Category: Resources

Online Meeting Hosting Available to Local PTAs

6/27/2024

Northshore Council will provide Online Meeting Hosting for local PTAs/PTSAs this 2024 - 2025 school year!

Online Meeting Hosting can be used by any local PTA/PTSA that wants Council to host a Zoom meeting for them. Please note that max number of attendees is 100 and that this service is offered on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Here is how it works:

Complete an online form to request a meeting date.
Council Zoom host(s) will receive a notification upon submission. Host(s) will verify there is availability for the requested date/time including confirmation that a Council representative can stay for the duration of the meeting.
Once a determination is made, the PTA/PTSA requesting will be contacted with either confirmation (and zoom info) or notice that the date/time is unavailable.
Three (3) weeks prior to meeting, Council Zoom Host will send an email to reconfirm date and timeas requested. You will need to respond to this email at least two (2) weeks prior to your meeting or you risk having your meeting time cancelled.

At the time of the meeting, a Council Zoom host will start the meeting and then pass host privileges to whomever the local PTA/PTSA designates. If at any point during the meeting there is an issue and the meeting needs to be restarted, the local PTA/PTSA representative will have access to text or message the Council Zoom host to have the meeting restarted.

Questions? Contact us!

Tips for Filling Open Board Positions

6/11/2024

Q: What do you do if you cannot find a candidate for a position?

A: Here are a couple of ideas to broaden your reach when searching for candidates:

Be sure to market your PTA! Let your community know what your PTA is doing to support them, the school and the students. The more they know about you, the more likely they will want to join your awesome team.
Reach out to incoming families! If you are a secondary school, reach out to your feeder school PTA’s to put the word out that you are looking for recommendations for nominations. If you are an elementary school, consider reaching out to families of incoming kindergarteners. Consider hosting Kindergarten Summer Playdates to get to know new families.There’s no better way to get to know a school and its administration than volunteering for a PTA position!
Hold an “Open House” type event. Whether virtual or in-person, this type of event is great for introducing people to your PTA and answering questions about PTA elected positions and their functions.
Make a personal ask. Do you know someone who you think would be great? Reach out to them and have a one to one conversation about why you think they would be the perfect fit.
Advertise your search for candidates EVERYWHERE! Put it on your website, put it in your newsletter, post about it on all your social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc.), send an email directly to your members, or even send snail mail (like a postcard) to your members. If you are looking for a school directory to help you connect to the families in your school, contact Council's Secretary to request one.

What if you STILL can’t find a candidate for a position?

If there is an open position on your slate of candidates, you can leave that position vacant. At an in-person meeting, the president will ask if there are any nominations from the floor. In the case of a virtual election, there will be a period of time allowed for self nominations prior to the membership meeting that mimic the function of “nominations from the floor”. Someone may step forward.
Consider whether you have enough time to continue your search. Can you send out another call for recommendations for nominations?
If a position remains open, it is possible, depending on what is stated in your Standing Rules, for your Board of Directors to appoint a person into that position in the interim. The search for a candidate can continue with the hopes that someone can be elected at the next membership meeting.
If you have some officers willing to stay on as interim, try again at the beginning of the next school year. People may be willing to jump into something new in September than at the end of a long school year when they’re looking forward to summer break.

Wrapping up the YEAR!

5/16/2024

Here's some tips and reminders for local PTA leaders for wrapping up another successful school year.

At the Last Meetings...

Recognize and thank your volunteers.

Survey your members and review your goals.

Approve next year's budget and approve any changes to the standing rules.

New idea: Consider updating your budget to allow for 2024-2025 membership pre-sales so that members can renew or buy memberships over the summer!

Recruit candidates for non-elected board and chair positions.

Give your team a deadline for submitting their reimbursable expenses to the treasurer so books can be closed on June 30.

Appoint your Financial Review Team. (A financial review is required by your PTA insurance and should be completed soon after books close on June 30).

Bookkeeping!

Washington State PTA (WSPTA) is switching their reporting database beginning July 1st but until then...

Enter New Officer Information into memberplanet. Tutorial here.

Update Admins (if needed) into memberplanet.
Confirm your PTA is reporting the correct number of members into memberplanet.
Download a year-end member roster from Memberplanet for your PTA records. FAQ here. *scroll down the page to find the link
Register New leaders with Council. (complete form here).
Take training for WSPTA’s New Database - givebacks. More info here.

Planning for a NEW Team!

Hold transition meetings for outgoing and incoming board members.
Give new leaders access to digital or hard files (reset passwords on July 1st).
Set dates for your summer retreat.
Review and update policies. Check out Council’s policies here.
Plan your Fall membership drive.
Encourage new officers to take training over the Summer! There are basic online trainings on the Washington State PTA website.
Share all the ways the incoming board can connect with Council .
Plan for your NSD facility use requests for 2024-2025.
Designate one Board member as your PTA/PTSA contact for facilities and email [email protected] with the new contact information.

