SHS BAND PARENT ASSOCIATION

BOARD MEETING MINUTES

March 10, 2009

 

 

President Gary Vogel called the meeting to order at 6:41pm

 

Members in attendance were:

 

Mr. Malcolm - Director

Ms. Newhouse - Director

Mr. Jennings - Music Intern

Gary Vogel - President

John Babinchak - President - Elect

Cherie Heckford - Treasurer

Penny Copel - Treasurer

Michele Bozarth - Secretary

Sue Moynihan - Fundraising

Bryan Bozarth - 9th  Grade Rep

Kiera Guarino - 10th Grade Rep & Uniforms

Dr. Sonia Bhatia - 12th Grade Rep, Webchieftress, Publicity

Michele Wawoe - Publicity Committee Member

Kevin Fletcher - Publicity Committee Member

Kathy Vogel - Liaison with SHS Boosters

Ann Corbell - Alumni Relations, Senior Night

Rob Corbell - Web Support

 

Gary welcomed everyone. He let everyone know that the executive board met last night March 9th for a variety of reasons. There has been some confusion and chaos. They met to lay out some groundwork for the future. The meeting was very constructive and we got a lot done. We talked about how to better support our directors and how we have and haven’t done so in the past. We have an incredible group of people who are strong willed and passionate. One of the new things that we are going to do in regards to the minutes is that we are going to have a recorder present at the meetings. We need to remember that we are an organization that needs to keep everything out in the open and remember that everything is documented. We can not be having sidebar conversations.  We are trying to follow Roberts rules so when the Secretary sends out the minutes in an email everyone should print those out and bring them to the next meeting with any changes. They will then be discussed and changes can be made then we will amend the minutes and approve them. Also brought up last night was the concern that at times we have students present at our meetings and we really need to keep in mind the sensitive nature of our conversations at times. If we need to discuss a certain student we need to ask any student present to step out of the room. Thank you to the executive board members that attended last night.

 

 

 

1.      DIRECTORS REPORT – MR. MALCOLM & MS. NEWHOUSE

 

Mr. Malcolm also thanked the executive board for coming together last night. He is glad that we are trying to keep a professional atmosphere. When it comes to student issues, we should try not to discuss them in open meetings. They should be done in the committee that that issues is concerning. Concerning the recording of these meetings Mr. Malcolm asked if it was going to be burned onto a CD or archived in any way? He found that the time when he tried to test recording the meeting he picked up a lot of background noise. Michele explained that the main reason for recording tonight was she is sick and wanted to make sure she caught everything. This is open for suggestions it can be deleted or saved and archived. We may want to look at the background noise and if there seems to be a lot maybe move the recorder to a central location. February has been a busy a month. This past weekend we had our MPA. All three groups did an outstanding job we are extremely proud of our band. Our Concert band received 2,3,3,2 for an overall 3. We are not particularly happy with the rating they received, they seemed to be way to hard on them but we are very happy with how prepared and well behaved they were and how they did everything right. We are so proud of them. The Symphonic band received 2,2,3,2 for an over all 2. The kids were a little disappointed with themselves because they knew that they could do better and they didn’t play to the best of their ability. Overall we are very proud. All of the bands seemed to have some problems because when MPA was originally set up FCAT was the following week but the school system moved FCAT up and we were already stuck where we were. We were dealing with classes that we were not even seeing. Concert band was not in class 2 days last week. Wind Ensemble did get straight superiors. We are really proud because we had a hard time picking music for them. The last week of March will be very busy for us. We have State Solo Ensemble and Jazz MPA on the 30th. The Journey to Jazz concert on the 31st and we leave for D.C on the 2nd. For the D.C trip we will be having 3 after school practices on the 18th, 25th and the 1st. They will be an hour long. We will be practicing, bus signups, and doing an overview of the trip and handout music. The school calendar is messing everyone up a little because the end of the 3rd nine weeks is the 27th. So this means that the 3rd the students will be missing classes. They will be activityed out and it will not be an issue. The 28th will be the Journey thru Jazz dress rehearsal from 9-until. April brings Wind Ensemble going to State the 22nd-24th. Percussion Concert May 21st. Incoming parent meeting date still be determined. August band camp will be the 10th-14th from 9am-9pm if we’re allowed on campus. Parent Registration possibly August 6th-7th. A question was asked about dues amounts and Mr. Malcolm stated that that need to go though the finance committee. Mr. Malcolm has asked Sonia to add a link on the webpage as a “New Member Welcome Page”. Ms. Newhouse took the Orchestra to MPA for the very first time. One of the judges comments was “It’s the best we have heard all day”. We should be very proud of them. Mr. Jennings stated that the directors are really showing him what it’s all about. At school they teach you all the stuff that you do at the podium but that’s only about 10% of your job. Most of what you do is outside the classroom. He is really learning from them. Spring cleaning is going well. Mr. Malcolm also said that he is looking for some big ticket items for the band room like swiffers for the dust, to mount some microphones for recording, and things like that.

