Upcoming Events

• Volunteer Tea (May 26):  Just a reminder that tomorrow (Thursday) is your day to be recognized for your volunteer time by the school and the kids.  The celebration starts at 9:15 in the classrooms, followed by a gathering at 9:30 in the Commons.
• June PTA Board Meeting (June 9th 6:30):  Our June meeting is a chance to finish up any yearly business and to thank the outgoing Board members.  In addition, the incoming Board members can meet and chat with the current and leaving Board members.  But most importantly, it is a chance to have some fun!  Mail will be going out about this shortly, but Donna and I would like to host the meeting at my house and have a light dinner provided.  Bring a dessert or drinkable item and yourself!  You do not have to be on the Board to attend -- just let us know and we'll make sure you get the details on the meeting.

PTA Annual Report
It's the first, annual, Annual Report.  Read on for a thoughtful discourse on what we achieved this last year, where we spent our funds, and some of what we are looking forward to for next year.

New Officers for 2011-2012 Voted in and Budget Approved
At the General PTA Membership Meeting in May both the slate of nominees for the Board as well as the Budget were approved.  We are blessed to have another strong group of individuals working together on the Board.  We thank all the Board members who are leaving the Board this year - your efforts have been invaluable in enriching our school.  And we welcome the incoming Board members to our Franklin team!

After many hours of work, we have a balanced budget.  As many know, for the past two years we have worked to balance our budget each year.  We do not allocate more money than we anticipate raising. We have gone over the 2011-2012 budget and, following the example of LWSD, cut administrative and overhead costs.  Moving to an all-electronic communication model has allowed us to cut our paper costs.  In addition, we hope to bring in more money by using "opt-in" programs such as Amazon.com's Affiliate program (buy via the Ben Franklin PTA link and 4% of your purchase anonymously goes back to the PTA) and through corporate Matching Funds.  Both allow us to passively raise more money which can be used to directly support the school and student learning.  

Update from the PTA Convention (from Donna B. and Amanda M.)
Read on for changes that were adopted at this year's PTA Convention in May.  These will affect those of us on the Board next year.
School Supply Packs Working Session
This Thursday at 6:30 in the Library.  Donna will be leading the working session to help figure out how and what we do for the School Supply Packs.  If you haven't heard about this, parents have requested a way to purchase supplies and "just have them delivered" to the school.  Apparently several elementary school in LWSD already offer this.  We have spoken with a couple of companies to get ideas on how much our existing school lists might cost, however another option is to do it "in-house" and have some coordinate the purchase of bulk items (paper, pencils, etc.).  There are two other related issues:  standardizing the supply lists and PTA purchase of bulk supplies.  The school has started the process of standardizing the supply lists (ie 3d and 5th grades would both specify 24 crayons, instead of differing numbers).  Finally, PTA has expressed a desire top purchase the classroom sanitation supplies such as hand sanitizer, wipes, etc.  We are using the surplus money raised in the Jogathon to purchase this for next year.  We hope to be able to do this each year if we have a surplus.

Highlights of May's PTA Board Meeting
May was/is a packed month.  In addition to the General Membership meeting, we also had a Board meeting.  Here are the highlights:

• Franklin Hoedown was a success!  Lots of kudos from parents and teachers on the dance.  We sold tickets, food, and family photos to help offset the cost of the dance.  A week of instruction (during PE and music) plus the dance was $1800 plus .  We raised $1700 through tickets, food, and photo sales (although we spend about $300 in food).  Overall we covered all but $300 in costs -- not bad since it included a week's instruction.  We will be booking Gaylen's talents again for next year (with a change in theme to mix it up).  Thanks to Nancy Denney and Rena Petersen for bringing this positive experience to Franklin.
• Discussion of this year's Staff Appreciation Week:  It was good to hear everyone's thoughts on the positive and the areas we can impove upon.  We appreciate the thank you's from teachers and staff.  We like to try new things and change it up a little each year.  Staff Leadership Ropes Course and Teacher Planters were new things we did this year.  Sometimes it works smoothly immediately and sometimes there are opportunities to fine tune it.  In either case, it is good to hear what people thought worked and what didn't.  And our Special Events crew will take that feedback as they plan the next year.  And if you haven't seen the Thank You Video Kim and teachers put together to thank us for funding their Staff Leadership Ropes Course, ask Kim about it.  It was wonderful!  Thanks to Rena Petersen for chairing SAW and to all of those who worked hard to make this year's Staff Appreciation so great!

Legislative:  What's Happening in Olympia on Education
The Washington Legislature is still haggling over the budget.  Usually the State Legislature has passed a budget by May and the school districts are able to communicate to the individual schools and to teachers about the next year.  Since the Senate and House budgets have different allocations for education, there is still uncertainty as to what will be adopted.  Here is the link to find your legislators.