Foundation Meeting Tonight

[Sheri Lake]

Thank you to everyone who came to our Foundation meeting tonight and also to those of you have expressed your commitment to the cause but were not able to make it.  I think we had a great turnout, and I look forward to continuing the momentum we generated tonight.

I wanted to follow up the meeting with a summary of what we discussed and to remind everyone of our "next steps."

In general, we discussed the goals of the foundation, and specifically Julie Taylor identify key areas within the school that could be benefited by foundation funds.  For example, a need for current technology (computers, iPads, etc.) to be upgraded and for additional technology to be better integrated into the classroom (e.g., student technology centers within each classroom).  In addition, our after school STEM programs played a big part in Sagamore Hills earning STEM certification.  However, these programs (STEM club, Garden Club, Robotics Club, for example) depend solely on the generosity of our teachers and staff.  A foundation could fund these after school programs so that students can continue to receive these benefits for free and the teachers and staff could be paid for their time.  Other areas identified by Ms. Taylor: funding for an after school tutoring program (currently our tutoring program is sustained by volunteers); funding for a full-time STEM teacher; Science lab; continuing education for teachers; fencing in the playground and field area; upgrading the playground; upgrading the student bathrooms; painting the exterior; and maintenance of the grounds.

It is really exciting to think about all the things that might be possible if we can get this Foundation off the ground.

Here are our next steps:

1) I will draft By-Laws and distribute them to the group for feedback;

2) Kristie McMahan will contact a CPA she knows well who has experience working with non-profits to determine what we need to do to set up the Foundation as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) corporation and to gain a better understanding as to what we can and cannot do.  Kristie will also get the CPAs advice on whether or not we should engage a lawyer with non-profit experience as well;

3) Meg Scheid has been tasked with working on a mission statement for the Foundation;

4) Julie Taylor will advise as to budgetary needs for funding after school programs and any of the other key areas identified above, to the extent such information is easily available to her so that we can begin to formulate a reasonable budget for attaining our goals;

5) We identified certain people within the Sagamore Hills community, but outside of the school walls, who we believe might be interested in serving on the Foundation Board or supporting the organization otherwise.  Those with connections will start to "feel out" these individuals and determine if they might be interested.  If anyone who did not make it tonight has ideas of others, please let us know.

6) We scheduled our next meeting for JUNE 6, 2016, AT 6:30 P.M. AT THE BEACH CLUB.  IF IT IS RAINING, ELEANOR ATTWOOD WILL HOST AT HER HOME.  More details will be sent out as we get closer to the date.

Please, please let me know if I missed anything or if anyone has anything to add.  As I said before, I am no secretary.

Thanks!  

Sheri 

    

[Dave Allen Barker Jr]

I took some notes too (parked at sagamorehillspta.org/foundation → View documents → History → 2016-11-05 Meeting)…

Attending

• Sheri Lake (School Council, Lawyer): Organizer & host

• Julie Taylor (Sagamore Principal of Sagamore Hills Elementary School)

• Karen Weller (School Council President)

• Kristie McMahan (PTA President)

• Dave Barker (PTA Communications)

• Meg Scheid (Many years experience on Coralwood Board)

• Lara Baldwin (Parent)

• Eleanor Attwood (Parent)

• Suzi Wilkie (Parent): Dropped off years of collected material from foundation formation attempts past

Current Status

• Registered with Georgia Secretary of State, Incorporated (with?), acquired an IRS tax number (EIN?)

Need To

Tax exempt status

• Sheri brought packet from IRS on what is 503(c)(3), example, advice

• Required annual filing duties

• Sagamore PTA is 503(c)(3), Coralwood PTA is not

• Find lawyer/cpa or pay for one for 503(c)(3)

• Flake?

Bylaws

Bylaws are general easy legal boilerplate and procedures. Other important stuff in mission statement instead.

Endowment

• Endowments are hard, long term

• Coralwood has ¾ million dollar endowment, interest on which can be spent during lean years

• Endowments are rare for foundations

Goals

Principal’s wish list

• More integrated technology (upgrading mac lab, computers in each classroom, furniture to support a tech center)

• STEM teacher / science lab teacher

Parent ideas

• After school activity compensation

• Spanish teacher (regular special class)

• Grounds (field, fence, playground)

• Teacher training

• After school tutoring (exists currently (“Branching Out”) but volunteer powered)

• Bathrooms

• Exterior painting

Discussion

Can a foundation fund teachers?

Hiring teachers is expensive (benefits), but possible

Coralwood has a hired development person (grant writing, etc)

Do donations have to come through a foundation?

Foundations are powerful agents for change, able to put enduring pressure on boards and others to get things done (unlike PTA whose personnel are in flux yearly)

Meg Scheid went to Sagamore Hills Elementary!