 

2.      PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES

 

Previous meeting minutes – everyone received by email. A motion was made by Sonia to accept the previous minutes that were received by email and the motion was seconded by Cheri. The motion was passed unanimously.

 

3.      TREASURER’S REPORT

 

Cheri handed out copies of the treasurer’s report and a profit and loss statement. She explained to everyone that currently we are at a $-2400.00 even with a carryover of $13000 from last year. This means that we have spent more than we have brought in. There will be money coming in from the athletic boosters which should be just under $3000, the Jazz concert and the Seminole Showcase. The big ticket item we purchased was the concert dresses. We should not be too concerned at this time but we should just keep in mind where we are. A question was asked about the 2007/2008 band trip that shows on the third page. Cheri explained that the money was earned in last year but the trip was paid out of this year. This became a wash. This happened because the trip was at the end of the year.  Kevin asked how budget cuts will affect us. Mr. Malcolm explained that right now we are not sure how this will affect us. Biggest thing we need to do is the “Call to Action”. If it’s a little cut we will be alright. The biggest thing that will affect us as a band is transportation. We do not get a lot from the school. We get $2000. This doesn’t pay for a lot but what the school does pay is for our busses for our transportation. This means that we would do home games but maybe not away games. Right now we are just not sure there are a lot of things being said and heard. There is a concern that there is a school budget meeting on March 31st the same night as the Jazz concert. All of the school board that we invited will be going to that meeting. We may see a drop in our attendance. A motion was made by Kiera to accept the treasurer’s report as presented and the motion was seconded by Sonia. The motion was passed unanimously.

 

4.      SUE - BAND TRIP

 

The band trip is going well. The room assignments have been submitted. The only thing Sue is trying to do now is collect the remaining money that is still owed. Mr. Malcolm made an announcement today that everyone should have their money in. Sue said that she would get Mr. Malcolm a list so he will know who still owes. Sue asked if we will need parents to help load the busses and also about disbursing the uniforms. Mr. Malcolm said his goal was next Wednesday to send the uniforms home with the students and have them responsible for having them dry cleaned and pack them in their luggage. As far as the loading of equipment – we will have a crew that day and everyone will help out. The last itinerary and the cell phone list will be sent out by email to all the chaperones. Sue said that she will get Rob a list and he will take care of getting it out. Sue needs to make sure that she has everyone’s correct numbers. A question was asked about medications. Sue said that they will have to be bagged up, labeled and given to Mr. Malcolm. The report time will be 7pm. John will be putting the trip on Twitter and Facebook so that families can follow along each day. Sue also explained that there may be some left over money after everything is paid. They want to give it back to the parents on the day of the trip. It was decided to let the parents decide if they want it back or if they what the band to keep it once we know exactly how much it is. A big Thank you to Sue for all she’s done.

  

 

5.      KIERA - UNIFORMS/CONCERT WEAR

 

The concert dresses were supposed to be in last week and we will still have not seen them. Kiera is trying to track the guy down. Kiera is going to try and get a discount because they were not in when we were promised. We are going to wait for the new dresses to come in before we decide what to do with the old ones. Once the new ones come in we will have the girls try them on and then send them home to they can each do their own hemming. Uniform sales – we sold a total of $795, more than we thought. We have archived some, given 25 to Ms.McGuire and held some for area businesses. It was decided that we are ready to get rid of these. Kiera has not had a chance to get into the uniform closet but it seems to be looking good. The kids have been doing a great job keeping it up. She will get back in there soon to take a look at it.

