The meeting was called to order at 10:10 a.m. by President Linda LaBelle.
MINUTES: A motion was made by Carol Barlow to approve the minutes from the October 14, 2011 PTO meeting, second by Kim Bolton. Motion passed.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT: Dr. Lamberson reported that ISAT results are posted on the Report Card on District 96 website. Each school’s report card is on the website. The results from 2010: Reading & math: 95% exceeded. We had the highest ISAT achievement in history-93%. Eighth grade (now in High School) – 55% on Math; leaving Hauser exceeding in Math. Reading is similar. We are 10% in State and we have doubled that percentage. We are celebrating the success of our kids at Hauser. In Feb. we will qualify for the Academic Excellence Award (third time). We have four out of five of our schools that qualify and one is in the mid 90’s. The last two years we had all of our schools. For the last five years we have been in the meets and/or exceeds. Capital Renovations: You can stay on top of our renovations by visiting the District website, under School Board – Capital projects. You can get the most current information there. Hollywood & Blythe will begin their renovations next summer and Central, Hauser and Ames will be this summer 2012. Website address: www.district96.org/school-board/capital-projects. The renovation will start with three R’s: Reduce the items we don’t need any more in the school. At the end of every month we will reduce. Recycle bin: this will not be trash. We could take items that could be used by someone else and donate them. Then after spring break we will reuse. We want some items back to reuse. There will be approx. 27 moving trucks to come to move furniture on the last day of school at Hauser, Central & Ames. The asbestos tile will be removed. This will take place all summer. The project is on target! There will be a tour tomorrow night through Hauser. All BOE members will take the tour so everyone knows what is going on at the school. All are welcome. The bids will be approved next month and could total $19,000,000. We had a 150 – 180 contractor bids at the pre-bid meetings. Contingency plans will be discussed for the summer projects. In February the BOE will decide if school will begin on time or if the start date will be after Labor Day.
TEACHER’S REPORT: Ms. Kempe informed us about the Food Drive fundraising initiatives, the goal and schedule for set up, take down and loading. A parent letter will be distributed to all of the families. The students will attend meetings during their advisory. This year we will be donating items to the Riverside Food Pantry and will continue to donate to the Salvation Army. New this year: no wagon campaigns; there will be bins at Riverside Foods; flyers at the Riverside Library and four Banks in Riverside. There will be an Applebee’s Food Drive fundraiser. Applebee’s will donate 15% of your food bill to the Food Drive. PoWeR Windows and Gutters will be supporting our food drive this year. Our goal is 85,000 (last year we received 81,000 with most of it going to Englewood.) Kathie Kunish & Karen McGee have the signup sheets. On Dec. 2nd there will be a booth set up at the Holiday Stroll in downtown Riverside.
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT: Principal Berman thanked Katie Kempe for stepping up and taking the lead with the Food Drive. Thanks also to Carol Byland for organizing a great trip to Springfield for our 7th graders. It was a success! Thank you to Laura Lynch for your support with the play, Mary Poppins Broadway Show. (Subsidized by the PTO! Thank you!) Fall sports are finishing up. Thank you. Thank you to Mr. Wolf for organizing a successful Red Ribbon week. We need to get more parents to attend our speaker presentation that is held during this week. Maybe we need a different format. It is a great week for the kids. We did lose state funding for these activities. Thanks to Dr. Lamberson, we are funding these activities at our school. RBHS was not represented and Komarek may pull out. Mr. Wolf is setting up a meeting with our partners to discuss this issue further. We are committed! Basketball for boys and cheerleading will begin. The fall play is Charlie’s Aunt which is next week. Thanks to everyone who helped out. This is the best time of the year…the food drive and concerts! Parent teacher conference letters were sent out to the parents. We do conferences all year long. Thank you to the PTO for the food that provide to the teachers and staff. We are currently working on sending the report cards out electronically. The envelope will go home at the end of the semester for the parents to sign that they have viewed the report card on line. They can also check off if they would like a hard copy of the report card. This is the first time we are trying to do this. A paper report card will be sent out at the end of the year. Hi-Lines are ready to go out. PTO is still accepting Box Tops and getting credit when Target cards are used. We are no longer working with Amazon.
COMMITTEE REPORTS: Spirit wear: thank you to Pat Collins for organizing this for us. All orders will be in by the weekend and will be distributed during advisory. Teacher & Staff Dinner: The PTO will be providing dinner for the faculty & staff on 11/21 during Parent Teacher conferences. Melinda Brom reported that sandwiches and sides will be served. Please provide your name and email addresses on the volunteer sheet. We need help with set up, donations, serving and clean up. Honor Roll Breakfast: The breakfast will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 13th from 7 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. The signup sheet is being passed around. If you have any questions, please contact Cathy Louthen or Olga Pribyl. We need help with set up, serve, hall monitor. The kids will have games and stuff to do while they are eating. Invites to come! There are three honor rolls: Straight A Honor Roll, High Honor Roll and Honor Roll. Hospitality: No report. Webmaster: Nancy Hopkins. Kim Bolton is our Communications chairperson. Please submit event information to Kim.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT: Linda would like to encourage involvement in our PTO. Please stay updated by visiting the website and try to attend our monthly PTO meetings. We have a great group with positive energy!
FIRST VP: Kim is publicizing our food drive to the media. (Riverside Exchange and Women’s Junior Association)
SECOND VP: Kathie reported that we need a chair or co-chairs for our Family Dinner that will be held in February.
THIRD VP: Carol reported that box tops turned in $130. You can go to Market Place on box tops website (E-box). Box tops will give a percent of what is
purchased. Magazine orders keep coming! We received and additional $1200 more orders on line. We anticipate over $7,000 income. You can order all year long.
SECRETARY: Please remember that the approved minutes are on the website.
TREASURER: Audrey distributed a financial report for the month of October. There are no expenses yet. Spirit wear brought in $4,258 with a budgeted amount of $1,800. We have approx. 15 calendars left. Mary Lescher will report the final numbers for the directory.
NEW BUSINESS: The January PTO meeting has been moved to Thursday, Jan. 19th at 7 p.m. All district speaker event has been moved to Monday, Feb. 13th. The speaker is Sarah Migas, Illinois Attorney General’s Office. She will speak on computer and internet safety. The event will be hosted by Blythe in the Blythe Auditorium.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: There will not be a December PTO meeting.
Kathy Dudek informed us that the Riverside Food Pantry is in need of canned goods. There is a box for donations outside of the Village Hall Bldg. They will also take monetary donations.
DATES: Jan. 3rd – Classes resume
Jan. 17th BOE General Meeting – 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 19th PTO Meeting – 7:00 p.m.
Kathy Dudek made a motion to adjourn the meeting, second by Kim Bolton.
Meeting was adjourned at 11:26 a.m.
Respectfully submitted by,
Kathy Barcal
Secretary – Hauser PTO
Please keep clipping those Box Top$. This is such a great way to earn free money for our school. Ask your friends and neighbors to clip, too. Remember, you can also shop online at The Marketplace on the 
