art Docent training coming up in March.
• JoLynn Berge - NSD Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Superintendent
  Council and local PTA leaders were given an update on the 2025-2026 budget shortfall. If your PTA would like to have this presentation at your upcoming membership meeting, please reach out to Deputy Superintendent Berge directly!

Council Business

• The minutes for the September and November 2024 Council Membership meetings were presented for review and approved with slight changes.
• Council Treasurer, Brenae Brix, presented the November and December 2024 Treasurer Reports, requested a name change of a budget line item, and asked for volunteers to perform Council's mid-year financial review.
• The 2024-2025 Council Nominating Committee was declared elected. Thank you to our volunteers!
• The updated 2024-2025 Council Mission and Goals Statement was approved.
• Members in attendance reviewed a resolution addressing free school meals and lunch debt. The resolution was approved. You can view the resolution HERE.
• Members in attendance reviewed a letter to WA state legislators regarding fully funding education. The letter was approved. Follow up with individual PTAs will occur to ask to add their names to the letter before sending it to legislators. You can view the letter HERE.
  
  

Council Updates

• Advocacy – Advocacy Coalition meetings are ongoing. Be sure to be aware of Action Alerts from WSPTA during Focus Week and to register for Focus Day. Council will be carpooling to Focus Day. On Monday, January 27, a group from NSD including administration, school board members, students, teachers and other community members will meet with legislators to encourage fully funding education.
• Grants – The committee is discussing how to move forward. It has been a struggle to get PTAs to apply for the grants. Suggestions for how to meet the committee's goals are welcome!
• Reflections - Over 300 people attended the Reflections Art Reception on January 11th. Entries have been submitted to state. Work is occurring on a virtual slide show of art submissions.
• Events - The date of the Spring Recognition event will be June 4th. There will be a survey sent out to request feedback on if leaders would like a breakfast, lunch or evening event.
• Membership - There are a total of 4578 members! PTA leaders were asked to be sure that they have engaged with Givebacks, the WSPTA membership database, since their first dues payment. A reminder was given that dues for members must be paid to WSPTA within 30days and a recommendation to send in dues by the first of every month. 
• Communications – Be sure to read the Council eNews email newsletter for the most up to date information!
• E-Prep – There will be a meeting open to all NSD community members on February 4th @ 11am where Carri Campbell, NSD Director of Communications, will discuss the recommendations of the NSD Student Wellness and Safety Task Force.
• Elementary and Secondary PTA Support - There will be a PTA Leader Meet-Up occurring on February 7th from 11:30am - 1pm at The Texan Cafe and Coffee House to answer questions and connect.
• Inclusion Committee – The committee has had successful meetings. Discussion included: recruiting people to join our PTA boards, how to ensure that our PTA boards represent our school community, headsets for translation at the district level, and strategies for communicating events out to the wider community.
  
  

Calendar Reminders

• Don't forget to register for WSPTA Focus Day happening February 17, 2025!

We hope to see you at our next membership meeting on Monday, March 17, 2025, at 7PM via Zoom. 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!