Minutes Palo Alto High School PTSA Executive Board Meeting ...

Minutes
Palo Alto High School PTSA
Executive Board Meeting
November 16, 2012
PTSA President Rebecca Fox called the meeting to order at 11:05am. The agenda for the meeting
is attached as Attachment A. Attendance is listed in Attachment B.
Co-Secretary Mary Vincent presented the minutes from the Executive Board meeting on October 18,
2012. Treasurer’s Assistant Karen Neuman requested changes to the minutes, and the minutes
were corrected. The minutes were approved with corrections.
Announcements – President Rebecca Fox announced that a mid-year budget review will take place in
January. Please review budget items and let Rebecca know of any adjustments you would like made.
Rebecca noted that the December 13, 2012 Executive board meeting will be at her house and will
include socializing over lunch.
Rebecca led a discussion on bicycle safety, noting that many students are not complying with stop signs
and other rules of the road. Rebecca is working with Michael Green, Traffic Safety Co-Chair, who is
working with Penny Ellson from Safe Routes to School. There was discussion of asking the Palo Alto
Police Department to have a presence at problem areas and perhaps give tickets to students.
Mary Ellen Bena, Paly Department Secretary, coordinates snacks for finals and needs someone to help
her. It was decided to advertise this one-time volunteer spot to all Paly parents to find the volunteer.
Cindy Goral, Special Education Liaison, presented information on Inclusive Schools Week. A panel
discussion is scheduled on Dec 3 rd at 25 Churchill, which is titled ‘Social Inclusion: More Than a Seat in
the Class’. A copy of the poster is in Attachment C. Last year’s focus was academic inclusion and this
year’s is social inclusion. A Gunn parent is putting together an event called ‘Oh My God, I Forgot To Go
To Harvard’ and she is looking for young people who took an alternate route to participate in the event.
April Henderson, Co-VP Outreach and Diversity, will see if she can help find young people at Foothill De
Anza College, where she works.
Parent Education Jane Gee and Mary Louise Ebinger, both Co-VP’s Programs/Parent Ed, discussed
having two Parent Ed events, one on January 17 th and one in March 2013. The tentative topic for
January is Teen Dating. Ideas for discussion are: What is the dating culture today at Paly? How do I
talk to my teen about issues? Look for student input on what they want their parents to ask. The
proposed topic for the March event is risky behaviors, e.g. drugs and alcohol.
Student Report Matt Hall, ASB Teacher Advisor, Jessica Tam, ASB President and Soo Song, ASB Vice
President gave the report. Spirit Week was a big success. Ideas for other events are: DJ or live music
(Paly students) on the quad on a Friday at lunch, cookies and cocoa event after finals, African drum and
dance troop at Paly. Prom is scheduled for April 27 th , 2013. Homecoming dance, Big Electric Dance
(BED) -530+ attended, up from 440 last year. ASB hired SOS entertainment to decorate and hire the
band and promoted it on Facebook. Info on dress code might help students feel more comfortable about
going to the dance. ASB is doing a de-brief of the event; a practice they follow for many events.
One goal of ASB this year is to increase communication and publicity about ASB activities. Another goal
is transparency. In the area of publicity, ASB has a Facebook page for every class and one for ASB.
ASB would like to address more social aspects of Paly and have high school students visit middle
schools and talk about what to expect in high school.
Principal’s Report Principal Phil Winston commended ASB on the best Spirit Week in his experience.
Phil has started a few new initiatives this year.
A. HOMEWORK – Phil is using a matrix from Stanford’s Challenge Success to track homework,
noting average weekly time spent on homework by course. Menlo Atherton High School also uses the
Challenge Success model. Phil has taken the new board policy on homework and has asked
departments to estimate homework based on the new policy. Departments must coordinate so that
colleges know what they are looking at on students’ applications, i.e. that students have similar
experiences across classes within a given course. Estimates will be made by teachers first, then

