LHSGBOPC
General Meeting
8/22/2022
In attendance…Allen Frank, Billy Lennox, Tina Martucci, Cory Daily, Nikki Giannaras, Jeanette Dennis, Jacqui Fortsch
Tina-President
Tina welcomed everyone to the meeting! She introduced herself and told everyone a little bit about herself. She drove home the point that the band parent team works hard behind the scenes…and we need every parent to help in order to continue to make this band the great success that it is!
Cory-VP Volunteer Coordinator
Please sign up to volunteer for the band! Sign-ups are on the clipboards up front.
Please be sure to have your clearances done and sent to Mr. Lennox.
We need lots of volunteers and donations in order to make this year a success!
Please fill out the parent/guardian information page that is in the lobby and hand it in to us as soon as possible. If you would like to volunteer and did not make it to the meeting, please reach out to Cory and she will get you signed up! We need many parent volunteers in order to make this year run smoothly!
Jacqui-VP Student Accounts
Jacqui explained the fundraising process.
We now announce fundraisers with the Band App. We will move forward and do this with our new system called CHARMS. We always announce a fundraiser when the system is live.
Go to the LHSGBOPC Website and find the “fundraisers” drop down. You collect orders on a printable order form and then record all orders in the online order form. An email confirmation will be sent to you and the fundraiser coordinator. Payment is due on the day of pickup. You write one check for the total of the order that you placed online. We cannot accept checks from all of the people that ordered from you. You can also pay by money order and paypal (3% fee). We hold fundraiser checks for one week because we know that you may be still collecting money from the people that bought from you. All other checks (Quota payments, bandstand payments, etc.) are not held for a week. They are deposited within a few days. If your check is returned, we will need a replacement check and payment for insufficient funds. We will deduct that amount from your child’s quota until payment comes in. Be sure that you write your child’s name and fundraiser name in the memo part of each check. The address to send your payments to is in the handbook or posted online at the band website.
Fundraising is optional and is only used for that year’s trip. We will make fundraisers available for you to fund your child’s trip. You cannot get money back from previous years. If the amount of money that a student has in their Quota account exceeds the trip amount, the money can be rolled over to the following year…but it is nonrefundable. If a child is a senior, money left over in their Quota account can be gifted to another student in the band or donated to the general fund. Quota will no longer be posted on the website. Our new system, CHARMS, is web based and allows any family member to access their child’s Quota balance from any device. CHARMS Administrators will keep Quota information and all other pertinent information up to date on the database.
Example was show on overhead projector. Please contact Jacqui if you have any questions about your child’s Quota Account.
Getting parents access to the CHARMS program is a priority. All students have a $150 band fee that is recorded in CHARMS.
Charms Account–Primary email on account is child’s BASD Email. Parent and Child share an account.
Jacqui will tell CHARMS to reset all student emails in the near future.
We will announce this in the BAND APP. Remember to check your child’s email. You can then set up your own password. There is a 24 hour window to do this! You can add all information so that you get emails and text messages. Both CHARMS and new handbook are located on the band website. When CHARMS set-up email is sent to you, you will need to meet with your child and have them open up their email so that you can set up the account. The BAND APP will tell you all of the information that you need.
Please be patient with the LHSGB Board Members. We are not perfect and we are not paid for our positions. Please be patient with us. We will get through it.
Question about fundraisers…why are they all presented together? There was a glitch with one of the fundraisers. We try to do pickups for fundraisers together so that we are not running to get them on many days in the month.
Jeanette-Treasurer
The treasurer also uses CHARMS to track debits/credits of the band. We will have more details in the future as we get used to the CHARMS system. We plan on being very transparent with band funds and Quota. Jeanette will look into fundraiser checks that have not been deposited into our account as of yet.
We are not using Venmo because we have to pay taxes on it. PayPal is the same. We are looking at the CHARMS program to see if we can do payments without being taxed.
Director-Mr. Frank
Parent asked why initial $500 payment is nonrefundable. Mr. Frank stated that we owe funds on certain due dates to the travel company. This is why the initial money paid for by the students is nonrefundable. Now, if an emergency comes up, we will check the contract with the company to see if a refund can be given. We are trying to get the band parents to pay for the trip because not all money was collected for past trips. We do not want to repeat history where people did not pay for their trip. We want to make sure that we are taking care of everything on our end. We need a commitment and a follow-through for the trip. If you paid for half of a trip, we cannot let you get on the bus if it is not fully paid. And…we cannot give money back to students if they decide not to go after making payments. You can pay with a credit card via CHARMS for the trip in the future. On any given payment date…you need to have money in your quota account to cover the payments for the trip. If a child fundraised a certain amount for the trip, then their parent wrote a check to cover the unpaid portion of the trip, then the student fundraised and made back the portion that they wrote a check for…they will get a refund for the amount that they paid with a check. Only fundraised money will be carried over for the next year. Money paid by check will be refunded at end of year.