 

6.      JOHN - BENEFIT JAZZ CONCERT

 

John gave us an update on the benefit Jazz concert. They are still meeting bi-weekly. The date is still on for the 31st. There is no report on ticket sales yet. They are trickling in right now. Posters are out all over. Emails have gone out to everyone including the middle schools. One problem that has come up is the school board meeting that has been scheduled for that same night. So we probably won’t see any of the board members. We have it on Facebook and have touched 617 individuals and 162 say they will be there. We are fine tuning everything. The kids are practicing with Mr. Wawoe on Fridays. They are sounding very good. It should be a good concert. They have very hard music and a lot of it. The feedback from the community has been very positive. There will be a photo in the Thursday Sentinel. TV hasn’t seen anything yet. John is working on trying to get an article in the Herald. We will be on the WLOQ website. UCF approached John and wants to post it. There are posters all over UCF. Michele needs to know if the Jazz band is going to order t-shirts. They would like to do at least one number where they are all wearing their shirts. We need to place the order as soon as possible. As far as ads – not much on that, currently there are 3 ads, 2 are paid for and 1 is free. We are hoping that the parents will want to put something in for their kids. We need to be sending out reminder emails every week just to say “Hey don’t forget”.

 

7.      SONIA - PHOTO/VIDEO

 

Sonia submitted her report via email as follows:

1. Photo/video:


a. For the past week I have been focusing on the marching season DVD,
and reliving all the fun and excitement.  You'll love the final product.

b. Videotaped all the District FBA performances this weekend.  I will
check with the band directors if they'd like any video posted. I would like
to eventually make audio files of some of the recordings too.

c. Working on posting a number of videos and audio files. Posted Jazz
Chiefs recently & MLK Parade x2  tonight, not linked to website yet.

d. Currently there are no band parents signed up for photo/video next
year. Hopefully there will be someone from the incoming parents. I know I'll
be back for a couple of games next year, and will happily take photos when
I'm visiting!

e. Lots of videotaping and DVD-making in store for me for the rest of
the year: Marching Season, JTJ, Prism, Percussion and Orchestra.

 2. Newsletter:


a. It is time to set a timeline for the next Band Beat and assign articles.
We'll discuss this at the meeting. I'm thinking of May 8, with it being
mailed the week of May 26. I will hold a small place for the band directors
to announce the drum majors on May 14.

b. I'll be working on a newsletter for incoming parents for the end of this
month.

c. Michele W is doing the newsletter next year. I've asked her to go to
print with whatever has been turned in by the deadline. I have wasted too
much time over the years sending out reminders and waiting for submissions,
and we do so much better when deadlines are firm.  I hope all returning
board members will do their best to be on time. Michele will retain some
"classic" elements from the current layout, and will bring a different look
to Band Beat.  My sincere appreciation to Michele for keeping Band Beat
alive.

3. Website:

a. We are planning a transition for mid-May, when Kevin will take over as
webchief and I will only update the photo-video pages until the end of the
year. He, Michele W and I will be having a meeting in early April to go over
details. Essentially Michele will be gathering up all the info and giving it
to Kevin, who will post it. Rob will continue as Web Tech. My sincere
appreciation to all three for pledging to keep the website timely and
relevant.

b. Kevin will also have the folder about renewing payment to the webserver

and for our domain names.

c. Kevin is following up with making us affiliates for JourneysEd. When I
tried in Jan, it would not accept the assigned username and password, and
I've been too busy to resolve it. I am hoping that we have the links in
place by the end of the month so we can promote them in Noles News. This
might get us some traffic for college-bound seniors who need new computer
hardware/software for college.

 4. Forms:

Over the years I have accumulated a lot of forms that we use throughout the
year. Mainly because I've been creating them at the request of committee
chairs. All these forms will be turned over to Kevin. If you need anything
next year, please contact him, he'll have it.   He knows I'll be here for
him if needed.

5. Lynx Public Service Bus: Still waiting to receive a one-page budget and
the new tax-exempt status form before I can submit our application for the
drawing for the band to be featured on the Lynx Public Service Bus for 2009.

 

Additions to this report include: Kevin will be taking over the website as of April. Sonia will be meeting with Kevin and Michele to go over roles. We are waiting on the tax exempt papers so that we can get into the drawing for LYNX. We lost our spot on the back of the Noles News to the Thespians but that is great for them to be there. There is still a lot of band stuff on the inside of it. Michele will be handling that part next year. Starting this Saturday Seminole County Government will be showing the Marching Festival. A question was asked if we could see if they could throw a slide in about the Jazz concert. We will look into it. Next Band Beat deadline is May 8th. Sonia explained that she would like to have everything written and formatted and ready to go, then she will leave one page for the banquet and get it out right before graduation. She would like everyone to write something about what they have done this year. Drum major auditions are after that deadline and leadership interviews are going to be in May. We will have 2 more editions of the band beat, the regular one and one that is for incoming parents only. A year ago a company came out to Lake Mary and took pictures of the band students and then the parents had 3 preview days where they could go and see the pictures. Sonia showed the pictures that she had gotten and explained that she thought it would be nice to offer this to our parents. There is no fee or obligation for them. John asked if they do an entire band picture as well and Sonia was not sure. Mr. Malcolm was concerned about the price and suggested that we research this and see if they can do without the composites and maybe lower the price. The other concern is that the only way you can order them is that you have to come to the proof night. Sonia also has printed out bigger prints of the Solo Ensemble to show everyone.

