The conference will take place at the Embassy Suites Hotel (near Old Sacramento). Registration costs for the conference is $135, and hotel rooms are $159 per night. The conference fee covers all conference activities and materials, and dinner on Sunday and lunch at the capitol on Monday. The hotel serves a complimentary full cooked-to-order breakfast daily and a manager’s reception in the evening. Travel and hotel costs are not included. Visit the State PTA website for more information and to register.

The event will take place on Wednesday, October 28, 7:00-8:30 PM at the Hillsdale High School Cafeteria at 3115 Del Monte Street in San Mateo, located near the corner of Alameda de las Pulgas and 31st Ave (view map). Please RSVP for the event.

Funding for schools in California continues to be a major concern of the PTA, along with other issues affecting children and families. How can we influence the legislative process? Debbie Look, State PTA’s Director of Legislation, will share how she, as a volunteer, works to educate the state legislators to see the PTA point of view. The presentation will include a brief overview of key legislative issues for PTA, at both the state and federal level and an overview of the current status of education funding. The presentation will follow a brief business meeting starting at 7 p.m. All members of the community are invited to attend!

Please join us for 17th District PTA’s annual fall General Meeting this Wednesday, October 14 at the San Mateo County Office of Education, 101 Twin Dolphin Drive, Redwood City (view map).

The Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT) has a new facility at the San Mateo County Office of Education and will be giving tours until 7 PM. Join us before the meeting (at 6:30 PM) for a tour.

Our meeting begins at 7:00 PM with the following agenda:
Welcome and Introductions — Colette Rudd, 17th District PTA President
Business of the Organization

• Finance Reports
• Approval of the 2009-10 Budget and Release of Funds
• Approval of the 2009-10 Calendar

Guest Speakers

• Jean Holbrook, County Superintendent of Schools
• Lynda Dobyns, Director of Resource Area for Teacher (RAFT)
• Debbie Look, Director of Legislation, California State PTA

ALL community members and PTA members in San Mateo County are invited to attend! Please come and learn more about PTA and California and 17th District helps make a difference for students. Please RSVP to Colette Rudd, 17th District President, and we hope to see you on Wednesday!

We are part of nearly one million PTA members in the state of California, and we’d like to make it more than one million. Why? Because legislators pay attention to PTA, and will pay more attention if we have more members. Building Community Unity is the theme of PTA’s 2009-10 membership campaign.
Please encourage everyone you know to be a PTA member!

The State PTA Director of Legislation, Debbie Look, is our featured speaker at our first program of the year, on Wed. evening, Oct. 14 (see flyer on page 1), at the San Mateo County Board of Education (SMCOE). She advocates for all of us on the state legislature’s proposals that affect children, families and schools. Many of us wonder what we can do with regard to legislative issues, especially those involving the education and the state budget. As a volunteer for PTA, she is uniquely qualified to answer this question.

Jean Holbrook, County Superintendent of Schools, and Lydia Dobyns, the director of new Redwood City Resource Area for Teaching (RAFT) will also give short presentations on Oct. 14, and the RAFT facility will be open for tours before the meeting (until 7 p.m.). Everyday items like foam cut-outs and office supplies are donated to RAFT by local businesses and these items are transformed into interactive, hands-on learning materials for use in the classroom. The SMCOE partnership with RAFT will make it easier for San Mateo County teachers to bring science, math, and language arts to life for nearly 90,000 students.

Thank you to all who served as PTA officers last year. I hope you are still involved with PTA! I have volunteered for PTA for more than 20 years, and every year I learn something new. We have opportunities at all levels. I especially need experienced officers who are bilingual to communicate with volunteers who are still learning English.

Deborah Kemper, 17th District President for the past two years, recognized the need for leadership to help recruit a diverse set of volunteers. She is now chair of the new Diversity and Inclusion Committee for the California PTA Board, and, fortunately, is still on the 17th District PTA Board as Legislation Chair.

PTA is a grass-roots organization. We promote parent involvement. We are volunteers and we advocate for children. Our officer Susan Bell composed a song, which begins:

“We’ve lived too long in isolation
We’ve got to find new inspiration
We must increase participation
Volunteer today!”

For those of you who are currently presidents of PTA, this newsletter includes information for all PTA officers. Please share it with your board!

