PTA adopts budget for 2011-12 school year

In the next school year, the PTA plans to spend more money to help finance field trips and social activities for students.

The budget, approved by members in May, calls for the PTA to put $10 per student toward field trips for the 2011-12 school year.

The amount represents an increase over the previous year’s budget, in which the PTA put $6 per student toward defraying field trip costs. The PTA originally had budgeted $3 per student last year, but in October bumped up the contribution to help families after closing out the prior budget year with an unexpected surplus.

The field trip contribution is $5,400 of the $69,045 in expenses planned for the coming school year. Of that total, the spending plan outlines $42,450 in costs associated with running fundraisers. The remaining $26,595 is earmarked for student-oriented programs such as Art Awareness, Brainiacs and Reflections; for events such as family fun nights; and for operating and other costs.

Building on another change enacted in October, the budget sets aside $2 per student to help finance classroom parties in 2011-12. The PTA added the party contribution last fall to help parents, who are hit with a number of expenses early in the school year. The item accounts for $1,080. 

The intention is for the PTA money to pay for the parties without asking parents for an additional contribution. If the allocation is used up before all three parties have been paid for, the PTA could increase the allotment to a total of $3 per student.

All told, the budget projects revenue of $64,250 in the coming school year to fund the $69,045 in anticipated expenses, creating a one-year spending deficit of $4,975.

The PTA will make up the difference using its savings, which is expected to be about $16,500 after the final accounting of the 2010-11 budget year. Financial advisers have said our PTA should maintain reserves of about $10,000, and the PTA leadership recommends spending down the reserves to that amount.

The projected revenue of $64,250 represents an increase of 3.5 percent over last year’s budget of $62,065, but a decrease from the $67,428 anticipated based on actual revenues last year. The amount budgeted for 2011-12 reflects past experience with the fall fundraiser and a cautious approach to the new fall fun run that’s replacing the product sale. The budget projects $9,000 in revenue from the fun run, in line with product sales from prior years; this year’s product sale netted $11,885.

Other proposed changes include:

· Increasing the budget for the Art Awareness program to $300 from $100 to update supplies and pay for attendance at Art Institute of Chicago seminars .

· Reducing the donation to the LMC to $1,900. The current budget included $2,550 to buy three sets of SMART Responders. With that purchase complete, LMC Director Carrie Ory recommended returning to the previous budget level.

· Adding $500, for a total of $2,500, to pay for assemblies.  

For a look at the full budget, visit our PTA Budget page. Please contact President Judy Nagel-Conley or Treasurer Beth Siwicki with comments or questions.

Growing a gallery

Few things could be more encouraging for a young artist than having an original creation put on public display.

Art teacher Deb Gelso plans to start a permanent gallery of student artwork in the coming school year with support from the PTA.

Ms. Gelso’s vision is to turn the main hallway leading from the office toward the gym into a showplace for two-dimensional art students create in class during the year. She would select a piece to represent each grade level and, if students and parents agree, the art would be matted, framed and hung. Art may be displayed permanently, or rotated periodically, Ms. Gelso said.

The PTA membership agreed to support the gallery by buying paint to freshen up the hallway and to buy the first six frames, for a total cost of $400 from the current year’s budget. Ms. Gelso’s plan includes adding six frames each year, an expense members indicated they would support in future budgets.

Buy buying the frames, the PTA is supporting the visual arts in much the same way it supports students’ talents through programs such as Reflections, Brainiacs and the Variety Show.