For additional information check out our PTA Summer Blog from last year.

2024 Virtual College and Career Night

1/30/2024

We are excited to share that the Northshore Council PTSA is a proud sponsor of the Northshore School District's 2nd annual Virtual College and Career Night.

2024 Virtual College and Career Night
Thursday, February 8, 2024 | 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Session Links & More Information Here

This event will be filled with valuable information to help families plan and navigate post high school options and is
open to all NSD high school families. More than 20 virtual sessions will be offered for learning more about colleges and universities and career exploration.
Topics include:

College Application Process
Paying for College, Transfer, Tech, and 2-Year Programs
Apprenticeships and Career Colleges
Preparing for a career
...and so much more!

See full list below!

All sessions will be recorded and available on YouTube in late February with language interpretation.

Choose 3 Sessions to Attend on
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Session Links & More Information Here

Session links will be posted February 1, 2024 on NSD website and will become live on February 8, 2024.

College & University Sessions

Financial Aid Workshop for Senior Students and Parents
DigiPen Institute of Technology: Do What You Love, Love What You Do
The Highly Selective College Application Process
College Admissions Representative Panel
Guaranteed Admissions Program (GAP)
Historically Black Colleges & Universities
Do you want to be an NCAA/college athlete?
Finding the Right Fit
All About Pacific Northwest College of Art
Presenting Yourself on the UC Application
Putting Yourself on Paper: Writing the College Essay
Canadian Colleges: Application Process & Opportunities in Canada
Paying for College Without Going Broke
How the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) Makes Going Out of State Affordable
College Application Process for Public Universities in the State of Washington

Visit link.nsd.org/vccn2024 for more information.

Career Exploration Sessions

Preparing for Employment: Resume/Cover Letter/Interview Skills
Crafting Futures: Nurturing Talents through Apprenticeship
Military Options in College Education/ROTC
Boeing: Shape Aerospace Innovation
Advanced Manufacturing Skills Center (AMSC)/Washington AerospaceTraining and Research (WATR) Programs
Transfer, Tech, and Two-year Programs
Careers in Commercial Real Estate

Visit link.nsd.org/vccn2024 for more information.

Pre-Recorded Sessions - Watch Now

Be SMART - FREE Parent Education Webinar

10/7/2023

Be SMART
Monday, October 16, 2023
7PM
30 minute presentation followed by Q&A.

Click to Register for Free Webinar

Upon completion of registration, you will be given a unique zoom link. Each person logging in with a device must register for their own link.

The presentation outlines simple steps that all adults—whether they own guns or not—can take to keep our children and communities safer.

About Webinar:
Northshore parent and PTA member, Jaclyn Condra, will be presenting the 'Be SMART' educational program. The Be SMART framework is designed to help parents and adults normalize conversations about gun safety and take responsible actions that can prevent child gun deaths and injuries. The presentation outlines simple steps that all adults—whether they own guns or not—can take to keep our children and communities safer.

Register for Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqduGpqj0uH9ztyx-p8u0x9gZwjvRmDYZ3#

Questions? Please email Council President, Rachel Fitzgerald.

Originally published 09/06/23

Avoid Getting Scammed by Phishing Emails

9/21/2023

PTAs are often the target of scammers. It's important for PTA officers to know the red flags and how to help keep your PTA safe from online fraud.

As a non-profit association, PTA can be vulnerable to cybercrimes. As a PTA leader, you are a person most likely to receive these types of emails.

Scam Emails and Spoofing
The senders email may appear to come from another officer in your PTA such as the President or Treasurer, your bank or one of your vendors to help make the request look legitimate, but the email address is spoofed. There are things you can check for:

Confirm the actual "from" address of the sender - don't rely only on the name that is shown.
Does this email look and sound like other emails you have received from this person or institution?
Does this email ask you to do something that is not in alignment with current financial or money handling policies?
Often these emails will state the sender is unavailable in a meeting, or out of town, and sending money is an urgent matter.
Text or call the sender using an already established contact to verify the authenticity of the request. Do not call the number provided in the email.