The 17th District PTA Board of Managers is always here to help you in any way that we can. Please do not hesitate to contact us.

I hope to see you on October 14!

Sincerely,

Colette J. Rudd
17th District PTA President

Please join us for a free educational forum to view California’s Schools: America’s Future, followed by a panel discussion moderated by John Merrow. Panel members will include:

• Former State Assemblyman Gene Mullin
• Former State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin
• San Mateo County Superintendent Dr. Jean Holbrook
• San Mateo-Foster City School District Superintendent Dr. Pendery Clark
• San Mateo-Foster City School District Trustee Lory Lawson

This event is free and open to the public. It will take place on Wednesday, September 23 at 7:00 PM at the Bayside Performing Arts Center, 2025 Kehoe Ave., San Mateo (view map).

This event is being organized by the San Mateo-Foster City forkids! Education Foundation, the San Mateo-Foster City PTA Council, and 17th District PTA. Additional co-sponsors include the San Mateo-Foster City School District, the San Mateo County School Boards Association, the League of Women Voters of North and Central San Mateo County, and the San Mateo Branch of the American Association of University Women.

Don’t miss this opportunity to get informed! The recent budget cuts will drastically affect schools in our county as much as the rest of the state. Come and learn more about how California got in this mess, and what we can do about it.

Download the Event Flyer: In English [PDF] | In Spanish [PDF]

Just in time for the new school year, the California State PTA has launched a public service announcement (PSA) campaign to engage families and promote PTA.

These video announcements feature real PTA members speaking straight from the heart about the benefits and rewards of getting involved in their children’s public schools. (They were made possible through the generous support of the Pearson Foundation.)

You can help to spread the PSAs’ message and passion for involvement. Post them on your local PTA website. Encourage schools and school districts to post them. E-mail them to friends, supporters and prospective PTA members – in other words – everyone!

It’s easy: Just click on the image above to watch the initial set of PSAs and to find out more about how to share them. (You can also watch them on the California State PTA website.)

Now more than ever, the children of California need adults to step up and to speak out on their behalf. We hope you’ll agree and lend your voice to the effort.

Susan Bell, Financial Secretary
17th District PTA
c/o San Mateo County of Education,
101 Twin Dolphin Drive,
Redwood City CA 94065-1064.

AUDITS

End of year audits are due NOW!  NOTE:  State PTA allows you to send in your audit before it is adopted by your PTA.

PTA units that are part of councils must send their audit to their council.  The council will forward the audit to the 17th District PTA.

PTA units that are not part of councils must send their audits directly to the 17th District:

17th District PTA Auditor, Myra Gruschka,
c/o San Mateo County Office of Education,
101 Twin Dolphin Drive,
Redwood City, CA 94065-1064

When submitting your audit, please include the audit report form, the audit checklist and a copy of the last bank statement of the audit period.

PTA Councils: Your council audit is also due.  Forward your audit along with the unit audits to:

17th District PTA Auditor, Myra Gruschka,
c/o San Mateo County Office of Education,
101 Twin Dolphin Drive,
Redwood City, CA 94065-1064

If you have any questions, please contact Myra Gruschka, Auditor.

TAX FILING

All PTAs, units and councils must file a version of IRS form 990 for the past tax year (2008) by November 15 this year.  Send copy of your filing (or receipt, if filing 990N) to your council or district financial officer.  Observe the IRS deadline, even if only to file for an extension.  Your non-profit status depends upon fulfilling this requirement.

If you have any questions, please contact Helen Geimer, Treasurer or Susan Bell, Financial Secretary.

In that case, plan to attend the annual Training Event put on by the South San Francisco PTA Council on Monday, September 14th! Dinner will be provided by the South San Francisco Council, and leaders from South San Francisco and 17th District will present trainings for all of the major PTA positions, including:

• President/Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer/Financial Secretary
• Auditor
• Historian
• PTA 101 & Membership
• Parliamentarian/Bylaws

The training workshop will take place on Monday, September 14, at 6:30 PM, at Ponderosa Elementary School in South San Francisco (view map). Please download the flyer [PDF] for more info. RSVPs are requested by September 9th to Valerie Hatfield (information is printed on the flyer).

From all of us at 17th District PTA, have a safe and healthy start to the school year!