May 12, 2009, Tuesday
Music Boosters Board Meeting Minutes

Submitted by Kathy Cranford, Secretary
Next meeting scheduled for September 15, 2009 at 6:30 pm

Attendees:

Michael Cummins, Carolyn Suazo, John Hempsey, Jeanne Hoey, Deb Velez, Christina Deckard, Kathy Cranford

The meeting began at 6:35 pm.

Mr. Cummins played a sample of the music for next fall’s marching band field show.

Copies of the minutes from the April meeting were passed out by Secretary Kathy Cranford. They were reviewed and passed.

Budget:

Treasurer Jeanne Hoey passed out copies of the current financial report and budget. The report included income from the Spring Concert which was very successful. We haven’t yet heard the amount of income from the Soup Plantation fundraiser. May is the last month for coaching for Anastasia and Noel. The budget was approved.

Mr. Cummins gave us an update on the fee ($6) for uniform cleaning which a few students still have not paid.

Fundraising:

The next fundraiser is Jamba Juice which Carolyn is organizing. It will be held on Saturday, May 23rd, at the Jamba Juice on Nobel in the Ralphs shopping center. 20% of proceeds go directly to our music program. We would like to get the students involved in making signs to display around campus. We need to get flyers and an e-mail announcement out soon. We discussed the option of Jamba Juice coming to campus for a fundraiser; this would be in addition to the May 23rd event. All members present liked this idea since Jamba Juice would bring all the supplies and personnel to the campus. It was agreed to see how the May 23rd event goes and then decide if we want to do an on-campus fundraiser, maybe in the fall.

Jeanne announced that EdUCate is having an Octoberfest at Standley Park. It was suggested that we do a Jamba Juice fundraiser there.

Mr. Cummins suggested that we hold onto the couple of donated items we have and save them for an opportunity drawing at the next Holiday Concert. We think that would be a better time to have a drawing (holiday shopping) and we hope to get more donated items by then also. Carolyn has a contact that should prove useful in providing names of companies that are willing to donate items for the drawing.

Next year:

Deb Velez suggested inviting Principal Mike Price to our first Music Booster meeting next fall. We want to ask him what we can do, as Music Booster parents, to have a successful music program.

Mr. Cummins announced there will be no string orchestra next year. There are no new students coming in from Standley. However, he will be teaching music appreciation. Some of the current orchestra students will be moving into band.

Awards Banquet:

The date is Wednesday, June 3rd, at the Bali Hai, Shelter Island. Carolyn has been organizing this event. At the Spring Concert, some people signed up to help with this event. Carolyn will contact them about decorating, etc. There are some items from past banquets that can be used, and we agreed to keep the decorations simple; mainly balloons and confetti and whatever we have saved from past banquets. We also have a $300 credit from the awards company to use for this year’s awards; that will have to be confirmed. Mr. Cummins will be ordering the awards and transporting them to the banquet.

Fall ’09 Field Show:

Mr. Cummins has chosen the field show music and program for next fall. The Board approved the purchase of the show which is about $1500. He gave us a preview of the music which we all enjoyed. The three shows will be at Mira Mesa, Scripps, and Ramona (NOT Ramona, Riverside). There are 60 confirmed students for marching band next fall.

Color Guard:

Christina Deckard suggested having a bus to transport students to Winter Guard competitions. With the large number of students in Winter Guard this year, the coordination of transporting them to competitions was very complicated. There was the issue of liability because students had to help with the driving. It was agreed to look into renting a bus, possibly a small one, for next year. Mr. Cummins would be required to ride on the bus, and he agreed that would not be a problem. Due to the new organization, color guard will not be included in fall marching band, like in the past, but rather, is included under drill team and will receive credit for 7th period drill team but not 6th period. There was concerned raised about how the color guard will have enough time to learn the show, etc. if they don’t have color guard 6th and 7th period. Mr. Cummins said that things may still change after the District Board meets in June and makes their final decision. It is also not clear whether there will be a Winter Guard next year; that decision is still pending.

Band Camp:

31st-September 4th, from 8am-2pm. Even though teachers are facing possible furlough days, Mr. Cummins assured us that he will do everything possible to hold Band Camp.

Fair Share Donations:

Mr. Cummins announced that he is putting together the packets for Band Camp, and the question was raised whether the fair share donation should stay the same or be increased. A lengthy discussion ensued about the budget and fair share donations. We were in agreement that we should first address only the fall quarter, for band and color guard. The winter season should be addressed separately. There are several items that are shared expenses for marching band and color guard (transportation, food, festival fees, etc.), but there are certain expenses that are unique to each group. We agreed it would be useful to have additional meetings to itemize such items that are unique to each group and get an accurate amount for what the costs are for each member. Currently, color guard fair share donations are quite a bit more than marching band and still, color guard members pay for costumes, shoes, and some equipment out of pocket. We all agreed we want the fair share donations to be fair for both groups. In order to reach an agreement this evening, the decision was made to place the fair share donation at $275 for marching band students and $300 for color guard students. This decision was based in part on:
1) the fact that fair share donations have not been increased in several years, and more importantly,
2) we had very few parents (besides the core group of usual volunteers) that helped with fundraising efforts this year and therefore, fell short of our fundraising goals for this year.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 pm.