Minutes of the PA Meeting of the British International School of New York
8 January 2015
Welcome
Stacy welcomed everyone to the first meeting of the New Year and especially new families who had just joined the school.
Feedback on recent events
1. Holiday Gift Cards: Thanks were expressed to the Class Reps for handing out the gift cards to the teachers. Many parents had received thank you emails or cards from the staff. WP commented that the staff were grateful for the gifts. The process had worked well in general. It was requested that in future if a rep was unable to get into school collect the card from Al, they should either contact the other rep in the year or the board so that alternative arrangements could be made.
2. Holiday Parties: WP thanked the PA and mentioned that the children had loved the parties. Some classes had bought items such as a karaoke machine and lights and so it was agreed that it was important to keep an inventory of such items (Halloween decorations, quiz night goodies) and store them in a safe place so that they could be reused for future parties. Action: WP to contact Michelle Schwartz in the finance office to organize this.
3. Charity Drives: Both had worked well and it was good that parents had taken ownership of the drives. Parents were reminded that they could put posters around the school to advertise events and it was suggested that notes in backpacks might encourage more donations.
4. Class reps: Thank you for sending out welcome notes to new families.
Winter Concert
Thank you to all of the staff who had made the winter concert such a successful event. Parents had enjoyed the art display. WP mentioned that the date may move to the last day of term for 2015, although this was dependent on the availability of Hunter College.
Jason Morrow’s Visit
The reception and events to meet the new Headmaster had been successful. It was likely that he would be coming again in May.
Upcoming Events
1. Movie Night: Cynthia Coulson and Lucinda Longcroft were chairing the event and had had a meeting with last years chairs in order to go through the process. A sign up sheet for volunteers to assist on the night was passed around. The event would be on 30 January which is also a non uniform day.The next step would be to select the films. Action: LB to pass on budget details.
2. Film Festival: Katrina Forde had been given details of a Children’s International Film Festival. Running from the end of February for a month, a number of short films would be shown. BISNY would be given the opportunity of buying a block of discounted tickets or using the events as a fundraising opportunity. Katrina would find out further information and pass it to class reps to guage support beyond the general enthusiasm in the meeting.
3. Book Week: This was starting on 1 March with a brunch at Books of Wonder. Belinda Cherrington was meeting with Books of Wonder next week and would report back. A sign up sheet was passed around for volunteers to help at the brunch. Once details of the authors were available, the class trips could be organized and further assistance may be needed. There was agreement for a suggestion that children donate books to a charity during book week.
4. Maths Night: no date had been set, but Lesley Radford, Alison Topen and Saswati Chakravati were chairing the event. The first step would be to coordinate with Mr Baxter.
Support for Nicholas’s Law – Petition
Stacy reminded the meeting of the background to this proposed legislation being put before the senate in the spring. Each state controls its own gun laws, and NY was proposing a safe storage act for guns, following the sad death of a child, Nicholas, on a play-date, where the family gun was not locked away. School Parents Associations were being asked to support the legislation and at the last meeting in December, it had been proposed that the BISNY PA write in support of this, as a Parents Association. A concern had been raised in the meeting about signing as the PA and so it was agreed at the December meeting that there would be a vote on the matter, when all parents would have the opportunity to respond.
However, further discussion with Mr Phelps (who had not been present at the original meeting) had resulted in a change to this proposal. It was believed that the current constitution of the BISNY PA did not give the authority for the PA to take a role in a matter, not directly linked to school business. Therefore, in order to and support a petition for Nicholas’ Law, individual signatures would be required.
Parents expressed their support for this law and thanked Stacy for bringing it to their attention. There was some disappointment expressed that the original proposal would not go ahead, but the importance of keeping a cohesive group was recognized. Action: The PA Board would facilitate this petition via the Class reps as soon as practicable. It was confirmed that an electronic signature was sufficient. Parents who were not US citizens were still entitled to sign this petition. New York state residence was the only requirement.
Constitutional Change
There was some discussion about the evolving role of the PA within a newly created school. It was agreed that the constitution should be changed, in order to facilitate a broader range of activities, such as supporting legislation that affected the welfare of children, in the future. Action: The Board would draft an amended constitution and circulate it via the class reps. In order to achieve this the board would consider the wordings of constitutions of other Parents Associations and parents who were lawyers, volunteered to assist. It was agreed that this should be done as soon as possible.
New Social Initiative
A parent had commented that other international schools they had been part of had a social initiative that included visiting local landmarks and museums. There was support for this and it was agreed that if a parent knew of a specific exibition etc that would be interest they would advise the Board who could advertise it. Terri also mentioned volunteering opportunities.
