CT PTA President's Letter
July, 2002

It is hard to believe that this year is coming to a close. I want to thank everyone who attended our 102nd Annual Convention. It was a pleasure meeting many of you for the first time and getting reacquainted with old friends.

Shirley Igo, our National PTA President, truly put into perspective what PTA is all about. We heard inspirational messages, attended informational workshops and celebrated the work that you do throughout the year. Our keynote speaker, Anthony Wolf, provided us with a unique perspective and humorous insights on raising our children today. During our general sessions, Regional Directors were elected and bylaw amendments were adopted in record time. I hope that those of who who attended share your experience and the knowledge that you have gained with your local PTA members.

As your PTA wraps up its activities for the year, it is time to take a look back on all you have accomplished this year on behalf of our children. Take the time to congratulate your PTA and thank your members for all of their hard work.

But as you know, our PTA work is never done. It is time to start planning for the coming year. The CT PTA office needs to have an updated Officer Information Sheet (OIS) as soon as possible in order to insure that the proper individuals are receiving the mailings from the Connecticut PTA and the National PTA. An OIS sheet can be found on the CT PTA Website (click here), further in this issue of The Bulletin, or by calling the state PTA office. Even if your officers are not changing for the upcoming year, a new OIS sheet is needed. If you are an outgoing officer/committee chairperson, make sure that you turn your procedure book, job description and time line over to the incoming person. We all know how frustrating it can be when we don’t receive this information and have to start from scratch.

As your new board meets to set goals and develop a budget for the coming year, don’t forget to include leadership training. In order for your PTA to remain strong and have excellent leadership, you need to provide training to your members. This is a legitimate PTA expense. Sending representatives to the Connecticut PTA and the National PTA conventions provides a wonderful opportunity to obtain the necessary leadership skills. Look for information on our leadership workshops (click here), which are held throughout the state in late August/early September. These workshops are offered at no cost to all PTA members – not only your officers and committee chairpersons. If your PTA is interested in hosting a leadership workshop in your community, please contact the CT PTA office, or click here.

Also, it is important that you protect your PTA, its officers and members. The CT PTA offers excellent insurance coverage at very reasonable rates. Information on the various types of coverage and an application will be sent to local unit and council presidents in an upcoming mailing, and can be found on the web site (click here.) Included in that mailing will be Unit Treasurer Report (UTR) forms that your treasurer will need to fill out and send to the state PTA office with the membership dues on a monthly basis.  (The UTR is also available on the web site... click here.)

It has been a privilege for me to serve as your president this year. The Connecticut PTA is a collaborative effort and I could not have done it without the hard work and support of the Executive Committee, Board of Directors and office staff.

As we set our goals for this past year, service to our PTA units and councils remained a priority, with special emphasis on visiting as many local PTAs as possible. We have been "on the road" throughout the year to assist many of you in your own communities. In addition, our board members have answered phone inquiries from local units regarding financial and insurance information, membership, advocacy, bylaws, parliamentary procedure, as well as nomination and election issues. Our Fall Leadership Workshops brought us to Middletown, Plymouth, Trumbull, Hamden and Cheshire and in February to East Lyme. This year, we have been invited to speak to many groups on the benefits of belonging to the PTA and have welcomed seven new PTAs to our family.

The Connecticut PTA office continues to run efficiently because of the dedication and hard work of Ida Carmichael and Jennifer France. In early July, we hired a new bookkeeper. Brenda Campbell joined our staff just in time to assist with the full-scale audit done by the accounting firm of Budwitz & Meyerjack. The report indicates that our financial records are in good standing and we are operating at a positive cash flow. We continue the process of examining our overhead and operations so that we can effectively provide quality service to our units.

Our commitment to you will continue in the coming year. Remember, we are just a phone call (or e-mail) away!

I look forward to the coming year as we face the future together with one voice for every child.

Donna McGuire
President, Connecticut PTA