 

 

 

8.      DIVIDEND HOURS – CHERIE

 

Cheri asked about the icon being added to the computer in the band room and Mr. Malcolm confirmed that it had been. Ms. Mandell has committed to imputing all the dividend hours in bulk rather than day by day. Our deadline is the end of March. Cheri is not doing any of the board members so you will have to go to the school or the band room to input your hours. At this time we don’t know how many hours we have total. Sonia expressed concern that we have worked so hard to get the 5 star rating and we used to be able to announce in the band beat a couple of times a year where our parents stood in hours volunteered. It seems that we are missing out by not having a volunteer coordinator that can be in charge of that. She is concerned that all of hours our not getting documented. She suggested that we resurrect the monthly collecting of dividend hours. Gary asked if we could get some kind of printout of all the hours so that we can compare last year vs. this year.  This seems to be a very time consuming thing to do and maybe we should reevaluate how it will be done for next year. Cheri explained that because it was time consuming she fought so hard to get the icon on the band computer. Next year parents will be able to log in and out right in the band room for games. Chaperones for the band trip need to make sure they log in their hours for the trip and adjust for the maximum of 8 hours per day. Gary encouraged all board members to take responsibility to get their hours done. We really need to look at how this is done for next year, maybe take the imputing of hours away from the volunteer coordinator and make it someone’s sole job. We need to keep in mind that whoever is in charge of putting in hours is going to have the problem of, if they don’t know about hours or are not told, they don’t know what hours need to be entered. We definitely need to train all parents on logging in and out.

Cheri also explained that she is waiting for the tax exempt form. Sue said that Kaleidoscope still needs it.

 

 

9.      NOMINATIONS – UPDATE – GARY

 

The nominating committee has met and all positions have been filled except 2 treasurer positions, payable and receivable. Once they have been filled we will send out a slate to the board. The process will be to present the slate to the board at a meeting and open that meeting up to anyone who wants to come. Then present the slate to the general membership at the spring concert. We do need a quorum of 10 members and the majority needs to be 50% + 1 (that would be 6 to vote yes). We need to get the slate filled. The bylaws state that we have to present the slate at the final meeting of the board at the spring concert to be voted on by the general membership. So the discussions need to be at the next board meeting on April 14th. We are currently working on filling the last 2 positions and hope to have them filled by that meeting.

 

10.  NEW BUSINESS

 

Mr. Malcolm brought up the great concern about our school budget. Everyone is fighting for the same thing. If parents are concerned they need to act on it. This is to every club, activity, etc. The reason why they have put the word out to the Band, Dazzlers and Destiny is because they have the most organized parent associations. They are seriously talking about major cuts. Seminole county is better off then most counties. They will be outsourcing a lot of things. We are encouraging everyone to send a copy of Dr. Vogels letter to Tallahassee. We have to tell them that there is a great demand for our schools. We all need to check out Flmusiced.org, there is a lot of information on that site. They lobby for us to keep music in our schools. Education itself needs to be saved. There is still time to do something. Gary stated that phone calls and emails do not work, we really need to get letters mailed and faxed to the legislature’s office. Gary and John can get a letter to Sonia to get it posted on the website and we will email blast the letter so that everyone can print it out and fax it. Sonia will work with Rob to get something out ASAP.

 

John asked if we face a potential problem with the March 31st Jazz concert. Everyone agreed that at this point there is too much invested in this event to not go through with it. It would be a mistake to not continue with the concert. The committee should take a look at the costs and see if there is anywhere that they may be able to make some cuts.

 

Gary will be in contact with the other BPA’s across the county as well as the Dazzlers and Destiny to see what they are doing. Maybe we could make an alliance with them.We need to make sure that this information gets to the kids because they are the ones that are going to be most affected by it.

 

John stated that the news media has already gotten information on the Jazz concert, they will get another news release 10 days ahead of time and then they will get an alert on the Thursday prior so as they are going through what they are going to cover, they can see if we can be moved up on the docket. But if there is something more important they will take that.

 

 

The next meeting will be on April 14th at 6:30pm at the same location. Gary adjourned the meeting at 8:53pm

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

Michele Bozarth

Secretary