Seaforth PTSA Minutes 9.10.25
Attending: Jason Turner, Rani Bander, Norm Benesch, Carmen Gonzalez, Claudia Benesch, Dr. St. Clair, Cate House, Emily Patterson, Aline Reid, Eric Ellis, Vishra Kalaivanan
PTSA Updates:
● Officer introductions
● Jason described the purpose of the PTA including our interest in supporting Seaforth student clubs and events.
● Two important pieces of business tonight, the budget and thrift shop.
● Harris Teeter Vic card only earns funds from pick-up. Lowe’s Food card still generates funds for the school in-store.
● Share link for Seaforth PTSA membership on Facebook.
● District has completed student surveys and school has completed in- house student surveys; we would like to learn more about how to get students engaged (last year they piloted free attendance to games but didn’t see an increase in attendance)
● Funds for Avid planners were approved last year. We might need to evaluate the budget for planners.
● School would appreciate PTSA still raising funds for gift cards for teachers at Holidays and in May
● PTSA plans to still support teacher appreciation around Holidays and in May
● Dr. St. Clair shared that teachers always appreciate food for teacher appreciation
● Spirit Nights-September 16th for Mi Cancun
Cate and Emily Thrift Shop Update:
● Thrift shop generates the most funds for Chatham County schools.
● There are three thrift shops in Chatham, Cole Park Store, Pittsboro Store, and .
● We usually have 4-5 sign-ups where students can come and work and sign up for hours. Students can allocate $5 per/hour for their club or organization. When a student signs up to volunteer they can allocate all their hours to a certain club or they can choose to allocate hours for different clubs or the default is PTSA. Every hour a student works translates into money for our school. The money we receive from the Thrift Shop is more than $5/hour. About half the check is money for the PTSA and about the other half is for the clubs or team sports. We need to reserve the money for the clubs from last year that they didn’t spend. Emily suggested that we not roll over the funds because it can be difficult to track from year to year. We don’t really know if the PTSA voted for rollover in perpetuity. Usually volunteer hours in June can go to the PTSA instead of rolling over to the clubs and organizations.
● In August 2025,we have 202.5 volunteer hours at the thrift shop. Last August 2024 we had 2011.5 volunteer hours. We have 401 hours so far this year and last year we had 440 hours so we are about 40 hours behind. We need to advertise the opportunity to volunteer at the thrift shop. Students can volunteer in the afternoon. Parents and community members can drop in to volunteer any time during the day. Get the word out about Thrift shop work groups. Thrift shop generated about 550,000 in funding for Chatham County Schools. We will get our check September 22nd.
● Guidance on rollover of money to clubs for thrift shop volunteer hours
● Advertising Thrift Shop Volunteer Opportunity on socials
Governance:
● PTSA Budget for 2025-26 Year presented and approved. Motion was made by Norman Benesch to approve the budget as presented. Motion was seconded by Jason Turner and unanimously passed.
● Jason Turner made a motion to vote to approve Math conference budget. Approved unanimously.
SGA representative:
● Vishra Kalaivanan student rep. He is a student liaison for the student government and will report on requests for funding and also updates from SGA. He hasn’t had any requests for funding, so far. Hawks Nation is working on the Homecoming dance right now.
Dr St. Clair update
● School has about 1,200 students enrolled this year, they will probably receive more teachers because of increased student enrollment
● 290 Freshman students
● They worked through any kinks with the Infinite Campus Registration
● School Performance-We are still a B school, only a couple points away from being an A school
● State measures every sub-group (students with disabilities etc.) 8 groups-state looks for growth within these sub-groups and overall proficiency in subject areas
● 98% of students proficient in Math 3, 35% of students proficient in Math 1-math groups will help different sub-groups in their courses
● Avid (Advancement Individual Determination)-first-generation students prepare for college
Fundraising:
● QR codes for fundraising
● Spirit nights-Carolina Brewery
● Monthly stocking of breakroom snacks for teachers
● International festival (booths with food and music) -Seaforth has a multicultural event and would like to streamline this event-maybe raise money at this event with raffle tickets
