February 2024 Meeting

President’s Forum
Kellison Elementary
2/14/2024

Kimberly Dickens, Kellison principal welcomes President’s Forum.

So thankful for our PSO. Some things they have helped with recently: replaced all the benches on outdoor playground, created an outdoor classroom, new projection system in our gym. We benefit greatly from the work our PSO does for our school. We have also been having inclusive events for all families here at Kellison. 

Kate Moore, RSDMO Communications welcomes from the President’s Forum.

Thank you to Board of Directors thank you for being here to Tammy Rhomberg, Lynne Midyett, Jaime Bayes.

State of the District Update. (See Presentation) 

Board of Education Update, Jaime Bayes, Board President
Three Candidates for BOE
Election Day is April 2.

The next board meeting will have a student advisory group present. Still working out what that will look like. Dr. Cain works in middle and high schools to have student advisory groups to have a student voice. 

COPE committee moved this forward. Tammy and Lynne serve on that committee. Dr. Jansen over secondary schools reached out to the schools principals for names that would be good to be on the committee. Wide range of voices. Reached out to the students to say “who would represent you.” Two students from each highs school and pathways. One senior, one junior. So when senior rolls off will replace with a junior the next year. Want them to have a voice and gain skills. We are here to serve the students. Love the families, but the students are so important to us. 

Approval for meeting minutes for January: Motion, second. Motion passes.

Andrea Kraus, Treasurer, President’s Forum
We have the same balance we did last month. Bank account doesn’t change much throughout the year.

Internal Controls: Compliance Review
Can be performed by a special committee you put together. Just people who don’t work with the money usually, ie. Board members, a parent/accountant, volunteers, etc. 

Recommend doing it mid-year when PTO is at a less busy year as opposed to April/May when the school year is busy and wrapping up. Documents available on the President’s Forum website. [Link]

Insurance 
Rockwood provides for all the PTOs through PTO Today your general liability insurance. Events held on and off property.

PTO needs to purchase director and office liability insurance, to protect your members, crime insurance/bonding if your yearly budget is over $15,000 to protect the people who directly handle the funds. PTO Today can provide all of these. Arthur Gallagher can do bonding. 

Additional notes on insurance:
Offsite event, call PTO Today for the certificate of insurance. If we are not covered, need to get special insurance or be put on the Vendor’s insurance. Check website for what is covered and what is not.

Training: See presentation 
President’s Forum is here to support you. 
Resources to help you support your roles on your board, and make them more manageable. We will give advice and guidance on your board transition. We will also share facts and resources for the treasurer. 

Board transition should be thorough. May will be a time to meet with outgoing board and incoming board. Meet together intentionally at our May meeting. 

Training empowers volunteers, it enables them to make a more significant impact and feel more fulfilled in their roles. 

Presidents’ Training and Treasurers’ training, requisite/essential. Coming soon!

Learning About Ourselves and Others (See presentation 
Dr. Dawnette Wiskur, Coordinator of Professional Learning

Build camaraderie with your board with this Johari Window activity. 
Trust is really powerful. Building trust with others. Learning to be vulnerable over time, it requires work and attention. 

Johari Window - Joe and Kerry two researchers worked together to come up with an idea of the Johari Window. 

We build trust with others by sharing about ourselves with others. It improves our self awareness, discovering what other people think about you, your strengths and weaknesses. Improves communication and team interpersonal relationships. 

Four pieces to our personality:

Open area - we see and others see about ourselves
Blind area - what others see in us that we don’t see
Hidden area - parts of yourself that you don’t let other people see, maybe dreams or skills you don’t want others to know unless you’re close.
Unknown area - exciting! The things we don’t know about ourselves yet, and others don’t know either. ie. Strength and resilience we all realized through covid. 

Exit Ticket - at the end of the meeting…
1 question still circling in your mind
2 information that squared with your thinking
3 important points you want to remember

Two board positions available on the President’s Forum. Contact us for details or questions.
Next Meeting: Meet the Candidate, Wildwood Middle School. March 13 6:30pm.