Karen has access to a grant database through Mercer University

Leverage the socio-economic challenged population to bring in resources (because grants like to go toward improving the challenged students)

Use broad language to allow the foundation flexibility in how money is spent.

Teacher pay incentive programs? Possible, but must be well defined.

At Coralwood, teacher can apply for grants from their foundation.

It’s not divisive, it’s good and not too different from what we do know with parents generating gifts for extra teacher efforts.

Can’t tie rewards to academic performance though (doesn’t work well).

Retain good teachers!

Mission statement is where more thought need to go in defining what our foundation is (not the bylaws)

Sagamore is %39 Title I, designated Title I is 60% (so Sagamore is not Title I)

Big goal is to move Sagamore in things like Georgia Milestones (testing)

Categorize wants after specifying them to organize fundraising

Foundation people consist of:

• Board: Pres, Sec, Tres

• At large

• Committees

Recruiting?

Bylaws will define the necessary personnel.

Identify people outside the school

Feelers out for people to involve, but not hard sell yet because we don’t have our stuff together (yet), but definitely start making contacts

Somebody from PTA should be on Foundation Board

Must define what is the PTA’s and what is Foundation

PTA is doing for the children programs, Foundation does big programs

PTA budget is a lot of little expenses adding up to $85k

Lara shared about Henderson Mills’ fun run fundraiser and it’s brings in like $30/40k. Event during the school day. Can outsource logistics or do it ourselves.

Big advantage that you can ask for money outside the community (grandparents, etc)

All children (families) participate

Coralwood does only 2 fundraisers a year. Big and few is best. Maybe PTA first fundraise at beginning of year, Foundation at end of year.

It’s powerful to identify exactly what is being being payed for by particular fundraising activity

Meg will be PTA to Foundation Board liaison (she’s next year’s PTA Secretary)

People

Blair Diaz

An expert Krisitie McMahan knows that can help

Roxanne Spillett

PTA President, Shannon Spillett, can do small grant writing, but her mother-in-law, Roxanne Spillett, writes big grants and is big-time (national Boys Girls Club leadership).

Roxanne should be here at next meeting.

Meet with Blaire first

    Do we need a lawer?

Meg Scheid’s mom (“Ganny”?)

Connected, good with research, do-gooder (coats for Mt Clair)

Barb Ribner

Husband on cover of time for Ebola, knows lots, neighborhood do-gooder…?

Tom Branch

?

Flake, Andrew

...judge… ?

Kristie McMahan

Treasurer skills?

Non-profit accounting is a speciality.

Treasurer is bookeeping, pay an accountant to take care IRS submitting

Marilyn Endicott

Interested in foundation

To Do

• Sheri Lake’s taking up the bylaws, scanning examples at hand, and pass on to group

• Kristie McMahan contact Blair (how to start, do we need a lawer)

• Meg Scheid try hand at mission statement

• Julie Taylor present costs of wish list items

Next meeting

Monday, June 6, 6:30, Beachclub if not raining, Eleanor Attwood if raining

[Lara Baldwin]

Thank you to Sheri for all of this. Great meeting. Here we go!

[Meg Scheid]

Thank you Dave Barker for these awesome notes!  I’m so glad you included my attending Sagamore. Of course that is SO important.  LOL (I’m joking, for those who don’t know me as well).

And HUGE THANK YOU to Sheri Lake. You have no idea how happy you made everyone by stepping up and getting this thing started. I am so excited  about the opportunities for the Foundation, and what it means for Sagamore. 

Also, for everyone who was there last night, I remembered some valuable information about how Coralwood was able to get the fencing (without paying) huge factor was that Coralwood backs up to the Dekalb County park. So I think Dekalb School System worked with Coralwood to really get the County (regular county, not school system) to help get the fence up. So there was a lot of working together to make someone finally give in and pay for the fence. Because Sagamore is bordered by almost all private property, I’m wondering if there is more difficulty, and also less priority because they feel it is less likely to have stranger danger?? And we all know that the school system has no money to spare - that’s an entirely different discussion.  Which is why we need the Foundation and PTA (see, it all comes back together so nicely!!)

I also talked to Ganny (my mom) and she will brainstorm for other community members. She will do whatever she can to help (except actually be on the board). She loves Sagamore and also feels very strongly about supporting the community (hence the Montclair coat project).

Hope to see all of you at the June 6th meeting! I can’t wait to see Julie’s wish list!!