students will be asked how long it takes to do homework. The goals are for homework to be predictable
and for students to have shared experience and equitable grading across classes.
B. STUDENTS REQUIRED TO GIVE TEACHERS FEEDBACK
Teachers are required to elicit feedback from students each year, per their contract. This has not been
happening. Phil is working with each department to develop the questions that will be asked of students.
The process can be done on paper and pencil this time and will be on line in school year 2013-2014.
Feedback needs to be collected in a way that protects anonymity of students.
Technology Committee President Rebecca Fox presented minutes from the first technology
committee meeting, included as Attachment D. Parliamentarian, Louise Valente, made a motion to
ratify chairperson and members of the committee. The motion was seconded and passed. Rebecca
Fox explained that Measure A covers the purchase of computers, so they are not included in the
report.
Treasurer’s Report Treasurer’s Assistant, Karen Neuman, presented the Paly PTSA Spending for
the month of November and the budget with updated actual expenditures. The financial information
is included in Attachment E. Karen noted that the check for $2250 in category 326, which is a
duplicate of a check disbursed in September, will not be paid. Karen Neuman made a motion to
release funds and ratify ten checks, which excludes the $2250 check in category 326 as shown in
Attachment E. The motion was seconded and passed.
Student Directories Mark Fan consolidated the information and created the directory and Pat
Markevitch handled distribution. They were distributed on the quad and remaining copies were
given to Teacher Advisors to distribute. Each household receives one copy. The cost of printing
was approximately $7,000 and it took an estimated 20-30 hours to distribute. There was discussion
about putting the directory online, as long as security issues are addressed. Phil Winston suggested
providing the online version through infinite campus. If we go to online, we should offer printed
copies as well, for households who want them.
Volunteer Appreciation Executive Vice President Barb Clark asked for ideas and thoughts on the
event. In the current format, it is not well attended. Personal invitations from staff to the volunteers
helps. We could advertise the program, which includes performances by Paly choirs. We should
think of ways to include working parents, perhaps make it a morning event, perhaps with a latte cart.
Cindy Goral mentioned that receiving personal thank you notes from the students in FOS (Focus on
Success) were very meaningful. We can thank people through enews. We can hold the event
earlier in the year; it has been held in May in the past, which is an extremely busy time.
President Rebecca Fox adjourned the meeting at 12:39pm.
The minutes are submitted by Co-Recording Secretary Mary Vincent

Palo Alto High School PTSA December 13, 2012
Executive Board Meeting
11:00 am-12:30
Location: 159 Tennyson Ave.
Agenda for December Meeting
11:10 Call Meeting to Order Rebecca Fox
11:13 Approval of Minutes by Consent Mary Vincent/Janis Hom
11:15 Announcements Rebecca Fox
-Library/Finals Snack support
-Ballroom Dancing proposal
-UK student visits/homestays
11:25 Treasurer’s Report Gary Paladin/Karen Neuman
- Presentation of Balance Sheet and Financial Report
- Presentation and vote on payment authorizations
11:35 Adjourn for lunch
Events coming up:
PTSA providing snacks for finals, Dec 10-20
Final Exams, December 19-21
ASB post-finals Cookies-n-Cocoa, Dec 21 12-1:30
Winter Break, December 22-Jan 6
Upcoming PTSA Meetings:
-Exec Board Meeting: January 17, 11-12:30, mid-year budget review
-Association Meeting & Parent Ed: January 17, 7:00 pm. Speaker: Paly Student Activities
Director, Matt Hall
-Exec Board Meeting: February 21, 11:00-12:00
-Association Meeting: February 21, 12:00-1:00

Inclusive Schools Week 2012, presented by the Palo Alto CAC for Special Education
Social Inclusion:
More Than a Seat in the Class
Mon. Dec. 3, 7-9pm, 25 Churchill
Panelists
• Jennifer Sommerness, Ed.S, M.A. is an educational
consultant, author, teacher, and advocate in the areas of
inclusive education and professional staff development. She
will speak about her paraprofessional training curriculum and
promoting social inclusion, especially in the upper grades.
• Diann Grimm, M.A.CCC-SLP, Ed.S - As an educator at CDE-
Diagnostic Center North, Diann co-authored the manual
“Quirky Kids” for local school districts. She consults on
creating social-emotional learning and self-esteem using the
"Kimochi" curriculum.
• Liz Tucker, Inclusion Specialist, will speak about creating and
administering the new Inclusion program at Duveneck.
• Holly Wade, Ph.D. PAUSD Director of Special Education, will
speak about the current state of PAUSD’s inclusion programs,
and our new programs this year.
Hospitality and Spanish
translation provided.
The Palo Alto CAC is a
support network for parents
of children with an IEP or
504. The CAC provides
advice to the Board of
Education on matters
pertaining to special
education and inclusion.
www.cac-paloalto.org
(updates in progress)

