Author Archives: Lauren Bartholomew

VIS Info for Presidents – Enews Communications and General Info

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Hello PTSA Presidents,


Happy New Year!  Ready to get back to it?!! Here we go!  The past several months we have discussed the upcoming February 11th Levy…and just like that…the time has come. THANK YOU to all of you who have worked on postcards, shared information with your school community and board members in preparation for this month…which is now crunch time!


I am proud to say my kids attend school in the Issaquah School District! A lot of what we have is funded by our levies. I don’t think people really realize that, and it is our job to get the information out so that people are informed and know how important their vote is. We need to pass this levy to continue the programs we have. We can emphasize that this is not a new tax.


I am personally grateful for all the opportunities my kids have in their schools, and I would not consider moving out of the district,  because I want my kids to benefit from these programs in the schools here in Issaquah.  It is important that our parents and communities  VOTE! We need every YES vote to pass this levy.  

Please see below for information  – 

Thank you again for your support!
Dawn Peschek & Alicia Veevaert
Volunteers for Issaquah Schools
www.visvote.org
206.391.5120     

*NOTE:  I will be sending weekly “Copy and “Paste” messages for your Enews/Website/Facebook every week until February 11th!


**VIS will be at the January 16th Council meeting with Postcards, Signs, Window Clings, Fact Sheets – everything you need! We will set up early and be there to answer questions and share information! All of the contacts for each of these committees will be at the Council Meeting.

BALLOTS DROP: Wednesday, January 22nd (will receive by 1/24)
BALLOTS DUE: Tuesday, February 11th


Please read below for information and share the very bottom “Copy and Paste” messaging with your Communications person so that they can share on Enews/Website/Facebook.


1. PTA Postcards – Most of you opted to have your postcards delivered to you before break by Anne Moore. The remaining schools will pick theirs up at the January 16th Council Meeting. Please make sure and read your mailing instructions that were included with your postcard tray. It is very important that you mail your postcards at the ISSAQUAH post office on the date indicated in your paperwork. THANK YOU so much for this outreach to our school communities! Questions? Contact Anne Moore at annemoore5@comcast.net


2. Honk & Waves – Sign Up Genius is ready to share with your school community. Please encourage your friends and students to attend these honk and waves to show our community we care and how important the levy is to all of us! GREAT COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS IN MS AND HS, Scouts, etc.
Click here for the Sign Up Genius Link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0f4da9a829aaf49-2020
Questions:  Contact Karissa Mobilia at mobilia@comcast.net or text/call 425.281.1629


3. Yard Signs – We will have signs/stakes at the Council Meeting for those of you who volunteered to help put up signs. Also extra signs for people who want to take a few for Honk & Waves.Questions?
Contact Dana Rundle at danarundle@hotmail.com


4. Preschool Outreach – We will have packets with flyers for preschools for those who volunteered to drop off information.Questions?
Contact Care Marie Harper at caremaree@gmail.com


5. Speaker Series – Speakers confirmed on our website here: http://www.visvote.org/community-presentations-levy-2020/
If you would like a speaker for your PTA, HOA, neighborhood association or other group please contact Alicia to schedule at alicia@visvote.org


6. Levy Information Videos – Share this link on your website to factual videos about programs that Levy dollars support: http://www.visvote.org/2020-levy-information-videos/
-Safety & Secure Entryways at ISD Schools;
-Mental Health Counselors in our schools;
-Career and Technical Education;
-Dual Language;
-Early Learning in the ISD.


7. COMMUNITY LEVY INFORMATION NIGHT [PDF | PNG] – Please share this flyer with your entire School Community. It can be posted on bulletin boards, etc. since it does not say “VOTE YES” on it. We would like to have as many people attend as possible from the entire district – so please advertise so people can get their questions answered. Thank you!


8. SEE BELOW FOR A “COPY AND PASTE” message for your PTSA Enews for this week:

DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FEBRUARY 11th, 2020 RENEWAL LEVY?

Levies are the only locally approved ballot measures that directly pay for classroom and education needs in our schools that the state does not fund. This February 11, 2020 voters will have a chance to continue supporting programs and services funded by the previous levy expiring in 2020.

The 2020 EP&O Renewal Levy Continues Support For:

Career & Technical Education • Mental Health Counselors in our schools • Special Education • Early Childhood Learning • Safety and Security • Highly Capable Programs • Dual Language • After School Activities and Athletics

This is NOT a new tax. The proposed 2-year levy replaces the expiring 2018 levy at a lower overall tax rate. With voter approval of this renewal levy, we can ensure these programs continue benefitting our students for another 2 years. Please click on the links below for more information and why you should VOTE YES for our schools on February 11th!

