February 2017 – Agenda Notes

February Agenda
January Draft Minutes
January Treasurer Report
Council Awards Information
K12 Funding Side by Side Comparision
Local Levies – Frequently Asked Questions
VIS Levy Information Flyer
Membership Report (updated post-meeting, 2/9/17)

Outreach Donation Ask for Council meeting:   Books for all ages, especially older kids to add to Lunch for the Break boxes. Thank you!

Council Award Nominations are being accepted now through February 15th: http://www.issaquahptsa.org/council-awards

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FOCUS DAY

WSPTA Focus Day had an amazing turnout – around 6,500 people came to Olympia to advocate for education! Issaquah was well-represented by parents, teachers and students, as well as Superintendent Thiele, School Board President Lisa Callan, and Director Anne Moore. We had the opportunity to meet privately with legislators to talk about priority issues for Issaquah students. THANK YOU to all who filled out about 250 blue postcards with comments to legislators! Please keep them coming! This legislative session is just beginning and Olympia needs to hear from us. No doubt, our legislators are feeling the weight of great responsibility during this session. They also appreciate hearing “thank you” for a job well done.

HB 1059 – Delaying revisions to the school levy lid

This bill would allow a 12 month reprieve from the “levy cliff”. If it passes, this would give legislators another year to figure out how to fully fund education without relying on levies. In 2010, school districts were given authority to temporarily increase property tax levies by 4%. That allowance will expire at the beginning of 2018, in the middle of the next school year. That would mean a loss of about $7.5M to Issaquah schools next year. The good news is that the House has already voted to pass HB 1059. However, the Senate has not yet voted and there are some Senators that are expected to vote against this bill. They are listed below along with contact information. If you have friends or family in their districts, please urge them to contact these legislators!

Sample Letter:

I urge you to support HB 1059. Students are counting on you to keep teachers in classrooms next year. Our schools are trying to devise an operating budget for next year before April 1st. They are faced with the stress of uncertainty, and the possibility of having to RIF teachers. Levy dollars are voter approved. We cannot afford to lose teachers or funding in our schools. Thank you for taking care of our students by voting to pass HB 1059.

Best Practices Checklist

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Family partnership and Cultural Bridges are going to support the Kindergarten registration event at Apollo, Issaquah Valley Elementary School and Clark.  We will provide volunteers to translate flyers, help ELL families fill out the Kindergarten registration forms, answer questions.  We will make robo-calls to remind the families about the event and anything else the schools need to welcome the new families.     

We are also going to provide the same help for Issaquah Middle School at the transition event on March 6th.

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State of Mind Conferences (remaining). Flyers: JPG | PDF

• Saturday, March 11, Liberty High School in Renton
• Saturday, April 29, Issaquah High School in Issaquah

All Events will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Influence the Choice Video Contest is up and running. Deadline to submit is March 10th at 5pm.

High School Flyer: JPG | PDF
Middle School Flyer: JPG | PDF
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Washington State PTA Membership Leadership Guide

Membership Report

Outreach Notes -UPDATED.  Please click the link to read the Outreach page. 

This month’s Outreach Ask for Council meeting:  new or gently used books, especially for older students, to add to Lunch for the Break boxes.  Thank you!

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The following message was sent out to all parent ed reps, communication chairs, and copied to presidents on 1/31^st.

Please ensure it is advertised in YOUR school ENews and PTSA news in February.

For ENews:

ParentWiser presents…

Feb 28^th Creating a High Performing Mindset in our Kids by John O’Sullivan, 6:30pm  at Issaquah High School Theater.  Hear from the author of Changing the Game how to motivate kids to take ownership; to help, not hinder their performance by things parents say and do;  and how to give your child a healthy competitive edge.  For parents of K-12.  FLYERS: DOC | PDF

April 25^th The Gift of Failure: Fostering Intrinsic Motivation and Resilience in Kids by national keynote and author, Jessica Lahey, 7pm at Issaquah High School Theater.  In today’s culture, do we coddle our kids enough?  Too much?  Jessica Lahey summarizes the current research on autonomy-supportive parenting and teaching, competence, rewards, praise, and failure, and gives us advice on how to allow students to succeed over the long term.  Join our community book read, and help bring about this cultural change! For parents of K-12. FLYERS: PDF 

Register for these and future events at http://ParentWiser.org.
These ParentWiser events are FREE for Issaquah school district PTSA members, donations requested for non-members at registration or at the door; sponsored by Issaquah PTSA Council, Issaquah Schools Foundation and Swedish Medical of Issaquah.

Quarterly ParentWiser Committee Meeting (attn Parent Ed Reps!)

Our next quarterly Parent Ed Rep committee meeting is  Thurs Feb 9^th 6:30-7:30pm at the big Starbucks on Gilman Blvd (in QFC/Meadows Shopping Center).   We rely on your participation to continually improve to meet your school community needs.  Agenda for this meeting will be feedback/value of current offerings, and suggestions for next year. We also seek a few volunteers: Social Media, Marketing Communications, Grant Writer, and Events.  Please reply to parentwiser@issaquahptsa.org if you are interested.

ParentWiser Logo.

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SURVEYS – Surveys are great for many things, including collecting nominations for awards! Contact Cindy to set yours up.

Mid-Winter Conference Webinar Training:

Money Matters – Feb 11^th: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/region-2-money-matters-webinar-tickets-30891767107

*There is a 100 participant limit statewide for each of the webinars.