The next meeting will be on 5 February
8 January 2015
Welcome
Stacy welcomed everyone to the first meeting of the New Year and especially new families who had just joined the school.
Feedback on recent events
1. Holiday Gift Cards: Thanks were expressed to the Class Reps for handing out the gift cards to the teachers. Many parents had received thank you emails or cards from the staff. WP commented that the staff were grateful for the gifts. The process had worked well in general. It was requested that in future if a rep was unable to get into school collect the card from Al, they should either contact the other rep in the year or the board so that alternative arrangements could be made.
2. Holiday Parties: WP thanked the PA and mentioned that the children had loved the parties. Some classes had bought items such as a karaoke machine and lights and so it was agreed that it was important to keep an inventory of such items (Halloween decorations, quiz night goodies) and store them in a safe place so that they could be reused for future parties. Action: WP to contact Michelle Schwartz in the finance office to organize this.
3. Charity Drives: Both had worked well and it was good that parents had taken ownership of the drives. Parents were reminded that they could put posters around the school to advertise events and it was suggested that notes in backpacks might encourage more donations.
4. Class reps: Thank you for sending out welcome notes to new families.
Winter Concert
Thank you to all of the staff who had made the winter concert such a successful event. Parents had enjoyed the art display. WP mentioned that the date may move to the last day of term for 2015, although this was dependent on the availability of Hunter College.
Jason Morrow’s Visit
The reception and events to meet the new Headmaster had been successful. It was likely that he would be coming again in May.
Upcoming Events
1. Movie Night: Cynthia Coulson and Lucinda Longcroft were chairing the event and had had a meeting with last years chairs in order to go through the process. A sign up sheet for volunteers to assist on the night was passed around. The event would be on 30 January which is also a non uniform day.The next step would be to select the films. Action: LB to pass on budget details.
2. Film Festival: Katrina Forde had been given details of a Children’s International Film Festival. Running from the end of February for a month, a number of short films would be shown. BISNY would be given the opportunity of buying a block of discounted tickets or using the events as a fundraising opportunity. Katrina would find out further information and pass it to class reps to guage support beyond the general enthusiasm in the meeting.
3. Book Week: This was starting on 1 March with a brunch at Books of Wonder. Belinda Cherrington was meeting with Books of Wonder next week and would report back. A sign up sheet was passed around for volunteers to help at the brunch. Once details of the authors were available, the class trips could be organized and further assistance may be needed. There was agreement for a suggestion that children donate books to a charity during book week.
4. Maths Night: no date had been set, but Lesley Radford, Alison Topen and Saswati Chakravati were chairing the event. The first step would be to coordinate with Mr Baxter.
Support for Nicholas’s Law – Petition
Stacy reminded the meeting of the background to this proposed legislation being put before the senate in the spring. Each state controls its own gun laws, and NY was proposing a safe storage act for guns, following the sad death of a child, Nicholas, on a play-date, where the family gun was not locked away. School Parents Associations were being asked to support the legislation and at the last meeting in December, it had been proposed that the BISNY PA write in support of this, as a Parents Association. A concern had been raised in the meeting about signing as the PA and so it was agreed at the December meeting that there would be a vote on the matter, when all parents would have the opportunity to respond.
However, further discussion with Mr Phelps (who had not been present at the original meeting) had resulted in a change to this proposal. It was believed that the current constitution of the BISNY PA did not give the authority for the PA to take a role in a matter, not directly linked to school business. Therefore, in order to and support a petition for Nicholas’ Law, individual signatures would be required.
Parents expressed their support for this law and thanked Stacy for bringing it to their attention. There was some disappointment expressed that the original proposal would not go ahead, but the importance of keeping a cohesive group was recognized. Action: The PA Board would facilitate this petition via the Class reps as soon as practicable. It was confirmed that an electronic signature was sufficient. Parents who were not US citizens were still entitled to sign this petition. New York state residence was the only requirement.
Constitutional Change
There was some discussion about the evolving role of the PA within a newly created school. It was agreed that the constitution should be changed, in order to facilitate a broader range of activities, such as supporting legislation that affected the welfare of children, in the future. Action: The Board would draft an amended constitution and circulate it via the class reps. In order to achieve this the board would consider the wordings of constitutions of other Parents Associations and parents who were lawyers, volunteered to assist. It was agreed that this should be done as soon as possible.
New Social Initiative
A parent had commented that other international schools they had been part of had a social initiative that included visiting local landmarks and museums. There was support for this and it was agreed that if a parent knew of a specific exibition etc that would be interest they would advise the Board who could advertise it. Terri also mentioned volunteering opportunities.
The next meeting will be on 5 February