Click here to view informational videos on your levy dollars at work in our schools

Click here to download a fact sheet with details

Click here to view more details and tax rate chart

VIS Information Sent Out to Presidents

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Hello PTA/PTSA Presidents!

It was so nice to see all of you at the Council meeting yesterday. Thank you for your time!
Please see below for contact information for items presented yesterday, plus a COPY & PASTE blurb for you to send out in your Enews (includes links to information, ready to go!). You can put this info, the “Vote” logo, and/or bits and pieces on your Facebook page too. 

Below the Enews Blurb and info for your website. Please share with your communication peeps.
Thank you again for your support and help getting the word out about the ISD levy! Please let us know if there is anything you need and we will make it happen – we want to make this easy for you to communicate.

Thank you,
Dawn Peschek & Alicia Veevaert
dawn@visvote.org
alicia@visvote.org
Volunteers for Issaquah Schools


ENEWS INFORMATION below to copy and paste  – Contact Dawn Peschek at dawn@visvote.org for more information, logos, artwork, printed materials, etc.Website Logos and information at the very bottom of this email (below the _______ line after the Enews info)

HONK & WAVES – Contact is Karissa Mobilia  mobilia@comcast.net
YARD SIGNS – Contact is Dana Rundle  danarundle@hotmail.com
PTA POSTCARDS – Contact is Anne Moore  annemoore5@comcast.net
PRESCHOOL OUTREACH – Contact is Care Maree Harper 
SPEAKER FOR YOUR MEETING – Contact is Alicia Veevaert  alicia@visvote.org

COMMUNITY LEVY INFORMATION NIGHT:  Wednesday, January 15th, 2020  7-8:30pm at the King County Library Service Center (near IVE)Address is: 960 Newport Way NW, Issaquah, WA 98027   Come join the Superintendent, School Board and VIS board members to learn about the levy and have all your questions answered!

ENEWS COPY & PASTE:

ISD Renewal Levy will be on the February 11th, 2020 Ballot
The Issaquah School District will be asking voters to approve the renewal of the EP&O levy in February which to allow the district to continue to support the programs and services funded by the previous  2 year levy, which is expiring in 2020. Like a subscription, local school levies must be renewed, or the funding will be lost.

The 2020 EP&O Levy Renewal Levy continues support for:
Career & Technical Education • Mental Health Counselors • Special Education • Safety & Security • Dual Language Program   •  Early Childhood Learning & Preschool Opportunities • Highly Capable Program • Professional Development for Teachers  •  Expanded High School Schedules (7 periods instead of 6) at Issaquah High and Skyline High

The Issaquah School District is asking for less than it is legally allowed to collect. This maintains its current programs, while remaining fiscally responsible and sensitive to the over all tax rate. This is NOT a new tax. The proposed 2 year levy replaces the expiring 2018 levy at a lower overall tax rate.

Please remember to VOTE and if you have a student who will be 18 by the next election, please have them register to vote!

Click here for more information
Click here to download a fact sheet with details
Click here to register to vote

Thank you!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
THE INFORMATION BELOW IS FOR YOUR COMMUNICATIONS PERSON:
FOR YOUR WEBPAGE PLEASE PUT THIS LOGO ON YOUR MAIN MENU ON OUR SCHOOL PAGES AND LINK TO OUR VIS WEBPAGE: www.visvote.org  so your members can find information easily on our VIS website.

(1) VOLUNTEERS FOR ISSAQUAH SCHOOLS LOGO to use on PTA Homepage Menu (don’t use VOTE logo at the bottom on website homepage – needs to be another click into your site)


(2) Enews Blurb – CAN use the VOTE for Issaquah Schools logo – which you CAN email out to your PTSA email database (not through school Enews). You can use the VOTE logo on your Facebook Page too! CAN’T USE VOTE logo on the Main PTA Website – use the VOLUNTEERS logo above!
If you use the VOTE for Issaquah Schools logo (below) only use for Enews emailed direct from YOUR PTSA DATABASE (from Our School Pages direct to your members) NOT THROUGH THE SCHOOL ENEWS. School will send out their own Enews with facts from ISD about the levy.


