A Letter from Your Council President
Council Goals:
1. To provide leadership development for local units and council board members
2. To serve as a resource for education, parenting information and legislative issues
3. To encourage parent and public involvement in the Springfield Public Schools
Welcome back to PTA/PTSA! Never say never…I said I would never do this again, but here I am! I served as SCPTA president in 2008 – 2010 and when I left office, I promised to be a resource on call. Never did I imagine serving as Council president again, but here I am and it’s an honor. My goal is to support our local PTAs and help each of you do your job. My experience includes serving as committee chair for various PTA projects, PTA treasurer, Missouri PTA Legislative Chair and Past President, and National PTA committee member. I say this to encourage each of you to reach out to me with questions so that I can make your PTA/PTSA experience easier.
At a recent National PTA governance retreat, National PTA emphasised 3 strategic focus areas: Growth in Mission and Membership; Leadership Development; and Organizational Effectiveness. I would like to adopt these strategies for Springfield Council as well. (1) Growth in Mission and Membership: at the council level we will share ideas that will help units grow membership numbers and stay connected to the PTA Mission; (2) we hope to encourage leadership development by shared experiences; (3) we will look for ways to change and become more effective and efficient as a council.
The Council provides many communication tools to help keep your unit on track and up to date with what is happening in the district, with Missouri PTA, and with National PTA programs. We also try to provide information and training through our newsletter, website, and Facebook. We also keep you informed about legislative issues that affect your children and their education with timely emails.
Our Council meetings will be held monthly on the 1st Wednesday of the month. We are planning to be back in person for most meetings, holding meetings via Zoom only in the winter months. Most meetings will start at 9:30am (with the exception of our November meeting which starts at 9:15am). A complete list of meetings and locations is on our website Calendar page. So please plan to attend the meetings and get to know us because we want to be there for you and your units.
See you soon!
Donna Petiford, President, Springfield Council of PTAs president@scptamo.com
Council Minutes
As per bylaws, our monthly meeting minutes are approved by our Executive Committee and can be found on the Council website: https://scptamo.com/general-meeting-minutes/ We have found this to be a great time saver during our general meetings.
We looked through our training vault and found this great Secretary Training powerpoint from 2013 – it is still relevant and your Unit Secretary may find it useful: Secretary 101
Council Secretary: Brandi VanAntwerp secretary@scptamo.com
Back to School Treasurer’s Tips
When starting a new year, it’s important to make sure the previous year is completed and wrapped up nicely with a bow on top! The ‘road to the bow’ includes:
1-making sure all dues from last year’s memberships were sent to MOPTA;
2-have in your possession all bank statements through June 30, 2021 (or your fiscal year end month);
3-create your ‘end-of-year’ report and be sure your ending balance matches the ending balance on the June bank statement;
4-get a copy of the Financial Review form from MOPTA or SCPTA and fill in the blanks with the numbers from your end-of-year report and bank statement, give these forms along with your bank statements and checkbook register to your audit committee, after they approve the reports, your general membership votes to approve, then send both reports to MOPTA;
5-file your IRS 990 at file990.org, have your unit’s EIN number handy, the form will typically autofill after you put in your EIN for your unit; if you don’t know it, ask a SCPTA officer (also send a copy to Missouri PTA);
6-if a new treasurer is taking over, transfer all records including backup paperwork for expenses and income, bank statements, IRS past filings, forms and documents related to your unit’s financial transactions and history; treasurer reports and documents prepared for your unit, council or MOPTA, Missouri DOR Form 126, minutes from unit meetings recording votes for financial decisions, passwords to paypal or other online payment services and reports from these showing income and transfers or expenditures. Having a 3-ring binder with dividers and documents in sheet protectors works great for organizing and avoiding loss of important information. (Also, change passwords when changing officers).
Our SCPTA Treasurer is available for questions if you feel like a deer in the headlights. Email to treasurer@scptamo.com
For More Treasurer’s Tips and Tricks: please see our website for Treasurer Resources and helpful information
We use MoneyMinder for our financial reporting. For a detailed report, please see Moneyminder.biz and login with username: council@scptamo.com password: SCPTA.658
PTA Clothing Bank
For all shopping dates, volunteer schedule, and frequently asked questions, please see our website: https://scptamo.com/the-pta-clothing-bank/ and follow us on Facebook @ThePTAClothingBank. Email: clothingbank@scptamo.com
High Schools’ and Feeder Schools’ Volunteer dates at The Clothing Bank:
Glendale and GHS Feeder Schools: Sept 29, Dec 5, Mar 30
Central and CHS Feeder Schools: Oct 13, Jan 12, Apr 13
Hillcrest and HHS Feeder Schools: Oct 27, Jan 26, Apr 27
Kickapoo and KHS Feeder Schools: Nov 10, Feb 9
Parkview and PHS Feeder Schools: Dec 1, Feb 23
Reflections
Save the Dates!
We handed out Reflections packets to schools that participated in our Officer Orientation on September 20, 2022. Please let us know if you did not receive yours.
October 11, 2022, 4:30-6:00 pm – Reflections Chairperson Training, in-person option
Schweitzer-Brentwood Library Community Room // 2214 S. Brentwood Blvd.
October 12, 2022, 6:30-8:30 pm – Reflections Chairperson Training, in-person option
Library Station Frisco Room // 2535 N. Kansas Expy.
November 13, 2022, 11:00am-3:00 pm – Turn in School Winners for Council Judging
Library Center Community Room A/B // 4653 S. Campbell Ave.
November 14-18, 2022 – Council-Level Judging Takes Place
December 19, 2022 – Council Winners Announced Via Social Media/Email Blast
January 2023, Time & Location TBD – District Reflections Awards Celebration
Reflections Program Contacts
Kimbala Ellis, Council Reflections Chair, reflections@scptamo.com
Allison England, Council VP of Programs, programs@scptamo.com
Reflections Remind Updates: Text @scptar to 81010
Promotions
@SCPTAs #SCPTAMO
EMAIL: promotions@scptamo.com Kristina Wilmoth, VP Promotions
Organization and Development
Being a PTA / PTSA unit in Good Standing with Missouri PTA is necessary to protect your 501(c)3 status. If you are not in Good Standing, your unit will not be able to apply for grants, participate in the Reflections programs, or maintain your non-profit status.
Have you contacted Missouri PTA and given them your 2022-2023 officers’ names and contact information? Have you completed and sent to Missouri PTA your year-end (2021-2022) financial report, financial review/audit, and copy of IRS filing (990, 990EZ, or 990N)? (This should be done as soon as possible after your financial year-end and is considered past-due in December). Have you sent the state and national portion of your dues to Missouri PTA? Have you reviewed and sent updated copies of your bylaws to Missouri PTA within the last 3 years? Please check this list to verify if your bylaws are current. If you need help with any of these requirements, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
EMAIL: orgdev@scptamo.com or president@scptamo.com
At our September 20, 2022, we covered some basic Parliamentary Procedures. If you missed this Officer Orientation, please see this link for the slide presentations and corresponding web pages that we covered and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions.
You Belong in PTA Flyer. Editable file to create your PTA logo. Sample PTA Letterhead.
Springfield Council of PTAs 