General Membership Meeting - Roosevelt PTA

Tuesday, November 18th, 2025 | 7:00 pm | Roosevelt Elementary PRC

• Welcome & introductions

  • Handed out info about the Nominating Committee - to be appointed at the next meeting.
    
    

• Review of the agenda
  
  

• Meeting minutes from Sept 16, 2025 were read aloud and approved.
  
  

• Treasurer’s report

  • Budget with current balances was handed out
    
    

• Principal’s message

  • New Roosevelt Building Update

    • Pipes are being drilled down in the back of the school (350 feet deep).  They are testing how deep they need to bore holes for geothermal energy for the new building.

      • The students are getting to learn about it  - 4th grade gets to see a core sample, etc.

    • The ultimate goal of building the new school is for it to be a net-zero building (it would be the first net-zero school building in Whatcom or Skagit county).
      
      

• Committee Chair Reports

  • Communication

    • Reminder to continue liking, commenting, engaging with our social media posts.  This helps the posts reach a wider audience.

    • We’re happy to repost community opportunities and resources that are relevant to our Roosevelt community.  Send these things to communications@roosevelt-pta.org or DM the PTA social media accounts.

    • The Student Family Directory is coming soon!
      
      

  • Enrichment 

    • Handed out master list of classes - future planning

    • Winter session will start in Feb, registration in Jan.
      
      

  • Events

    • Fall Family Night was a hit!

      • We received lots of donations

      • The event came in under budget.

      • Squalicum HS students volunteered and ran all the games

    • Bedtime and Books is our next event, happening in February.

    • Open House had record attendance and also came in under budget.
      
      

  • Fundraising 

    • Bear-a-thon recap

      • One more deposit to be made which will push us over $20K raised

      • We had the “silly staff challenge” at a recent assembly.  Tina won!

    • November fundraising agenda:

      • Spirit gear sale is happening now!  Minted coupon code is active, we’re working on shutterfly storefront.

    • Reminder to sign up for BoxTops and Fred Meyer Rewards

    • Launching Success shopping week coming in December

    • Fundraisers happening later in the year:

      • Book Sale, Spring Bingo, Art Walk, another Spirit Gear sale in the spring, dine-outs throughout the year.

    • Giving Tuesday is the week after Thanksgiving

      • Last year we asked for the gift of enrichment scholarships.

      • This year, donations will go towards the cost of t-shirt design contest shirts.

    • Reminder (and please spread the word) that companies often do matching for fundraiser donations.
      
      

  • SPED Family Support & Advocacy

    • 8 people attended the first committee meeting (mix of parents and teachers)

    • Social stories have caught on and other schools are going to start making them, too.

    • Working on a sensory friendly portion of the Spring Dance Party

    • Talked about modifying the Bear-a-thon next year for sensory needs so all students can participate

    • Working on a resource packet and parent mentor program for new families entering the school.

    • Fall Family Night accommodations implemented - AAC device, fidgets, head phones were all made available
      
      

  • Staff Appreciation

    • November 20th is the first appreciation day!

    • Items are coming in - sign-up genius links are out
      
      

  • Yearbook 

    • Currently in the fundraising phase - focusing on selling ad space in our monthly newsletter.

    • People can also donate towards the cost of yearbooks and get a mention/thank you in the newsletter (if they don’t want to put together an advertisement).

    • Discussing ways the 5th graders can contribute (interviewing other 5th graders for memories, doing some page layouts).
      
      

• PACS Report 

  • Committee meets every other month, 2 reps from each school meet with the superintendent

  • Discussed Levies - both passed
    
    

• 4th Grade Field Trip Request

  • 3 of the field trips 4th grade has done traditionally have had their federal funding cut and will now be charging for these experiences

    • NSEA students for salmon

    • Killer Whale Tales

    • WWU Planetarium

  • 4th grade has 2 classrooms this year instead of 3 - adding to the  challenge of funding these field trips.

    • The PTA currently provides a set amount per classroom for field trips (this has been our budget model for several years).

  • 4th grade is asking for additional support from the PTA to cover the lost funding for the above field trips.

  • Decisions regarding budget changes for anything over $500 requires a vote by the general PTA membership (per our PTA Standing Rules).

  • Discussed revamping how we give funds for field trips next year

  • Reviewed the current field trip plans for each grade-level

  • Possible solutions were presented

    • Discussed that federal funding cuts to programs resulting in field trip funding challenges are likely going to be an ongoing problem.

  • A vote was taken and unanimously approved to increase PTA provided field trip funds slightly to make them equal for all grade levels (K-5th), regardless of the number of classrooms (since this changes year to year).

  • Discussed how to handle any similar requests that come in from other grade-levels throughout this year.

  • We are going to revisit the field trip budget discussion when planning our budget for next year.

  • Regarding the remaining amount requested by 4th grade to allow them to keep the 3 impacted field trips, a vote was taken and unanimously approved to use our “one-time special projects” budget line item and the left over funds from the Open House to bridge the gap.
    
    

• New business

  • The PTA is going to build a Free Little Pantry on school grounds

    • This was approved by Mr. Darragh and Mrs. Allsop

    • In response to SNAP benefit cuts to help support our school families.

    • To be managed by the PTA (the neighborhood and school community will stock it, but the PTA will make any repairs needed over time and check for expiration dates periodically).

    • A few PTA members are supplying building materials and another PTA member has volunteered to build it.