Trip payments can be made ahead of time. We cannot accept credit cards right now. We are trying hard to get it up and running with CHARMS. The trip falls at the same time as the All-States Festival. Some kids are concerned about making States and not being able to go on the trip. We will take care of the kids who are chosen to go to States. Mr. Frank will check with travel agency to see if it is easier to take kids off a trip roster or add them on.
We have not selected a date for the Fair Share to be paid. We will get back to you.
Please send all checks to the PO Box. Do not hand them to the directors. It was asked that the check due dates coincide with the band meetings. Payment plan dates will not be changed. Just bring checks to the meeting and they will be recorded.
Kids are working very hard! We are pleased! Orchestra is coming up next week! Choir students are welcome on the trip as well.
Week one of school–We work on a rotating schedule. Orchestra/Choir meet at same time, same block. Monday starts band. Instruments are not needed on Monday. Orchestra meets on Tuesday. Please bring instrument. Band starts 7 AM rehearsals on Wednesday and they meet everyday until the end of the season. When we have a day off…those days do not count as part of the rotation. Saturday is our first football game. We are traveling to Allentown. Report time is 4:45 on Saturday. We load buses at 5:15 and leave at 5:30. Students must be in full uniform. Kickoff is at 7 PM. Your children are part of the organization that night. Please let the band be the band. We do not want parents hovering and bringing their kids food, etc. Please let the kids do their job during the game. You will see them during their 3rd quarter snack break.
I apologize for the error about lunch today. I owned my mistake and provided students with a pizza lunch. Thanks for understanding. Thank you for your patience with uniforms as well. Meg has been helping us with uniforms. We are thankful for her help. There were so many things that Ruth did for this organization that we did not know about. It is a learning curve. We will get it done. Thank you for your patience! Our student leaders have made things run smoothly and have done a fantastic job!
Please wear a white t-shirt or band t-shirt to the game on Saturday.
If you want to take your child home after the game, we need a note in advance and we need to see a parental unit pick up the child from us directly. Be sure to get your child’s instrument on the instrument truck before you take them home from the game.
Please do not use the athletic lot to drop off/pick up your child before/after games.
Mr. Lennox-Director
There is a Google Calendar that parents can access. You must have Google Calendar…not any other type of calendar. The calendar is for performances and major events only. It only has the most important items on it. Individual rehearsals will not be on the Google Calendar. It would just be too much! Anna Lazewski and I run the social media of the band. Please follow us! We display pictures after every game, performance, practice, etc. Please let us know if you see anything that you do not understand. Social media is important because professional performances that we may partake in look at the social media presence of a band when they consider inviting them to perform.
First Company–We meet every Monday. We are doing four concerts this year. We are doing concerts for the middle school students. First day of school…First Company arrives 6:45 AM to play for the freshman as they enter the school. Band members are to wear band shirts and dress casual. Freshman do not participate in this event.
Instrument cleanliness is important. I do a lot of the repairs of instruments. Please do not buy instruments on Amazon. I will help you buy a good instrument. Just reach out. If your child is a reed player…they need an entire box of reeds. Do not buy them on Amazon. If instruments are older, upgrading just a mouthpiece can do wonders. If your child has been playing since 4th grade, they need to upgrade their mouthpiece. I try to take care of the instrumental part of the program. I can teach a child how to clean their instrument. Do not use abrasive cleaners on an instrument. Motor oil should not be used on an instrument.
Nikki-Secretary
Apri 2022 Minutes approved by Sue Testa and Wendy Leap.
Tina-President
Be sure to come out to the car wash this Saturday! Please sign up to help at the car wash. Our Band Senate is amazing! They are doing a great job leading the band and planning fun activities for the students. Also, thank you to anyone who brought in cereal and milk for Decades Day last week! If you need us…just reach out!
Moving forward…meetings will be held on the second Tuesday of the month at 7:30 PM.
Adjourn