RCO Meeting Minutes from 5/5/2015

Hi All

In case you missed the RCO Meeting held on 5/5/2015, here are the minutes.  A special thank you to our outgoing minute taker, Ryan Turner.  Ryan, you have made our jobs so much easier with your thorough notes and great time keeping skills!

-RCO

Ridgeline Community Organization (RCO)

Parent Council Meeting Minutes

May 5, 2015

 

Approximately 12 parents attending

 

MAIN HIGHLIGHTS FROM MEETING:

**DDD current total is approximately $32,931.  It is hoped that the Jog-a-thon will raise approximately the remainder.

**Parent Survey results presented by Yaeko.

**Interviews on-going for two vacant staff positions.

**The RCO voted to adopt the “General Fund Plan Outline” for next year, as presented by Christine.  $30K would be raised during Fall Term by each family donating $150; all other events would raise the remaining $10K.

 

 

Jog-a-thon update (Amy and Aimee)

-Nearly all volunteer slots are full.

-The schedule has been finalized for the start times for the various age groups.

-Some discussion about the need for water stations and tarps.

-General orientation for parent volunteers will be at 9:15AM.

-E-News will have further updates.

 

RCO Business (Christine)

-Current DDD total is approximately $32,931.

-Christine expressed gratitude for the guidance and advice that previous RCO conveners have provided over the past year.

-Christine presented the RCO Annual General Fund Plan outline, which itemizes where the funds will likely come from next year. There had been some confusion this year about where the DDD funding came from; this General Fund Plan outline aims to clarify this.

-Chrystell clarified that $40K will be the required amount next year, in order to pay for the 3 specialists (music, counselor, PE) and scholarships for field trips.

-The DDD fundraising next year will be only held during the Fall term, with a goal of asking $150 from each of the 200 families. It’s hoped that by lowering the amount asked for, there will be higher participation in direct (one time or monthly) donations. Some discussion about whether people would be more or less willing to donate if the “ask” amount is lowered from $390 to $150.

-Previously: $40,000 divided by families that don’t qualify for free/reduced lunch = $390.

-Proposed: $30,000 divided by all families = $150.

-The remaining $10,000 would be raised from spring “thon”($3,500), E-scrip ($2,000), pasta dinner ($2,000), restaurant nights ($1,000), tree sales ($500), and ongoing (Amazon smile, Sequential, etc)($1,000).

-The Fundraising Plan was voted on and passed unanimously by the RCO.

-Christine has been reaching out to various potential businesses for fundraising events next year. Any fundraising ideas can be emailed to the RCO.

-Christine presented a draft of the “RCO Planned Events Procedures” which would help clarify how events are scheduled. Ideally, the main events would be known at the beginning of the year, and small events wouldn’t be continually added to the calendar throughout the year.

-Yaeko suggested potentially having a participation goal in addition to a total funding goal. This would encourage folks who can’t afford the entire amount to donate at least some amount, in order to participate. This can be useful for grant writing requests.

-Possible need for a “community event” coordinator. There has been some confusion about whether previous events are “fundraising events” or just community building.

-May 30^th will be a house concert at Christine’s house.

 

 

 

Admin Report (Chrystell)

-Interviews will be held next week for two of the vacant teaching positions.

-Bike and walk to school week is ongoing

-May 19^th is the next budget meeting; open to the public

-May 28^th is end-of-year picnic

-Parent/teacher conference scheduling is ongoing

-Drainage feature in the south field seems to have failed, creating a consistent wet area. A contractor will inspect the drainage system in the next couple of weeks.

-Enrollment, staffing and scheduling the calendar for the next school year has begun.

-June 24^th the kindergarten class will sing the National Anthem at the first Eugene Ems game.

-The search continues for a music teacher.

 

 

 

Board Report (Jen)

 -Recruiting board members is ongoing. The board can vary between 4 and 11 members; Jen expressed an interest in increasing the size of the current board (6 members) to approximately 8 or 9 members.

-The strategic planning process has begun and is ongoing.  A new mission and vision statement has been adopted. Core values and goals will be worked on during the next meeting.

-Meetings are open to the public.

 

Parent Survey Report (Yaeko)

-109 responses total; slightly higher than last year.

-Good marks for communication; the RCO blog is not employed as much as the other means of electronic communication.

-Fundraising participation has been fairly high also.

-Some desire to have more large fundraising events.

-37 families were willing to volunteer as mentor families.

-The common response for not attending RCO meetings was busy schedules and inconvenient meeting times.

-Guest speakers and parent education are subjects that might increase RCO meeting attendance.

-Both administration and board were ranked very high for effective leadership.

-Health, well-being, safety, and academic preparation also received high rankings.