Palisades Adult Leadership (PALS) - Lake Oswego School District

Palisades Adult Leadership (PALS)
General Meeting Minutes
January 21, 2009
President Audrey Monroe called the meeting to order at 7:06 pm.
A motion was made to approve the 11/19/08 General Meeting minutes. Motion
seconded and minutes approved.
Budget Review
• General Economic & Fundraising Outlook: Budget-wise we are down only
slightly, but we still plan to exercise judgment and use conservative
spending practices. Thanks to a successful auction last year, a successful
Fun Run, and the gift wrap money, we are only down slightly. We should
not bank on getting the full anticipated amounts for Flamingos and Family
Fun Night, so committees need to under-spend.
• Genise Vernon went through the budget. Highlights include:
o Bank fees were higher than budgeted due to too many deposits.
Genise has worked this out with the bank for future deposits.
o Genise has not seen a bill for the Palisades Directory. Genise will
follow up.
o 6 th grade celebration budget is $1750. Field Trip is $1000 of that.
The class project will also be funded out of this amount. Two
fundraisers are occurring (window clings and concessions at the
Talent Show) to supplement this $750 amount.
• Audrey questioned how much over the district-approved
amount we should allow for with fundraising. The trend is to
spend less money than in past years.
• Fundraising efforts need to be ran through PALS and
approved by PALS.
• Event details are being simplified compared to previous years.
o Overall, we should be okay budget-wise this year.
• Photocopier Replacement: PALS pays for one of the workroom copiers,
and we have a new (replacement) copier. The school gets billed and
PALS pays. A 3 year lease was agreed to back in 2004. PALS has
$3000 budgeted to support the copier this year, but $1800 has already
been spent to cover last year’s costs. Palisades will owe ~$3700 for the
remainder of this year. Carol is worried about budgeting for future and
who will pay. We may downsize to only one copier next year, which would
help support cost savings efforts. Staff can send big jobs out to be done
at a print shop for much cheaper, but will have to plan ahead.
• Discussion of Money in SCRIP Account: During the fall, we had designated
SCRIP money for new playground equipment. With current fundraising
issues, should we 1) let the money accumulate until we have enough to
replace a lot of equipment, 2) Use the money for the general fund instead
or 3) replace just one piece of equipment with the money already
accumulated ($10-12,000 to date).
o Recommendation is to wait until year end to see where we come out
in the budget and decide what to do with the money then.

o Playground replacement has fallen down the priority list.
o Genise will look into the tax implications of adding this money to our
reserve and carrying it over to next year.
Current and Upcoming PALS Events
• HOPES:
o 175 coats were gathered during the coat drive
o “Pennies for Patients” is going well so far.
o Food Drive. No decision has been made about whether the
collected food will go to Oregon Food Bank or local families in
need. Will run the entire month of February
o Book swap coming in April
• Talent Show: next week. Rehearsals ongoing.
• Engineering Week: Date will be set next week.
• Flamingos Fundraiser: April 6 th is the kickoff date, and it will run throughout
April. Karen may need additional volunteers.
• Family Fun Night: First committee meeting on Monday.
o April 17th. No longer on the night of a ½ day, so set up may be
interesting.
o A request was made to Dusty that the money from pizza sales
would go to support the 6 th grade celebration. Family Fun Night is
supposed to raise money, though, so the money will go back
towards meeting the PALS budget.
Library Remodeling Update and Vote on Paint Samples
• Ellie and Liz Contag are spearheading this project. Blue tones with tan accents
have been selected to match the carpet. A motion was made and seconded to
approve the colors presented. This is entirely a parent volunteer effort. Paint will
be bought at cost.
Updates and News from Coordinating Council
• Relay for Life: July 11 th /12 th . Includes a campout at the district field. If a
parent wants to coordinate it, a Palisades team can be put together.
Contact Audrey Monroe if interested.
• Foundation Luncheon: very few seats left. Nike speaker is a Westridge
parent.
• Stand For Children (Education Rally in Salem at Capitol): Linda Brown from
the school board is leading this effort. Occurs on President’s Day (2/16).
Parents and children are welcome to join in.
News or Other Business
• Crossing Guard Signups: Volunteers are still needed for February and
March. Sign up on the bulletin board in the lobby.
• Dusty asked about “Welcome to Our World”. Carol will talk to Gail McLain
or Rhonda Zarozinski to see if anything has been established. It’s been a
few years since Palisades participated.
• Memorial for Austin Sergeev:

o Audrey and Carol met with Tricia Larson. Sandy Sergeev will not be
as hands-on involved as originally thought, but will have final
approval and will be involved as her comfort level dictates.
o Site will be right outside of Mrs. Flanigan-Jones’s room.
o Some materials will be donated and parent money donations may
occur.
o Next year’s 6 th grade class project will contribute to the project.
o Ellie recommended that we use the SCRIP/playground funds to
support the memorial project. This is one option to consider at year
end.
Principal’s Update (Carol Whitten)
• Kindergarten Roundup will be tomorrow night at 7pm.
o 22 students are already registered.
o Current rumor that there will only be 1 kindergarten classroom next
year is incorrect. We will host morning and afternoon classes. Pre-
K for next year is already full.
• Snow days: 2 inservice ½ days will become full days and some recess time
may be shaved off to make up lost time. February 13 th and April 17 th are
now full days.
• Discussion on Dr. Korach’s “Strategic Perspectives Part II”: Shortfall next
year between $1 and $4 million. Cost savings efforts may include:
o District is prioritizing and attempting to continue to provide a high
level of education.
o Everything will be looked at, including class sizes, staff levels, food
service, custodial support, reduction in PE/Music, etc.
o Reduction of non-teaching management and support staff to
essential service levels. The district may not replace or backfill
positions that become vacant
o Reestablish teacher-student ratios
o Delay all non-essential maintenance projects and technology and
equipment purchases.
o Brainstorm with all employee groups about saving money ideas and
strategies
o Continue supporting the Foundation’s efforts to raise money for
teacher staffing.
o Increase revenue via energy conservation projects and reduce day
to day energy usage
o Delay new textbooks
o Reduce professional development activities
o Central office will work with each school individually to reduce their
costs
o Review fees and funding sources.
o “Perspective Part III” will be coming out Monday
o All district SAC meeting will be March 2 nd 7pm at LOHS cafeteria to
discuss each school’s ideas for cost savings.

o Carol emphasized that this will be very impactful and will hit us hard
and fast.
o All elementary LO schools are going to blended classrooms to allow
flexibility in class sizes and support cost reduction efforts.
o Carol was asked to reduce her Palisades budget by 10%.
o Audrey stated that this is an opportunity for schools, the district and
parent groups to work together and help cover each other
financially. Money can potentially be shared across groups to
support key efforts.
A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting. The meeting
adjourned at 8:42pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Larrance, PALS Secretary
Attendance
Audrey Monroe, Carol Whitten, Ellie Gatto Combs, Genise Vernon, Susan
Larrance, Shannon Lindsey, Karen Lieb, Dusty Johnson, Ana Ryan