Minutes - Technology committee meeting
Nov 1, 2012, Palo Alto High School, P1
A group of faculty, students and parents met to review faculty requests for technology
purchases using $24612 from the PTSA budget. Attending were faculty members Pat
O'Hara, Matt Hall; students Spencer Carlson, Ethan Cohen, Alvin Kim; and PTSA Exec
Board members Barb Clark, Rebecca Fox, Janis Hom
Process for creating Tech Request List
Pat O'Hara described the process used for collecting technology needs and requests
from teachers and staff. Pat sends a request for "wants and needs" to departments.
Pat asks questions to clarify and creates list. PTSA helps fund those needs.
The technology request list excludes expenditures covered by funds from Measure A,
which covers computers, computer carts, iPads, sometimes printers, generally
described as computing related hardware. The tech request list is what remains outside
of Measure A. The committee observed that limitation explains the skew toward noncomputing
technology such as video cameras, projectors, etc.
Pat sometimes gets tech requests that don't get included on this list, such as in the case
of printer requests that are met by sharing or networking to a nearby printer. Also,
sometimes Pat will push back on requests for obsolete (or soon obsolete) items, or
items that have poor third-party reviews.
Discussion
The meeting discussion included questions about how many of the requests were
proven effective in a school environment, compatibility with existing tech investments,
funding for e-books on e-readers, equity among students, reasons that existing
equipment will not meet needs (obsolescence, form factor, etc.), and purchase options
or upgrade paths.
Decisions
The committee agreed to fund all requests except the following pending follow up to the
questions below:
1. Nook: explore whether the pilot can be tested with a smaller group to establish
effectiveness before investing for a whole class.
2. Font software: explore purchase options that allow greater campus-wide flexibility
instead of per workstation purchase, and explore best possible upgrade path.
3. Projector for band room: Pat will follow up to better understand how it will be used.
Notes submitted by Janis Hom

Paly PTSA Spending
For Month of November 2012
Processing for 2012 - 2013 School Year
15-Nov-12
Date
Payee $ Amt Description Expense Code
1 November 9 2012 PAUSD $ 1,068.10 Mailing Campi 13-8046, 13-8066, Verde 13-8067 342 Postage for Student Publications (Hammer)
2 November 9 2012 Dawn Billman 1,041.30 President's Awards for Fall 2012 331 Presidential Freedom Awards (Billman)
3 November 9 2012 Palo Alto High School 1,753.67 4 Ipads for science department. 317 Science (Winston)
4 November 7 2012 Palo Alto High Theatre Boosters 500.00 Purchase Safety Table Saw for theatre shop 312 Viking FastTrack Grants (Clark)
5 November 7 2012 Magdalena Rivera 142.77 Living Skills 2nd chapter video buy 312 Viking FastTrack Grants (Clark)
6 October 24 2012 Phillip Winston 72.50 ACT payment for Student in Need 316 Principal's Discretionary Grant (Winston)
7 October 23 2012 Palo Alto High School 86.70 4 Ipad cases 317 Science (Winston)
8 October 22 2012 Sandra Cernobori 1,190.49 NACAC conference Travel Expenses 322 College & Career Center (Fox)
9 October 22 2012 Palo Alto High School 109.36 Lactobacilli MRS Agar 500g 317 Science (Winston)
10 October 19 2012 Palo Alto High School 234.09 8 physics books for Science Dept. 317 Science (Winston)
Automatic Deductions - 381 Bank Fees & Services for the Month $ - None this month
November Disbursements 10 Checks $ 6,198.98
+ Previous Disbursements for 2012-2013 School Year 32 Checks $ 72,769.13
+ Automatic Deductions - 381 Bank Fees & Services - YTD from Previous Mth $ 4,284.90
= YTD Disbursement 42 Checks $ 83,253.01
Note: The following item was submitted for payment yet was not approved. This expenditure will put spending for 326 Teacher Advisor / Student Team Building over budget by $754. Rebecca Fox will discuss
this issue with Paly and determine next steps. Pending that discussion & decision, this request (and whatever amount gets approved) will be included in the December disbursement batch of checks.
October 22 2012 Palo Alto High School 4,092.91 Food - Sophomore team building 326 Teacher Advisor / Student Team Building (Winston)

