PTSA 11/10 Meeting Recap

The November PTSA meeting took place last night via Zoom.  Thank you to Principal Shareef for attending and fielding parent questions, and to the community members in attendance.

• With the success of Virtual Curriculum Night, Principal Shareef announced that the school is planning monthly or twice-monthly town halls.
• The Annual Fund mailing and the Holiday Giving Drive take place each year in November/December.  Both initiatives are rolling out within the next week.
• The Athletics Booster Chair Ned Sander led an overview of the sports programs at Garfield and the various parent support groups.
• Student representatives from the Congress of Racial Equity (CORE) presented an update to the PTSA board for ongoing support. The PTSA reaffirms its commitment to CORE and will consider increasing support in light of CORE’s needs and the significant percentage of Garfield’s student body who participate in the program.
• The bulk of the meeting was devoted to revising the PTSA budget for this year.  The BLT met recently to prioritize the school’s needs during the pandemic, and funds from usual expenditures not happening this year are being reallocated toward a doubling of support for student and family needs during this time.

Other topics of discussion included potential ways the PTSA can support students with time management and organization (e.g. hosting workshops, software programs); updates on Grad Night planning; and housekeeping issues of PTSA administration and governance moving forward.

Kayla Epting, President, had outlined the following PTSA goals for this Fall at the initial September meeting:

• Partnering with the administration to better communication with all families at Garfield
• Expanding capacity in funding and resources to our families in need
• Diversifying the PTSA membership

Interested in attending future meetings?  The next PTSA meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 8th at 6:30PM.  Garfield Community PTSA meetings are typically held on the second Tuesday of each month, except for April when the meeting is held the week before Spring Break.   Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meetings will be held virtually for the foreseeable future. Garfield community members are welcome at all Board meetings but are especially encouraged to attend General Meetings.

PTSA meeting dates are posted online here and are subject to change: https://garfieldptsa.org/ptsa-meeting-dates