Membership Updates – September membership uploading, Contacting me, OSP, Membership Cards, Officers in MP

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Happy October! I hope you are enjoying the cool fall nights and warm fall days. Here is what I am covering this month:

  • CONTACTING ME
  • OUR SCHOOL PAGES
  • MONTH END UPLOADS (INVOICES RUN 10/5)
  • MEMBERSHIP CARDS
  • REVIEWING OFFICER INFO IN MEMBERPLANET
  • REGION 2 MEMBERSHIP TRAINING MATERIALS
  • MEMBERPLANET PAID THRU DATE/BANK INFO

CONTACTING ME:
I wanted to make sure that you will contact me if any of these are true:

  • You have not uploaded or input any members into MemberPlanet
  • You don’t think the assigning membership levels (or activating membership) in MemberPlanet will work correctly for your PTA
  • You badly want to attend a membership help session
  • You have detailed unresolved issues with OSP or MP
  • You are not getting the Washington State PTA newsletters that are sent weekly (hopefully to your email box)
  • You need a workaround because membership cards have not been sent out yet, and people want to use their discounts

Again, please contact me ASAP with any of the above issues, please? 

OUR SCHOOL PAGES:
I’m so happy that Our School Pages upload functionality is available for those who signed up for it with their subscription to OSP! Yay! Don’t forget you will always have to assign membership levels in MP after the upload (this is just the activation of membership after contacts are loaded). I am hoping that everyone has joined the OurSchoolPages Admin Community group on Facebook – lots of great discussion as to how to work with OSP and MP and resolve issues.

MONTH END UPLOADS:
Here is the info from WA State PTA regarding month end uploading and activation: It’s time for PTAs to check their roster to make sure the memberships assigned accurately reflect their paid members. The first invoice is scheduled to be processed on October 5 and scheduled to be emailed to each local PTA on October 10. We highly encourage all local PTAs to review their current membership counts and make any corrections before the invoice is processed.
To do this select Membership from the navigation list on the left of the screen. Look for the Membership Summary in the upper right part of the screen. Is the number shown for Quantity of memberships what you expect as the number of paid memberships? Compare the number of Total active member records shown to the Quantity of memberships – the number of memberships would normally not be more than the active members. Select the Member levels report just above the Membership Summary to see a list of assigned memberships. Please contact support@wastatepta.org if your Quantity of memberships number seems off. Please include “Roster Cleanup” in the subject line.
The sample PTA in this image has a little work to do to clean up the roster. WSPTA staff can help with that.

MEMBERSHIP CARDS:
I have not heard about when the functionality for State sending membership cards will be active, but they are definitely working on it.

REVIEWING OFFICER INFO IN MEMBERPLANET:
Here is info regarding officer names and email addresses in MP:
Currently, there is only tracking for the following board positions: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Membership, Communications, Reflections, and Advocacy. There is no option for adding other committee chairs or specialized Vice Presidents. Memberplanet plans to release enhanced functionality to improve the board and committee management experience later this year. If an available position has a co-chair, the additional chair can be added in to the singular field separated by an ampersand. Find this information under MP under Group Info then Additional Info.

REGION 2 MEMBERSHIP TRAINING MATERIALS:
Here are all the training materials from the May 23rd membership training seminar run by Region 2 (where I was a trainer): http://www.issaquahptsa.org/membership

MEMBERPLANET PAID THRU DATE/BANK INFO:
Technically memberships are good through 10/31 for state and national, so the paid thru date could be set to 10/31/20. However if you do that, MP won’t prompt you to send reminder emails to rejoin until the fall, so I don’t think that is a good date. OSP shifts current year members to past year members around 7/1, then people rejoin around 8/1 or after. The paid thru date could also be set to 7/1 (or 8/1, if you choose). Right now, just be consistent. All dates should be the same. That way if there is consistent standard in the future, it will be easy to bulk change all members. Please let me know what date you are using.
Some PTAs are not putting bank info into MP, because they will be cutting a check to pay for state and national dues.  Since state will invoice you instead of debit what you owe, if you do not put in bank info, this is an alternative.


Please contact me with any issues,
Valerie Yanni
Membership Chair for Issaquah PTSA Council

*New info – New Upload Update, Resource Needed, Info for Chairs*

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FIND BELOW:

New Upload Update
Need Resource 
More Resources for youReaching me

Upload Update: I just got a response back from OSP that the OSP auto-upload feature will NOT be ready by month end, but I’m told that it should be available during the beginning of September. 

Here is a link to the Excel template you can use to upload: http://wastatepta.memberplanet.com/uploads/9/8/3/8/98381396/basicmemberloadtemplate.xlsx

*Could you please forward this email to your PTA presidents? I do not have all their contacts, and they need to know what is occurring.*

If your PTA (president/board) decides that your upload will not happen month end, please just be aware that your next due date would be prior to your general membership meetings in September. At minimum an upload needs to happen before a PTAs first general membership meeting in September to officially have the members on the books as you conduct your voting. At one PTA, new members have asked about using their member discounts for school supplies, which they normally could not do without their membership cards in some of the publicized offers. However, members from last year can use their existing cards, since those do not expire until October 31st.

