Board Meeting Minutes - February 28, 2017
Agenda
1. Budget
2. By Laws
3. Spring Events
4. Next Year
5. Discuss next steps
Carleen opened the meeting at 6:15 pm.
Budget:
Kathryn advised us that after talking with Parent Boosters and Sue they determined that the $50,000
cap is not as bad as we thought. The cap is for the Gross Profit not the Gross Revenue/Income. The
items that funnel through the boosters do not necessarily count against this cap. We will continue to be careful and use the school when needed.
Kathryn provided the P&L statement from the budget so far this year. We compared this statement
with the proposed budget Mr. Pace provided at the beginning of the band season. We reviewed them line-by- line and made notes of the amounts paid versus requested in order for Mr. Pace to develop next year’s budget. We identified gaps where there was excess and loss.
The marching band instructional staff amount came out of the money Mr. Pace received from the
school. The only amount the boosters paid for costumes and show design was for the color guard flags and props. We reviewed the amounts for truck rental and travel expenses and discussed the possibility of purchasing or renting a semi-truck next year. Competition fees paid and budgeted was close to target. We spent a small amount on the Band Camp dinner and pool party at the beginning of the year and Nova did a great job organizing the food for competitions so we were under budget about $1,000.00. We actually did not pay any instrument repair fees this year. These line items were to repay the school for instrument donations. As of this date, the boosters have not purchased any new instruments. Winter guard expenses seemed to line up with the budget, except we did not have any travel expenses. The booster club administrative expenses were less than budgeted.
We also reviewed the fundraisers and compared the actual earnings to what was expected. We could raise the prices of the spirit wear a little to make this worthwhile. Most of the kids turned in their
$50.00 donation.
Next year’s budget will see an increase. Mr. Pace proposed an increase in the instructional staff
amounts which the boosters need to consider supplementing. The band fees may go up to $125.00 per member which will pay for their costumes and the color guard gear. We need to budget for an
increase in music and copyright expenses. Mr. Pace would like the boosters to pay for the color guard costumes so we can resell them after the season and recoup some of the cost. Props will be more expensive next year. Tracy advised that she has local theater resources available to help offset the cost of materials and construction. We discussed the option of buying or renting a semi-truck and the marginal effect on the budget. If we do not get a semi-truck next year we will need to consider renting two moving trucks instead of one. We are expecting an increase in competition food expenses from last year and will look at providing something to the kids during band camp. Mr. Pace advised it would be a good idea to provide the staff with professional band polo shirts for the season. Registration fees should be about the same. Next year’s winter guard and drumline will be more expensive too regarding the staff, costumes, props, and tarp. Mr. Pace advised of the need for more instruments. We discussed that this is a starting budget for next year and will take a good look at the needs and what the boosters can actually provide next year.
By Laws:
Robyn provided a draft of the by-laws. We reviewed each section.
Article I, Section 2 – Purpose was
revised to add more detail. ShaeAnn added that we should include the statement about supporting the vision of the Band Director(s).
Article II – Membership, we removed the statements about paying a booster fee. Mr. Pace wants the
kids and parents to focus on fundraising and donations not paying fees.
Section 4 – Quorum, we agreed to 10 members being present.
Section 5 – Meetings, we agreed on adding the day of the month for meetings to show we are a group that meets consistently.
Article IV, Section 1 – Officers, we added the statement from Mr. Pace regarding Greenville County
School employees.
Section 2 – Election, we discussed the election of board members for next year and agreed it should begin as soon as possible so the new members would have time to shadow current members for a smooth transition.
Article V, Section 1 – President, we agreed that the president should not vote unless there is a tie in
order to present a non-bias.
Section 2 – Vice President(s), we agreed to allow for more flexibility and keep the option to have multiple vice presidents if needed.
Article VI, Section 6 – Financial Controls, we added a statement that specific band purchases should be of supported by the Band Director(s).
Section 9 – Record Retention, we added retention times for document control.
The draft by-laws were agreed upon by the board members.
Spring Events:
1. Spring Clinic – Mr. Pace does not have a date for this yet. We agreed that May 6 th would be the best date considering the middle school bands have activities on Saturdays in May.
2. Banquet – We already have a parent meeting scheduled for the first Tuesday of the month so we
proposed to have the banquet on Tuesday, May 2 nd . Mr. Pace advised that we should provide him a second and third option because he will need to check the school calendar – May 4 th and May 9 th .
The boosters will need to purchase two awards – Directors Award and John Phillips Sousa Award
from the website: http://store.theinstrumentalist.com/ . We will need to plan for décor (balloons
and table clothes), cake and catering (Moe’s or Tropical Grille). We discussed charging $5.00/plate
in advance and $8.00/plate at the door.
Next Year:
Mr. Pace discussed the possibility of requiring the marching band members next year to pay a “fair
share” fee (~$150.00) plus their band fee ($125.00) broken up into payments. This will help cover costs of transportation, food, competitions, instruments, etc.
Not all of the kids that were in band this year have signed up for next year.
We filled Mr. Pace in on the meeting with Mr. Williams. It was a positive meeting with some hope for
better facilities next year and more field time on Friday nights. We discussed the need for Mr. Pace to have help and Mr. Williams stated Mr. Pace is the next in line to receive a TA if he has a position
available and provided some background information on the internal process to apply. He advised that fundraiser can go through the school if needed. He thought the use of the athletic trainer was a good idea and he would look into it. We forgot to ask him about the use of facilities for winter guard and drum line next year. Carleen will discuss this with him.
Mr. Pace will hand select leadership for next year.
Next Steps:
1. Plan Spring Events
2. Begin communication of next year’s board vote
3. Next Parent Meeting is Tuesday, March 7 th at 7:00pm in the Band Room.
4. Next Meeting, March 28 th at 6:30 in the Band Room.
Meeting adjourned at 9:45pm.