Paly PTSA Income
YTD for the 2012 - 2013 School Year
Through Month of November
15-Nov-12
Income 2012 - 2013 Variance Vs Budget Year Ago
Actual Budget Actual as % of Budget
Under / (Overspent) Amount
Actual as % of YA Amount
Direct Appeal $ 157,408 $ 160,000 98% Near / At Budget Max 2,592 $ 155,959 101%
Matching Funds 2,070 3,000 69% > Half of Budget 930 4,616 45%
PTSA Dues
i Kept at PALY 5,785 12,000 48% Almost Half of Budget 6,215 12,131 48%
i To Be Sent to Council 4,546 5,500 83% Near / At Budget Max 954 - 0%
Interest 75 250 30% 175 0%
Breakeven Events -
i Welcome BTS Dinner 6,990 10,000 70% > Half of Budget 3,010 8,212 85%
i Turkey Day - - - - 0%
i Grad & Senior Night - 90,000 0% 90,000 78,613 0%
Prior Year Checks Returned - - - 2,050 0%
Total Income $ 176,873 $ 280,750 63% > Half of Budget 103,877 $ 262,010 68%
Prior Year Carry-Forward $ 72,881 $ 72,881
Total Cash Available (Carry-Forward + Income) $ 249,754 $ 353,631 71%

PALY PTSA Expenses
YTD for the 2012 - 2013 School Year
Through Month of November
15-Nov-12
Expenses 2012 - 2013 Variance Vs Budget Year Ago
Actual Budget Actual as % of Budget
Under / (Overspent) Spending
Actual as % of YA Spending
Instructional Programs
311 Technology Support (Fox) $ - $ 25,000 0% $ 25,000 $ 49,775 0%
312 Viking FastTrack Grants (Clark) 1,226 20,000 6% 18,774 35,509 3%
314 Student Planners (Fox) 10,019 10,000 100% Over Budget (19) NA NA
316 Principal's Discretionary Grant (Winston) 1,076 2,500 43% Almost Half of Budget 1,424 1,990 54% > Half of YA
317 Science (Winston) 3,390 20,000 17% 16,610 NA NA
318 World Languages / Workbooks (Winston) 17,093 17,000 101% Over Budget (93) NA NA
319 Departmental Supplies (Winston) - 15,000 0% 15,000 NA NA
Spending from Discontinued Categories NA NA NA NA 31,624 NA
Total Instructional Programs $ 32,804 $ 109,500 30% $ 76,696 $ 118,898 28%
Guidance Services
321 EXPLORE, PLAN, PSAT (Fox) $ - $ 16,000 0% $ 16,000 $ 15,230 0%
322 College & Career Center (Fox) 1,849 6,000 31% 4,151 5,000 37%
323 Adolescent Counseling Service (Fox) 5,000 5,000 100% Near / At Budget Max - 5,000 100% Near / At YA Level
324 Youth Community Service (Gouyet) 2,000 2,000 100% Near / At Budget Max - 2,000 100% Near / At YA Level
326 Teacher Advisor / Student Team Building (Winston) 9,411 15,000 63% > Half of Budget 5,589 NA NA
Spending from Discontinued Categories NA NA NA NA 1,500 NA
Total Guidance Services $ 18,260 $ 44,000 41% Almost Half of Budget $ 25,740 $ 28,730 64% > Half of YA
Student Service Awards
331 Presidential Freedom Awards (Billman) $ 1,041 $ 1,000 104% Over Budget $ (41) $ 849 123% > YA Level
332 Silver Seal Awards (Fox) - 1,000 0% 1,000 1,350 0%
Total Student Service Awards $ 1,041 $ 2,000 52% > Half of Budget $ 959 $ 2,199 47% Almost Half of YA
Production / Mailing
341 Directory Printing / Mailing (Hammer) $ 100 $ 7,000 1% $ 6,900 $ 6,495 2%
342 Postage for Student Publications (Hammer) 2,195 7,000 31% 4,805 5,868 37%
343 Back-to-School Packet Copy / Mail (Burgess) 583 3,000 19% 2,417 2,799 21%
Total Production / Mailing $ 2,877 $ 17,000 17% $ 14,123 $ 15,162 19%
Other
351 Spirit Week Contributions (Solomon) $ - $ 1,000 0% $ 1,000 $ 343 0%
352 Items for Staff (Winston) - - $4,000 Biannually so 2014 Expense - 3,000 0%
Total Other $ - $ 1,000 0% $ 1,000 $ 3,343 0%

