Wells Elementary PTA – Board Meeting Minutes 

September 10, 2021 

The board meeting of the Wells Elementary PTA was called to order on September 10, 2021 at 8:02am via zoom by president, Annamarie Saavedra, with secretary, Joanne Carrasco, being present. A quorum  was established. 

The minutes of the previous board meeting were not approved they will be presented at the next board  meeting for approval. 

The treasurer’s report showed:  

Statement of financial position was presented. Annamarie Saavedra and Danielle Stevens are  working together to get Danielle Stevens added to the account as well as Natalie Drake.  

No treasurer report was presented, only the statement of financial position was presented.  There were no correspondences to share with the membership.  

President’s Report was presented by Annamarie Saavedra. Year books have arrived. If parents have a  student currently registered at Wells they will be sent home with the student. If there is a student that  has graduated or moved away from Wells, there is an email address the parents can contact to  coordinate delivery of the yearbook. The email address is available on social media. A few parent have  been interested in the PTA being involved in placing free standing HEPA filters in classrooms and other  spaces where students congregate throughout the school to help with air cleanliness. Some parents  have asked if the PTA can help underwrite this request and/or help fundraise. At the start of covid,  every campus filtration system was upgraded to an appropriate level deemed by state and health  departments. A few parents have approached Sara Meyer and asked if the PTA can cover the cost of  these air filters to go in classrooms and common areas. There are currently 5 classrooms that have these  air filters that have been donated by parents/grandparents. There is a form provided by district with  requirements on the HEPA filters that must be completed for anyone that wants to donate an air filter.  Sara Meyer then checks the selected donated filter with the districts requirements and approves it  before the filter can go in the classroom. The responsibility for maintenance and upkeep for the air  filters will fall on the person(s) donating the air filter to the classroom. At the end of the school year the  person that donated the filter is responsible for picking it up from the school. Due to the high cost and  the disposability of the air filters everyone on the call agreed to pitch the idea back to the parents that  want the air filters in the classrooms to make a personal choice or collectively as class parents pool  together to coordinate and donate one if they would like. With so many students biking to school, the  current bike rack on the school campus is consistently full. A new bike rack is something that falls right in  line with what the PTA could support and purchase. This would be a permanent capital enhancement to  the campus and is clearly needed. The funds for this bike rack donation can come from a line item that  has already been budgeted. Facilities will have to come to the campus first to see the correct space for a  new bike rack. Based on the space then the appropriate size rack would be purchased and installation  fee would also apply. Everyone on the call agreed that this would be a great opportunity for the PTA to  assist with. Annamarie Saavedra will work with Sara Meyer to get estimates and then circulate the  estimate with the board. 

Programs Report was presented by Natalie Drake. Natalie Drake is communicating with Drama Kids to  try and get them to come in as an after school program. Arts in education week is taking place  September 13-17th. Natalie Drake is working with Shonda Mashburn to get performers in during the  morning before school starts. The band director at Haggard is sharing students to come in and perform.  Reflections art program registration flyers will be printed to get stuffed in the orange PTA folders. There  was no update on Tiger Dads campout. Red Ribbon week will take place October 25-29th. Annamarie  Saavedra has been in contact with someone interested in hosting an after school a coding and robotics  club. The program would be a 45 minute one time per week class. There would be a monthly fee to  participate of approximately $90.00 in addition to a $50.00 registration fee. If you are a PTA member the  registration fee would be $25.00. The class can accommodate up to 36 students at a time. All instructors  would be masked and vaccinated. There would need to be a PTA volunteer during the class time. Sara  Meyer would need specific space requirements to plan the logistics around location. This is an optional  program for families. Annamarie Saavedra will work on getting the robotics company on board. We  have a new field day coordinator: Morgan English. The field day budget was increased to accommodate  a field day request to offer a unique obstacle course. The vendor and obstacle course have been  selected for field day. Sara Meyer informed the board that the obstacle course cannot be enclosed, it  must be open aired. She will review the obstacle course information for safety. In the event of rain the  obstacle course cannot be moved inside.  

Communications Report was presented by Annamarie Saavedra. Please continue to send Annamarie  Saavedra anything you want pushed out on the communications platforms.  

Volunteers Report was presented by Annamarie Saavedra. Amy Carter has a full year planned of  activities for the teachers. PTA Orange folder stuffing has been going great. In September it was  kindergarten turns to stuff and every week there has been at least 2 volunteers signed up which made  the process quick and smooth.  

Ways and means Report was presented by Gayle Stanley. Spirit nights coming up are as follows:  • September 14 Joes Pasta N Pizza 

• September 23 North Texas Giving Day  
• October 28 Chick Fil A (tentative-to be confirmed closer to date) 
• Date TBD Solie passes sale 
• Date TBD Book fair 

Auction- the venue for the auction is still not finalized. The proposal is now to combine the auction with  the spring fling carnival. The auction would be online and live for a few days. This will allow more time  to gather auction items. If anyone has friends or family that would like to donate raffle items that would  be greatly appreciated. Gayle Stanley will work on getting a committee together to help plan the spring  fling and auction. A retired teacher is promoting her tutoring service and reached out to the PTA to see  

if anyone might have a need for this service. The cost would be $169.00 for the year, the content is  available via an online platform and the content ranges from preschool, SAT, ACT, ESL and the kick back  to the PTA would be $25.50. Gayle Stanley will work on sharing the information regarding this tutor  service with Sara Meyer for review before a decision is made. 

Wells Administrative Staff Report was presented by Principal Sara Meyer. We are coming up on one  month of being in school. District has communicated to the school staffing adjustments that need to be  made. The school is losing the following teachers based on enrollment numbers: Kindergarten(Ms.  Borgese), Second grade (Ms. Adams) and Third grade (Ms. Massie). The students currently in these  teachers classrooms will be split up amongst the remaining classrooms. Wells is one of the higher  schools with students moving to the Virtual Academy. With this change Kindergarten is still going to  average at 19 students per class after one class is broken up into the remaining kindergarten classes.  Arts in education week will take place as discussed with musicians being on campus from 7:10-7:40. On  September 15 there will be Dot Day celebrations in the Art area. Mrs. Evans has done a great job talking  to students and encouraging them to wear dots on that day. Sara Meyer followed up with district  regarding the additional bike rack for the school and the PTA could help purchase and fund the  additional bike rack. The facilities person has come to the campus to look for placement of the  additional bike rack to be installed. Virtual Academy is starting on Monday September 13th. TVO  students that have been off campus for the first couple of weeks of school and did not select the Virtual  Academy option will be joining in person on September 13th. 5 new students have enrolled and are  starting on the 13th as well.  

Announcements: 

Important Dates: 

Board Meeting Dates: 

• Friday, October 8th at 8:00 am 
• Friday, November 12th at 8:00 am 
• Friday, December 3rd at 8:00 am 
• Friday, January 14th at 8:00am 
• Friday, February 11th at 8:00am 
• Friday, March 18th at 8:00am 
• Friday, April 8th at 8:00am 
• Friday, May 6th at 8:00am 

General Meeting Dates: 

• Thursday, October 21st at 4:00pm 
• Thursday, December 9th at 8:00am 

Meeting adjourned at 9:11am.