By the way, if you do not have the info to set up bank info in MP, please check with your president or treasurer; they can also add that info if they become an admin.

Need Resource: I have Member Chair asking questions about the member levels, etc. Are there a couple PTAs who successfully went through the process who would consider being a resource for other PTAs in Council? If so, please respond all to this email, or at least respond to me, and I can share with other PTAs.

More resources for you: Quick Links from WSPTA and Issaquah PTSA Council Membership

Login: Every     Password: Child

WSPTA Website
Leader Resources
WSPTA Membership Handbook
WSPTA Membership Benefits
National PTA Membership Benefits
WSPTA Facebook Page
PTA Store
Our School Pages Facebook Page
Contact OSP:  info@ourschoolpages.com  or  rajeev@ourschoolPages.com  or contact Rajeev Goel or his team at 866-616-3247 or 315-677-1766

Within OSP, here are some help topics for OSP issues under admin / help / user guide (thanks to Heidi N.):

Here is a National PTA DIY Kit for Membership Growth (thanks to Sara C.) that you can request from PTAKit.org/Membership and also there are more resources you can access (see second pic):

I have been asked for the handouts from the Region 2 Membership training that happened on May 23rd, and I am trying to get those in digital form for all of you.

Reaching me: Please continue to let me know what issues you have and how they are resolved, so I can keep helping other PTAs. My contact info again is:

Valerie Yanni
membership@issaquahptsa.org


MemberPlanet Update from Issaquah PTSA Council – August 31st upload

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FIND BELOW:
Getting your Login and Password
What to do first
Finding MP Training
First Upload by August 31st and upload tips
A comment by someone who has uploaded successfully

Getting your Login and Password:  Earlier in August, emails were sent to the identified Admin for each PTA (see attachment for an example). This email provided instructions on how to claim your MemberPlanet (MP) database account. Please contact support@wastatepta.org if you have not yet been able to claim your account or just did not get an email.


What to do first: Once you have claimed your account there is a checklist of items to complete including adding additional admin access and updating board member and officer information. Since I believe most people are using OSP for membership sign ups, find the Offline checklist here: http://wastatepta.memberplanet.com


Finding MP Training: To view a recorded webinar and other training materials at your own convenience go to: http://wastatepta.memberplanet.com

First Upload by August 31st: You always want to upload members by month end, of course.  Rajeev from OSP has said that the OSP membership upload will be live by 8/31, so let’s collectively keep our fingers crossed on this, so we don’t have to upload by Excel spreadsheet.

If we have to upload by Excel Spreadsheet here are some MemberPlanet Upload tips:

  • File type-Only Excel spreadsheets can be uploaded – other file types are not supported, so do a “save as” of the downloaded OSP file and save as Excel.
  • File size-Only 1,000 members may be uploaded at a time
  • Worksheets (Tabs)-If your spreadsheet contains multiple worksheets, only the first worksheet will be uploaded.
  • State abbreviations-When uploading a member’s United States address, you must use the 2-letter state abbreviation (e.g. “CA”, NOT “California”)
  • Phone numbers-Phone numbers cannot be more than than 10 digits long (not including separators like “(” or “-”).
  • Multiple-choice fields-Answers to multiple-choice Membership Questions (checkboxes or drop-menu) cannot be uploaded
  • Gender-When specifying Gender for your members (optional), “F”, “Female”, “M”, and “Male” are valid formats

Additional tips:

  • Check “Ignore the first row of my file (choose this option if the first row is just labels)” for your OSP file.
  • Make sure your file includes at least a first & last name OR an email address for every person you are uploading.
  • There is a Member Upload Report (under Reports) in MP that shows errors.

Here is a Facebook comment by someone who has uploaded successfully:
I created an export report in OSP that had the fields I wanted to upload to memberplanet (first name, last name, email address, street address, city, state, zip, home phone, cell phone, notes). Then I got rid of the spaces, parentheses, and dashes in the phone number fields because memberplanet doesn’t like them. Finally I put the data into the same order as the memberplanet match tool and uploaded the file. After uploading I went through and assigned the membership levels. It worked but was pretty labor intensive. Right now it seems that adding people and assigning memberships to them is a two-step process.


If you are struggling with any of this, please contact me at membership@issaquahptsa.org or call or text.  I respond quicker to texts and calls. I don’t have a lot of information, but I am on your side and can work with you to find solutions.


I wish everyone good luck and minimal headaches!