PALY PTSA Expenses
YTD for the 2012 - 2013 School Year
Through Month of November
15-Nov-12
Expenses 2012 - 2013 Variance Vs Budget Year Ago
Actual Budget Actual as % of Budget
Under / (Overspent) Spending
Actual as % of YA Spending
Student Activity Expenses
361 Grad & Senior Night (Schroder) $ 9,825 $ 90,000 11% $ 80,175 $ 81,046 12%
362 Turkey Day (Stewart / Anderson) - - - - 0%
363 Welcome Dinner (Schroder) 5,852 10,000 59% > Half of Budget 4,148 7,329 80% Near / At YA Level
Total Student Activity Expenses $ 15,677 $ 100,000 16% $ 84,323 $ 88,375 18%
PTSA Activities
371 Hospitality & Staff Appreciation (Crist / Drez) $ 650 $ 12,000 5% $ 11,350 $ 9,796 7%
372 Volunteer Appreciation (Clark) - 1,500 0% 1,500 1,345 0%
373 Programs / Parent Education (Ebinger / Gee) 2,393 5,000 48% Almost Half of Budget 2,607 3,739 64% > Half of YA
374 Community Service (Gouyet) - 500 0% 500 - 0%
375 Health & Welfare (Billman / Lucian) - 250 0% 250 - 0%
376 Outreach & Diversity (Henderson) - 250 0% 250 500 0%
377 Parent Network (Hammer) 26 1,000 3% 974 346 7%
378 Paly Beautification (Fox) 150 5,000 3% 4,850 4,696 3%
379 International Festival (Ma) - 500 0% - 0%
Total PTSA Activities $ 3,219 $ 26,000 12% $ 22,781 $ 20,422 16%
PTSA Operating Expenses
381 Bank Fees & Services (Paladin) $ 4,285 $ 5,000 86% Near / At Budget Max $ 715 $ 2,414 178% > YA Level
382 Conventions, Dues, Subscriptions (Paladin) - 500 0% 500 - 0%
384 eNews Service (Paladin) - 600 0% 600 504 0%
385 Insurance (Paladin) - 250 0% 250 199 0%
387 PTSA Council Assessments (Paladin) 509 550 93% Near / At Budget Max 41 250 204% > YA Level
388 PTSA Council Luncheon (Fox) - 400 0% 400 400 0%
389 PTSA President's Fund (Fox) - 500 0% 500 389 0%
391 Funds Transferred to Council PTA (Paladin) 4,506 5,500 82% Near / At Budget Max 994 5,130 88% Near / At YA Level
392 Other PTSA Operating Expenses (Paladin) 75 250 30% 175 29 259% > YA Level
Total PTSA Operating Expenses $ 9,375 $ 13,550 69% > Half of Budget $ 4,176 $ 9,315 101% > YA Level
Total Expenses $ 83,253 $ 313,050 27% $ 229,797 $ 286,444 29%