Livonia PTSA Council Courier

Council is hosting our Officer's Training event on Wednesday, May 22nd at Emerson Middle School in their LMC at 6 p.m. (entrance will be north of the school in the back parking lot).

We cannot stress enough how important it is that all officers serving in the 2024 - 2025 school year attend. We have very important information to share from MI PTA and each unit receives important training documents and forms that you will need/be using next year. This training date has been on our calendar since the start of the year.

All units should also be sharing this with their incoming officers so they can register to attend.

We will have some special guests in attendance as well as some giveaways! And of course, there will be snacks!

If you have any questions, email us at lptsacouncil@gmail.com or contact your Council liaison.

Andrea Malenfant

Livonia PTSA Council President

As we approach the end of the year it is important to have a bridge budget approved by your membership if you plan to do any summer spending.

What is a bridge budget? Well, because the budget your board will recommend for the 2024-2025 school year cannot be approved until your first meeting of the school year, funds should not be spent until then. However, a bridge budget is an approved amount (not excessive) by your membership that will cover any expenses you might have in preparation for the new year. Things like a kindergarten picnic, [opsicles on the playground, or a welcome back breakfast are all line items that would need to be funded prior to your first meeting.

As with any budget item, this needs to be presented to your membership and voted on. The exact amount and what exactly it will be spent on should be presented. This needs to be done prior to the end of the school year. Be sure to check your Policies and Procedures as some state certain amounts for bridge budgets.

If you have any questions on how to proceed with creating a bridge budget or how to present it to your membership for voting, contact your Council liaison or Council Treasurer, Debbie Pline.

The Spree Committee is ready to go live with their advanced voucher sales and the process is different this year. Vouchers are available for purchase ONLINE ONLY. No paper vouchers will be given and no cash will be accepted. Vouchers must be purchased online through a link that is unique to each school PTA.

The voucher sale price is $25. The vouchers offer a $10 savings and the Spree will be giving back $2.50 per voucher sold to each PTA/PTSA unit that sells them. Sales are available until June 24th at midnight. After that, the price increases to $35. During the Spree, wristbands can be purchased for $35. The Spree runs from 6/25 - 6/30.

After purchasing patrons must present a printed or digital voucher and all barcodes must clearly be visible. Each wristband includes a FunTagg e-ticket activation fee and Innovative Ticketing convenience fee of $3.25 per ticket (applied at checkout). The charge will appear on your card as "INNOVATIVE TICKETING" on your credit card statement.

As always, vouchers cannot be redeemed on SUNDAY. Wristbands can still be purchased on the grounds that day, but no vouchers will be redeemed.

Council strongly recommends that each unit create a flyer or graphic that includes their unique link (we recommend shortening it with tiny url) and consider creating a QR code as well. We cannot stress enough that you add that vouchers are not valid on Sunday.

Because sales will be done online there is no way for units to track how many vouchers they sell. If you would like to get this information, you can email Kayleigh Reed at kayleighreid922@gmail.com

If you have any questions, please contact Kayleigh. Thank you.

As the current year comes to an end, now is the time to focus on next year and how to earn members in the upcoming school year. Do you have a Membership Chair? Do you have any membership incentive ideas? Are you planning on encouraging families to sign up to become members at the beginning of the school year? It's never too early to start thinking of ways to earn more members.

As a reminder, the funds you collect for all new members not only makes them a member of your unit's PTA/PTSA, but it also makes them a member of the Michigan PTA and National PTA. For every new member, your unit needs to remit $5.50 per new member to Michigan PTA by the 28th of every month.

Nicole Dant, Membership Chair

The PTA/PTSA Excellence Program (PEP) for the 2023-24 school year has officially ended! A huge CONGRATULATIONS to all 22 of our wonderful Livonia PTA/PTSA units for all of your hard work, dedication, accomplishments, and achievements this past year! The winners will be announced in next month's newsletter as the numbers are still being tallied.

As a reminder, in order to receive proper PEP credit, you must complete each task on the PEP Checklist and submit all necessary information to PEP at PEP@livoniaptsacouncil.org by the due date. Not only does this help each PTA/PTSA unit with reminders and remain in compliance, it also determines the order in which each unit is able to select their Livonia PTSA Council liaison for the next year.

The Livonia PTSA Council PEP calendar runs from May 1st through April 30th every year. Now that it's May and the new PEP year has begun, all documentation that is received by PEP as of May 1st will count toward next school year's PEP totals.

Congratulations to all of our Livonia PTA/PTSA units for a job well done!

Sara Bennett

Livonia PTSA Council, PEP chair

LPTSAC is proud to announce the executive board for 2024-25. These individuals were elected at the April Council meeting. Thank you all for serving in these roles!

What a beautiful month April was! The Webster PTA was able to use some of our extra dine out income to help purchase an adaptive bike for our RISE students, pay for the mulch that will be spread around outside the school, and give each student a $5 voucher to be used at our Scholastic Book Fair.

With graduation season fast approaching, we are working with school staff to help with those events and produce a memory book for each graduate. We are also offering our graduating students the opportunity to purchase a personalized lawn sign.

We have also been supporting abilities awareness month, Science Fair, STEAM night, and planning Staff Appreciation Week.

Do you know a student graduating from an LPS school that was once either an ACAT or RISE (Moci or ASD) student at Webster? If so, they might be eligible for our $500 John Waling Grant Program. Email websterPTA@gmail.com if you or someone you know would like an application.

Mark your calendars NOW for Officer’s Training, and the Audit Party!

2024

5/22 – Officer’s Training | 6 – 8 p.m. | Emerson Library

6/12 – LPTSA Council Meeting | 6 – 8 p.m. | Central Office

7/17 – Audit Party | 6 – 8 p.m.| Central Office

If you are a PTA/PTSA officer or committee chair, please make sure to join our group for important information, discussions, and more! Be sure to answer the questions when you request to join. A lot of great information is shared on this closed group page. It's also a great way to network with other units, share ideas, and ask for help.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/541318689333449/

Michigan PTA Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/everychildonevoice

National PTA Website: https://www.pta.org/

National PTA Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ParentTeacherAssociation

National PTA Blog: https://onevoice.pta.org/

The Livonia PTSA Council is a group of 22 local PTA/PTSA Units within the Livonia Public Schools District. The Council is organized under the authority of the Michigan PTA for the purpose of promoting conferences, communications, leadership development and coordination of the efforts of the local units.

Interested in joining Council? There are chair opportunities available! Contact President Andrea Malenfant at andrea.malenfant@livoniaptsacouncil.org

Email: newsletter@livoniaptsacouncil.org
Website: www.livoniaptsacouncil.org
Location: 15125 Farmington Road, Livonia, MI, USA
Phone: .
Facebook: facebook.com/LivoniaPTSACouncil
Twitter: @LivoniaPTSAC