Now to write a mission statement…

Meg

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[Sheri Lake]

Update:

I am talking with Jeff Woodward, attorney with Taylor English, next Wednesday.  Jeff set up the foundation at SPARK in the APS system and he does foundation and school law.  Also, Kristie McMahan learned that Georgia Lawyers for the Arts has 2 seminars this summer regarding 501(c)(3) formation.  After I talk to Jeff, we can decide if it makes sense for one of us to go. 

Have a good weekend!

Sheri

Sent from my iPhone

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[Sheri Lake]

Reminder!

Foundation meeting at 6:30 at the Beach Club.  I will bring some beer.  I think maybe Eleanor and/or Lara were going to bring snacks otherwise?!?!? 

See you there!!

Sent from my iPhone

[Lara Baldwin]

Great! I'll bring snacks. I'll email you, Eleanor :)

Sent from my iPhone

[Eleanor Attwood]

How many folks will be at the meeting?  I'm going to grab some things at Zoe's.  Lara is going to bring drinks.  So, email back if you are coming.  If we get rained out, we can come to my place.  Expect a lived in look;)

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

[Meg Scheid]

I’ll be there. I can bring some artichoke dip and chips/dippers. 

Meg

[Kristie - Hotmail]

I won't be able to make it. I'll send an email summarizing my discussion with Blair (CPA). Very helpful.

Sorry to miss it!

-Kristie

[Julie Taylor (Sagamore Hills Elementary)]

I plan to attend.

Julie

Sent using OWA for iPhone

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From: Sheri Lake <sl...@smithlakelaw.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 4, 2016 10:20:29 AM
To: sl...@smithlakelaw.com; sheri...@yahoo.com
Cc: Lara Baldwin; Eleanor Attwood; Dave Barker; Julie Taylor (Sagamore Hills Elementary); Shannon McGinty Spillett; Karen Weller Swanson; Kristie McMahan; Meg Scheid; snswi...@gmail.com; jo...@lenzmarketing.com; eh...@wbmfamilylaw.com; Marilen Endicott; found...@groups.sagamorehillspta.org
Subject: Foundation Meeting MONDAY, JUNE 6TH!!!

 

[Elinor H. Hitt]

I will be there.  Thank you.

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 4, 2016, at 4:18 PM, Eleanor Attwood <eattw...@yahoo.com> wrote:

[teach...@yahoo.com]

I will be there . I will watermelon .

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 4, 2016, at 4:18 PM, Eleanor Attwood <eattw...@yahoo.com> wrote:

[Suzi Wilkie]

I will not be able to make it tonight. Thanks to all of you for your work on the foundation!

Suzi

[Danielle Veader]

I can't make it this time, but thank you so much for your hard work!

Danielle 

Sent from my iPhone

[Eleanor Attwood]

I'm picking up the food at Zoe's at 6:00.  Don't eat before hand, I might have over ordered.  I've never actually ordered for a group from Zoe's, so it's also possible that I under ordered.  Hmmm....  

Looks like the weather will be ok.  So, if someone gets there before me, get one of the picnic tables under the covering, in case the weather changes its mind.  

See y'all soon,

Eleanor 

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From: Danielle Veader <dve...@gmail.com>
To: snswi...@gmail.com
Cc: teach...@yahoo.com; "eattw...@yahoo.com" <eattw...@yahoo.com>; Sheri Lake <sl...@smithlakelaw.com>; "sheri...@yahoo.com" <sheri...@yahoo.com>; Lara Baldwin <lara.b...@gmail.com>; Dave Barker <da...@1.0ne.org>; Julie Taylor (Sagamore Hills Elementary) <julie_m...@dekalbschoolsga.org>; Shannon McGinty Spillett <mcginty...@hotmail.com>; Kristie McMahan <kristie...@hotmail.com>; Meg Scheid <meg.s...@gmail.com>; "jo...@lenzmarketing.com" <jo...@lenzmarketing.com>; "eh...@wbmfamilylaw.com" <eh...@wbmfamilylaw.com>; Marilen Endicott <mgend...@gmail.com>; "found...@groups.sagamorehillspta.org" <found...@groups.sagamorehillspta.org>
Sent: Monday, June 6, 2016 3:52 PM
Subject: Re: [foundation] Re: Foundation Meeting MONDAY, JUNE 6TH!!!

[shannon brinson]

Sorry for the delay.  My audition is running behind so I'm not gonna make it this time.

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

[kshackel...@gmail.com]

Unfortunately i am unable to attend as well but thank you for including me! 

Kristy Shackelford 

Sent from my iPhone

[Sheri Lake]

I then, I remembered we said 6:30. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 6, 2016, at 6:06 PM, Sheri Lake <sheri...@yahoo.com> wrote:

I am here.  All alone......

Sent from my iPhone

[Sheri Lake]

I am here.  All alone......

Sent from my iPhone