PTA meeting minutes for March 14, 2018
Meeting called to order at 6:33pm by Melanie White.  All said the Pledge of Allegience and took a moment of silence. 
Board members present: Melanie White, Tracy Boggs, Melissa McGrath, Kristin Pitirri, Courtney Maliki, Kim Evertt, Helen Senese, Linda Dansa
Principal's report - Mrs. Dansa
	The BLT group will be meeting this month, and will have a report for next month's meeting.  Thank you from Heather Palmer for the volunteers that have expressed interest in helping with the community garden.  
	The spring Book Fair last week was fabulous, and Family Night was well attended.  The teachers are very grateful for the books they received for their classrooms.  
	Student report cards will be available this Friday, 3/16.  Feedback from both parents and teachers indicate that less than half of Blasdell parents were able to access student report cards in December via the Parent Portal.  A letter from Mrs. Dansa will be going home tomorrow with students, and all students will have a paper copy of this marking period's report card going home on Friday.  Discussion with meeting attendees relayed that the teacher comments in particular are difficult to access and/or view on mobile devices.  It was also discussed that a short information session on using the Parent Portal may be incorporated into Parent Information Night in September.  
	March has been a busy month for the Arts at Blasdell.  The district Spectrum concert last week, which included our 5th grade band students, was wonderful.  Five students will be representing Blasdell in the Erie County Chorus; they attended rehearsal today.  5th grade band students also perfomed today for the 3rd grade students in the recruitment concert.  The Festival of the Arts event is coming up on Saturday, March 24th, from 11am - 2pm at the High School.  Many students' artwork will be on display.  Lots to be proud of from Blasdell students in the Arts!
Teacher report - Mrs. Senese
	Mrs. Senese had several thank you notes from teachers for the PTA for the books purchased for their classrooms from the Book Fair.  In her own classroom, each new book has already been read by students!  
Treasurer's report - Melissa McGrath
	Copies of recent budget information are available for review.  We received a check for $130 from the Buffalo Collective fundraiser.  There are 4 more PTA events coming up that will require payments.  In addition, kindergarten welcome t-shirts will be ordered soon.
Special Guest Speaker - Dr. Richard Hughes
	We welcomed Dr. Richard Hughes, the new district Superintendent to speak tonight.  Dr. Hughes gave us some of his background, such as teaching in Fredonia and growing up in Wyoming County.  His family is currently in the process of buying a home in the district and his children will finish out this school year as Frontier students.  Dr. Hughes is working on many new ideas to improve the district and welcomes parent feedback.  
Old Business
Student Banking - Kim Evertt
	There are currently about 65-70 active student bankers.  The PTA recently received the annual check from SEFCU for $460; the PTA receives $5 for each active student banker.  This month, students can be entered into a drawing for an Amazon gift card for banking 4 times.  Any amount sent in counts, even 1 penny!  This week, Mrs. Evertt and Mrs. Santillo started training Tammy Schmitz, who will be taking over student banking next year.  It was also discussed that many still found the banking reminders through the Remind system to be helpful. 
Membership Update - Tracy Boggs
	We currently have 177 members, which is approximately 81% of our goal of 215 members.  
Me & My Guy Dance - Dawn Carcione & Kelly White
	Thank you both for a successful event!  Thank you also to Jennifer Silver, Butterfly Wishes photography, for donating her time and talent taking photographs during the event.  
Buffalo Collective fundraiser - Melanie White
	The event was held at the beginning of February break, so only 13 people attended.  It was a fun evening, and something we would like to do again.  Melanie is looking at other dates for events, and may put up a Facebook survey of dates people would be more likely to attend.  
Spring Bookfair - Jonel Papucci
	Thank you to Jonel and Sandi Eisenmann for a great event!  Total sales were $6100 vs $5300 at the Fall book fair.  Great job working with the new registers at the event.  Sandi discussed that next year, for student shopping, parents will be able to load an online "e-wallet" for students, similar to when ordering through their classroom.  It will be accessed through the Scholastic homepage.  
Chuck E Cheese fundraiser - Lindsay Bzibziak
	Thank you to Lindsay for organizing this event.  There was a great turn-out, and the PTA made a profit of $772.  A new "minutes" system for games, rather than tokens, was rolled out, so kids can play unlimited games for a specific time period.  
New Business
Spring Apparel Sale - Olivia Schwarzott
	An order form will be coming home soon for Bee Apparel.  The same items are offered for sale, but open to suggestions for new items parents would like to see for next year's sale in the Fall.  Orders will be due before April break, and items generally take about 2 weeks to arrive and be delivered to school.  
Family Movie Night - Kristin Pitirri
	Movie Night is coming up on Friday, 3/23, from 6-8pm.  6-630pm is craft & snack time in the cafeteria; the movie will begin promptly at 630pm in the Auditorium.  We are showing Trolls.  No food or drink is allowed in the auditorium.  Snack packs, which will all be peanut free, will include popcorn, candy and a small bottle of water.  These are available pre-sale for $1.  Money and order forms are due Friday 3/16.  
Me & My Gal Game Night - Kim Everett
	This event for Blasdell boys and their "special gal" (mom, aunt, grandma, etc) will be held Thursday April 19th.  Planning for this event is underway.
Yankee Candle spring fundraiser - Dawn Rowell
	We will be having a yankee candle spring sale.  We are planning for order forms to go home following April break, with the hope to have items that were ordered in in time for Mother's Day.  
Ice Cream Social - Brandi Fanning
	This event coincides with the Spring concert and Art Show.  It will be held on May 9th, at 630pm.  More information to come closer to the event.
Snack discussion - Melanie White
	Thanks to the generosity of Blasdell families, there were several types of snacks left over from the Me & My Guy dance.  Some ideas for using these snacks were discussed, and it was decided that they will be offered during the PTA picnic on Field Day.  
2018-2019 Board Elections
	Nominations for the PTA board will be accepted at next month's meeting, with voting occuring during the May meeting.  Please consider being a part of the PTA board!

Melanie motioned to adjour the meeting, Tracy seconded the motion.  Meeting was adjourned at 7:18pm.  

Respectfully submitted, 
Kristin Pitirri, Recording Secretary