Davis High School PTA Meeting

Present: Renee Liston, Steve Lege, Michael Cawley, Lynda Yancher, Guy Michelier, Ann Reioux, Renuka Mannapperuma, Alison Roe, Carla Lehn, Dharam Shabua, Lee Groen, Tsui Chang, Kitty Hudson Student Representatives: Tanvir Kapoor, Brooke Agee

Meeting called to order at 7:35 pm by Renee Liston.

Welcome - Renee Liston

Renee welcomed everyone present.

Acceptance of January 6, 2004 Minutes

The minutes of the January 6, 2004 meeting were accepted by Renee Liston.

President's Report – Renee Liston

Updates were given re:

• Nominations process

Nominations will be solicited through sending out the PTA Board member recruitment form in the March DHS PTA newsletter; checking with Emerson and Holmes about active PTA parents of incoming 10th grade students; advertising on the list-servs.

• Board member recruitment process

After receiving nominations from the above sources, Lee Groen, PTA Parliamentarian will coordinate the work of the nominating committee. The Nominating Committee will be elected at the next PTA meeting, March 2.

• Outstanding parent volunteer award process

March PTA newsletter will ask for nominations DHS staff will be asked to make nominations; communication delivered via teachers’ mail boxes

• Outstanding educator award process

March newsletter will ask for nominations

• School starts August 25, 2004

Student Reps

Brooke Agee, Junior class president was present to make the presentation. A very successful Junior Prom was held on Dec 13. Bills are still being paid, but the class expects to make a $3000-4000 profit. The junior class is already looking ahead for future fundraising opportunities. They are also working on setting the location for the senior ball since locations being considered need advance booking, including the Sacramento Convention Center or an area hotel.

In ASB class students are breaking into new committees. One of the committees is the CASA committee which is responsible for organizing students to attend the CASA Student Leadership conference. Ten students will be attending the conference in March. The Junior class has new class officers since the new semester.

Tanvir Kapoor reported that the Sophomore class is planning for the February 13 dance, which will have a jazzy theme from the 1930’s or ‘40’s. Sophomores will be selling roses in order to offset the cost of the dance.

This year’s ASB Renaissance Awards ceremony will be held on February 6 at 6:30 pm in the DHS Faculty Lounge. These awards are given to students who have shown perseverance in their effort at DHS; all are welcome. Tanvir requested that the names of the student award winners be published; he will email the names to Alison for inclusion in the March PTA Newsletter.

Ann Reioux had several fundraising ideas for the students. One of the ideas can be found at www.applesforeducation.com

Treasurer's Report – Carla Lehn

There has been little financial activity over last month. The PTA has not yet been billed for the printing costs of the February newsletter or the student directory.

Discussion of Spring Donation Letter "Big Ticket Item(s)" – Lynda Yancher

The PTA requested a quote from a vender for an electronic sign with remote programming capabilities. The sign would be shorter, but same width as current sign on corner of 14th and Oak. The sign would have variable display features, including dimming of the light at night. Lynda Yancher volunteered to look into the electronic sign currently existing at Vacaville High School. The next step in the process is a review by DSUSD Facilities personnel. If the district approves the sign, they will take the item forward to the City. Community input will come through the city council. Questions about will the sign have the Blue Devil logo? Yes, like the current sign. Minimally it will have "Davis Senior High School."

PTA is also considering the purchase of a few LCD projectors for DHS. It was suggested that more tables for outdoor areas would be welcome on campus.

Concerns were voiced about needing a “Plan B” if letter needs to go out before the sign is approved.

Motion was made to prepare a spring fundraising solicitation letter for the sign, projectors and tables, in that order, as funds allow. The letter will be mailed out after the successful completion of the approval process. The letter will be mailed to every household, irrespective of PTA membership.

Motion made by Guy Michelier; seconded by Steve Lege; motion passed.

Principal's Report – Michael Cawley

The Chamber of Commerce Student of the Month for February was Lindsey Richter.

Two FFA members of the Speakers team advanced from the county to regional level.

The Mock Trial team competed in Sacramento in a criminal trial competition. Results of the competition are not yet known. Several field trips have been happening this week, with visits to the CHP Academy, the Sacramento B Street Theater, and the Sacramento Federal Courthouse for “Open Doors to the Federal Courts.”

No counseling report due to the incoming 10th grade parent meetings

Next week DHS students will get their program planners. The process is occurring earlier this year due to the opening of the new junior high school and the Davis Smaller Learning Community (DSLC) and related staffing needs.

Questions regarding the DSLC - will it be housed on the DHS site? Yes, until the UCD site is ready in approximately three years. Will it require its own PTA? Not at this time. The Napa New Tech High School is located on a separate site, so it is a separate entity and has its own PTA.

