Board and Faculty Attendees: Pam Hansson, Toni Johnson, Denise Kubick, Leslie Levy, Carol Spillman Rogge, Lois Darbonne, Lisa Souther, Nancy Venezia, Teresa Gebler, Joanne Fiorucci and Jeff Gilbert

Welcome & Pledge of Allegiance - Meeting called to order by Lois Darbonne, President, at 6:30 p.m.

Approval of Minutes – Carol Spillman Rogge, Secretary
Minutes from the last PTSO Business and Program meeting (November 05, 2007) were presented and it was MSP (Moved, Seconded, Passed) to approve the minutes as presented. Votes: All Ayes. Motion carried.

Principals’ Report – Jeff Gilbert, Lead Principal
There have been a few instances of poor decision making on behalf of a couple of students lately. There have been some graffiti problems in bathrooms this year, a bit worse than last year. A swastika was painted and reported. Administration did an investigation that determined this was a one-time event and the student was dealt with. A fire was lit in a trashcan in the boys’ bathroom – right before break. Later, a fire was lit in trash outside of school the same night. It was determined these were committed by the same student who is facing expulsion. The Administration will be talking to the students regarding these issues.

Some upcoming events to highlight:
Feb. 4th – 8th grade Student/Parent Night will be a big event. Discussion of whether PTSO will provide food again this year. Question about publicity to the private schools.
Feb. 5th and 6th – CSHEE test given to students.
Feb. 9th – Foundation Gymnasium Fundraiser event. The letter went out to all parents, but the target is for alumni to attend the HHS Gym Naming. This is the 1st event for the Foundation.
For next year, the HHS Structure Committee recommended that there be 2 upper division houses for Juniors and Seniors. Also, the Sr. Exhibition will phase into a Sr. Digital Portfolio over time. This year HHS is suggesting that students submit more creative projects versus just research papers.

Fundraising Report – Teresa Gebler Vice President – Ways & Means
The AKOTT fundraising event “Leap Into The Knight” is scheduled for Sat., March 1st from 6 pm – 11pm. Schedule: From 6 -7 p.m., there will be appetizers with music provided by HHS music groups, at 7 p.m. will be a buffet dinner with entertainment by other HHS groups (times will be posted). A silent auction will be on going. This event will be a great community builder. AKOTT still needs volunteers for the evening for Raffle tickets, etc. Please send your name to Teresa to volunteer.

At the meeting last week, letters soliciting donations went out. These letters are available and parents can take one and pass out to any businesses, as we are still looking for donations for the auctions (both silent and live). The “Leap into the Knight invites are at the printers and there will be a stuffing date TBA.

Any parent contacts who worked for hotels, or travel related industries would be great to hear from. The next AKOTT planning meeting is Feb. 4th, 7 pm, Rm. 210.

Treasurer’s Report – Toni Johnson, Treasurer
It has been a slow 6 weeks. There was a discussion of dividing AKOTT early money now - $8,000 vs. $10,000. A certain amount will be held back for expenses. The Treasurer’s Report was MSP (Moved, Seconded, Passed) to approve the reort as presented. Votes: All Ayes. Motion carried.

President’s Report – Lois Darbonne, President
Lois passed around three thank you notes received by the PTSO for contributions to various HHS departments/teachers this year: Carol Durazzo (new teacher), Susan Merport – College & Career Advisor, and Pam Seligman – Kyoto Social Science teacher. Lois also reviewed the proposed schedule of meetings calendar for remainder of the year including:

Feb. 11 – Business meeting only
Mar. 10 –The PTSO’s Outstanding Service Awards Ceremony
April 14 – Business and Program Meeting
May 12– Business meeting and election of 2007 – 2008 PTSO Officers
This meeting schedule was agreed to by all in attendance.

Programs Report – Nancy Venecia, VP Programs
Tonight’s Program – Safety in our schools for our students and general issues affecting our community such as drugs, computers, etc. A San Mateo Police Department Officer and a Juvenile Detective will present.

Booster Club Reports – (as needed)
Drama: Not in Attendance.
Music: Toni Johnson, Treasurer – The music students will be attending: a Festival on the 26th in Folsom, Feb. 1st - San Francisco School of Performing Arts and they will be playing at HHS on Feb. 4th. We also hosted a Festival of Choir with the Master Works Chorale and performed at the Hillsdale Mall. The students are really getting a lot of varied performance experience.
Athletic: Not in Attendance. . The upcoming Feb. 2nd Tailgate fundraiser is only selling tickets for 2.
Dance: Not in attendance.

Student Report – Not in attendance

Teacher Rep. Report – Not in attendance

Old Business – None

New Business –
Discussion of missing Sees candy certificates Lisa ordered for Xmas for teachers, but didn’t receive – use for other purposes?
Announcement that Annette Schendel has volunteered to chair the Outstanding Service Awards Committee – which involves distributing ballot forms, receiving nominations, considering and then voting, with a one or two meetings commitment. In the past, there has been a problem of no nominations, which has delayed the ceremony. The Committee would then get to decide as to whom to nominate and award. PTSO is planning the award ceremony for March 10th. Lois asked for any volunteers from the audience. Both Toni Johnson and Lisa Souther volunteered to serve on the committee with Annette. Suggestion was offered to also contact Helen Kasbari.
Lois introduced a review of all PTSO committees and the overall structure for next year. Lois suggested that PTSO needed an official liaison to sit on the Foundation Committee next year. We need more clarity at the beginning of the year in terms of PTSO vs. Foundation. Consideration of whether to change the AKOTT fundraiser to fall or keep later in year? Does PTSO need any more or different committees? Consider splitting the Secretary function into two positions: 1. Current Secretary meeting minutes function and 2. Communications/PR function. Suggestions of adding an On-line newsletter that would be emailed to all parents. Expecting parents to look at the HHS website might be too much. Instead, do push emails to all? Discussion of whether the automated phone calls were not enough. Parents need more reminders. Discussion of the need for a communications piece. The overall discussion was tabled until the next Business meeting.
The new HHS Website received an enthusiastic response from the audience.

Business Meeting Adjourned at 7:12 p.m.

Program Presentation at 7:15 p.m.
Presentation by Officer K. Keanaaina, of the San Mateo Police Department, and Detective Stewart of the Probation Department.

Next PTSO Meeting: Monday, February 11, 2008 HHS in Room 119/110 at 6:30 pm

Respectfully submitted:
Carol Spillman Rogge, Recording Secretary
c.spillman@comcast.net