Common Scams

Asking for gift cards. Remember gift cards are the equivalent of cash and if the email is acted upon, there is likely no recourse to get the money back.
Requesting a wire transfer usually through peer to peer (P2P) digital money transfer services such as PayPal, Zelle, Venmo, CashApp, ApplePay, etc. Wire transfers and P2P digital services are not recommended for PTAs. Instead you should have a clear funds disbursement procedure that is well documented for your records.
The email message may direct you to a spoofed website or otherwise get you to divulge private information such as bank account information or account passwords. The perpetrators then use this private information to commit identity theft or trick you to send money usually through peer to peer digital money transfer services.
- Note that the scammers are getting more convincing especially since the introduction of AI bots (Artificial Intelligence). In the past these emails could easily be spotted with the large number of spelling errors and poor grammar. Now scammers are relying on AI to get the wording (and the spelling) spot on!

Protecting Your PTA
There are a few things you and your board should be doing in order to protect your PTA:

If you get an email from a fellow PTA officer asking to transfer funds, do not send money. Verify the authenticity of the request by phoning the officer using a phone number already established in your contacts.
Establish clear lines of communication between board members.
Do not let anyone rush you into making a decision because it needs to be done now. Scammers will use the sense of urgency to get you to bypass best practices.
Make your entire board including chairs aware of these type of scams and remind the board of money handling best practices.
Know your budget well. The best indicator of a potential fraudulent activity is a request that is made for something outside of your PTAs member-approved budget.
Make sure your board of directors is well trained! View upcoming trainings here.
Make sure you have well documented procedures and processes for money disbursement. (See below)
Do not click any links or download any attachments in the suspicious email.
Inform your board that Washington State PTA and Northshore Council will not ask you to transfer money, provide personal information, or provide banking information over email.
Verify the identity of anyone who requests your personal information by using reliable, independent means.
Never provide banking or confidential financial or personal information in response to a suspicious email or an unverified website or form.

Step to Take If Your PTA is Victim of Fraud
In the unfortunate event that a scammer is successful, here are are some steps your PTA should follow if funds came from your PTA account:

Contact your bank and put a hold on the account and stop payment on the scam payment.
Call an emergency board meeting (Wait time can be waived if agreed upon by Board.)
Email [email protected]
Call AIM to confirm insurance, etc.
Decide as a board if filing a police report.

Money Handling Policy

Does your PTA have a money handling policy?
Has your PTA updated their policy to include online banking?

Money handling policies are important to have so that it is very clear how your members and board are handling the funds of the PTA. Having these policies written out, communicated, and followed helps safeguard your PTA from scammers, and mishandled money. They should include how you handle your cash, checks, deposits, withdrawals, any online money access, and more.

Need some help putting your money handling policies together or updating them? Council's money handling policies is available for you to use as a sample. Still have questions? Contact Council Treasurer Brenae Brix.

More Online Safety Tips & How to Report Internet Fraud

Spoofing and Phishing - FBI
How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams - FTC Consumer Advice
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) - FBI

How To Report Phishing
If you got a phishing email or text message, report it. The information you give helps fight scammers.

If you got a phishing email, forward it to the Anti-Phishing Working Group at [email protected].
If you got a phishing text message, forward it to SPAM (7726).
Report the phishing attempt to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Remember: There is nothing more urgent for your PTA than to follow best practices and policies to ensure you don't get caught in a scam!

<<Previous

Online Meeting Hosting Available to Local PTAs

Northshore Council will provide Online Meeting Hosting for local PTAs/PTSAs this 2024 - 2025 school year!

Tips for Filling Open Board Positions

Q: What do you do if you cannot find a candidate for a position?

Wrapping up the YEAR!

At the Last Meetings...

Bookkeeping!

Planning for a NEW Team!

2024 Virtual College and Career Night

2024 Virtual College and Career Night
Thursday, February 8, 2024 | 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Session Links & More Information Here

Choose 3 Sessions to Attend on
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Session Links & More Information Here

Be SMART - FREE Parent Education Webinar

Avoid Getting Scammed by Phishing Emails

Archives

Categories

Online Meeting Hosting Available to Local PTAs

Northshore Council will provide Online Meeting Hosting for local PTAs/PTSAs this 2024 - 2025 school year!

Tips for Filling Open Board Positions

​Q: What do you do if you cannot find a candidate for a position?

Wrapping up the YEAR!

At the Last Meetings...

Bookkeeping!

Planning for a NEW Team!

2024 Virtual College and Career Night

2024 Virtual College and Career NightThursday, February 8, 2024 | 6:30 - 8:30 pm Session Links & More Information Here

​Choose 3 Sessions to Attend onThursday, February 8, 2024​ Session Links & More Information Here

Be SMART - FREE Parent Education Webinar

Avoid Getting Scammed by Phishing Emails

Archives

Categories

Q: What do you do if you cannot find a candidate for a position?

2024 Virtual College and Career Night
Thursday, February 8, 2024 | 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Session Links & More Information Here

Choose 3 Sessions to Attend on
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Session Links & More Information Here