Valerie Yanni
Membership Chair for Issaquah PTSA Council
www.issaquahptsa.org

October 2018 Best Practices

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  • Make sure all of your elected officers are trained, and at least one of your elected officers has attended PTA and the Law.
  • Print these documents from the WSPTA website and become familiar with them. They will help remind you of the items you need to gather and complete to keep your PTA in good standing, and will help you keep your timeline on track.
  • Standards of Affiliation – This sheet should be filled in and complete by the end of November, with the possible exception of your PTA’s corporate renewal, which will be filed during the month that your PTA was first incorporated.
  • Standards of Excellence – Show your membership that your PTA is following best practices by applying for the Standards of Excellence Award (due March 1st). Refer to the timeline checklist each month to see what your PTA should be doing during this time, and gather/create documents as you go. If you put your notebook together a bit at a time over the course of the year, it’s quick and EASY!
  • Make sure your voting delegates have been turned in to the Council secretary, and that you or one of your delegates is planning to attend each Council membership meeting.
  • Register for Legislative Assembly here: https://www.pt-avenue.com/conference/  (October 21-22, Green River College, Auburn). Encourage your board members to attend. Make sure you have submitted the names of your PTA’s voting delegates to WSPTA (due Oct. 12).
  • Send the Legislative Principles, Issues and Resolutions Survey to your membership. Share the data with your Legislative Assembly delegate(s), so their vote will properly represent your membership at Leg. Assembly.
  • Brand and Market your PTA! Educate EVERYONE in your school community (not only your membership) about each and every program and event that your PTA supports. Show them how your PTA benefits your students. If you sponsored it, put a sticker on it! If you have an event, hang a banner! This is how you attract members and encourage donations. 🙂

Region 2 Back-to-School Conference with PTA and the Law – August 21st

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FREE training and leadership development for all PTA leaders! Come learn, network with your fellow PTA leaders, and meet part of your PTA support team. All Washington State PTA trainings and events are for PTA officers, board members, committee chairs, and interested members only.

Tuesday, August 21, 2018
3:00 PM – 9:00 PM PDT

Location
Bellevue High School
10416 SE Wolverine Way
Bellevue, WA 98004

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/region-2-back-to-school-conference-with-pta-and-the-law-tickets-47969309496

Training is vital for your entire board. Please join us for this FREE training and leadership development opportunity for all PTA leaders. PTA and the Law will be offered, and is one of the most important classes you will take every year. Come learn, network with your fellow PTA leaders, and meet part of your PTA support team.

Come start off your PTA year in the know! So many opportunities to learn, ask questions and network with other leaders in one location. Join us at Bellevue High School for a variety of class opportunities as well as PTA & The Law. New this year — we will be offering class sessions earlier in the afternoon, as well as a light dinner prior to the evening class sessions and PTA & The Law.

You are welcome to attend the entire event, or just stay for one session.

Session 1, 3:00 – 4:30 PM:

  • President 101: PTA Basics for First-Time Presidents
  • Navigating a Meeting: An Interactive Journey
  • Managing your Non-Profit PTA
  • Planning your PTAs Fall Membership Drive
  • Volunteers: Find them and Keep them

4:30 – 5:30 PM:

  • Dinner – we highly recommend that your RSVP for dinner so we can have a more accurate head count.
  • Networking
  • Concil Roundtables

5:30 – 6:00 PM:

  • Region Updates (all attendees in PAC)

Session 2; 6:00 – 7:30 PM:

  • Foundation of FACE
  • The Effective Vice President
  • Advocacy at the Local PTA
  • Secretary: More than Just Minutes
  • Treasurer Basics

Session 3; 7:35 – 9:00 PM:

  • Branding and Marketing
  • Managing your Nonprofit PTA
  • President: Plan to Succeed
  • Membership: The Ask
  • Pump Up your Communications

PTA and the Law: 6:00 – 9:00 PM

PTA and the Law deals with state and federal rules and regulations for running a charitable, tax-exempt nonprofit corporation in Washington state and will explain how these rules can and do affect your PTA.

  • Laws and regulations can change every year, so whether you went last year, have not been in a few years, or have never been to this class, this presentation is for any officer or committee chair.
  • Per the WSPTA Standards of Affiliation agreement, the annual training requirement states that at least one elected officer must attend PTA and the Law, and all other elected officers must attend at least one WSPTA-approved training before this year’s WSPTA convention. Don’t miss the opportunity to meet this requirement.

All Washington State PTA trainings and events are for PTA officers, board members, committee chairs, and interested members only.

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/region-2-back-to-school-conference-with-pta-and-the-law-tickets-47969309496