Does the DSLC have its own principal? Yes, Ms. Pam Mari. Will there be a third Assistant Principal at DHS next year? Administration is working on that; spring is a good time to attract new administrators.

Teacher Report – Steve Lege

DSLC presentations held tonight and tomorrow night preceding the incoming 10th grade parent meetings. All parents were welcome to attend.

Lynda said it had been an awesome presentation.

Matt Best has developed a DSLC web site. It is linked to PTA website. Suggestion was made to put the DSLC website address in PTA newsletter

For registration purposes, students wanting to attend DSLC can specifically check on the program planner that they are interested in DSLC. When these students turn in their program planner, they will also turn in their DSLC application.

Question - Is there concern that there won’t be enough kids?

There is always this concern, but there seems to be overwhelming support among the incoming 10th grade students. It is expected that it will be more difficult to attract 11th graders since they are already involved in the activities at DHS than it will be to attract incoming 10th graders.

Part of the application packet includes a recommendation form to be completed by teachers or adults not a part of the family. This form is online. It is expected that teachers will be the primary source of student recommendations

Lots of energy is going into creating this positive educational experience for students.

Academic Decathlon is scheduled for February 7, from 7:45 am to 5:00 pm at the Woodland Community College. All students will participate in ten events, culminating in the Superquiz, which this year is about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It is a countywide competition, with the winning school proceeding to the state competition. Steve will submit results for the March or April newsletter.

Parent Representative Reports

• C&I – Melinda Zimmerman

Discussion of the pro/con of changing all secondary sites to a single collaboration time.

Board policy for controversial speakers was reviewed.

Heidi Loper and Sally Plicka will be the Secondary Summer School principals.

• Superintendent's Parent Advisory

Kelly will be at advisory meeting. Tsui promised to relay questions to Jane or Kelly who couldn't attend the PTA meeting. No questions from those present.

• Leadership Team – Kitty Hudson

Discussion of program called AVID, Advancement Via Individual Determination

Community Reports

• Membership – Guy Michelier

Individual memberships 224 x 1 224 Family memberships 389 x 2 796 Davis High School Staff 18 x 1 18 Total PTA Members 1038

Discussion that there are probably more staff, but they may be listed as parents.

Question regarding whether there are any student directories left. Yes. If can’t afford to buy one, go through DHS Counseling office; otherwise they are for sale at the front office, also in Renee’s garage.

Committee will need to meet to revise form for next year’s PTA membership and volunteer forms.

• Volunteers - Renuka Mannapperuma

Volunteers could be recruited for helping with the sophomore dance; worked well for the junior class prom. Some office volunteers are available to assist with the California High School exit exam. Renuka will coordinate effort with Loyla Vogel. The test dates are March 16 & 17. Will also give names of volunteers to the Career Center for assisting with lining up the end of the year awards ceremony. For next year’s transition between leaving and new board member, Renuka will type up a job description.

It was noted that the Membership position has a manual in place. The list-serv will be updated again as it was this year. Suggested that all exiting board members prepare a current job description for their PTA position to be passed to their successor.

• Newsletter – Alison Roe

The March newsletter deadline is February 6. Alison said this would be her last year. Highly recommended that a new newsletter person have the ability to do pdf files.

• Hospitality

Recently had a donut event for the staff. Both Lee and Lynda worked on the event.

Lynda noted the situation that though email reduces the cost of getting the word out to parent volunteers about hospitality requests, more events have been added this year. She requested an increase in the hospitality budget from $350 to $500. She also recommended this same amount be used in future annual budgets.

Lynda moved, Ann Reioux seconded. Motion passed.

Carla suggested taking the difference from PTA administrative expenses, but it was decided to allow Hospitality to go over budget this year.

Someone moved. Guy seconded. Motion passed.

Computer support

This will be Sue’s last year for managing the PTA website, which is one main site with several satellite sites. Suggestion was made to change the job title from Webmaster to Website Coordinator.

The listserv is going well. Due to the tightly constructed design of the listserv, no viruses have infected any of them at this time. Members for the 2007 listserv are being enlisted from the junior high schools.

Other Business

Sally Ryen sent her thanks for the PTA's special recognition for her 5 years of service as PTA Teacher Liaison.

Congratulations were offered to Renee Liston for earning the City of Davis' Covell Citizen of the Year Award at the annual Chamber of Commerce Dinner.

Ann Reioux spoke about a Grad Night fundraiser that will be held at Applebee's on Saturday, March 20 from 8:00 am to 9:30 am. Tickets for breakfast at Applebee's will sell at $8 for adults, $5 for students. 100% of the money goes to Grad Night. Tickets are to be purchased ahead of the event; 185 tickets available. Ann will arrange for a flyer to be put in the teachers' boxes. Applebee's has expressed a strong commitment to Grad Night.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 pm by Renee Liston. Submitted by Kitty Hudson.