I am happy to report that our organizational meeting was a success. We are now an official Special Ed PTA – the only one in the state! There were roughly 30 in attendance, some fantastic discussion was had, and officers were nominated and voted on. Our new president, Michelle Ribaudo, did a wonderful job running the first meeting.
Michelle called the meeting to order and Tara was appointed the secretary for this initial meeting. Michelle introduced Mary Flatt, a representative of the state PTA. Mary discussed the history and purpose of PTA as the largest volunteer advocacy organization for children in the nation. They strive to make children’s lives better at school, at home, and in the community.
After learning about PTA, Michelle made the motion to organize the SEPTA. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Membership forms and dues were collected. Everyone who turned in a form was recorded as a charter member of CoMO SEPTA.
Michelle presented the proposed by-laws and made a motion to approve the by-laws. It was seconded and the floor was open to questions or suggestions for amendments. Hearing none, a vote was held and the by-laws were approved as presented.
With the SEPTA organized and the by-laws official, it was time to nominate and vote for officers. Michelle Ribaudo was nominated for president, the nomination was seconded, and a unanimous vote approved her as our new president. Amie V. was nominated for vice president, the nomination was seconded, and a unanimous vote approved her as our new vice president. Tara A. was nominated for treasurer, the nomination was seconded, and a unanimous vote approved her as our new treasurer. Kaitlyn H. was nominated for secretary, the nomination was seconded, and a unanimous vote approved her as our new secretary.
The floor was then opened to announcements, questions, and suggestions. Several people announced events that will be coming up, which have been added to our calendar. A suggestion was made that there are a lot of acronyms tossed about and it might be handy to have a resource that listed what they all stood for. (This is in the works now, so if you have any “alphabet soup” you think should be added, let me know! comosepta@gmail.com or comment below.) Questions were raised on what might someone get out of a SEPTA that they couldn’t get out of PTA. Michelle said she would love for there to be a mentoring program of sorts, where families with similar issues could pair up with someone further along and ask questions, or attend IEPs as support, etc. Another question raised was what our fundraising goals would be/what the funds would be used for. Getting speakers for parent education on topics of interest, or getting SpEd classes items and equipment that they need were some suggestions. A lot of brainstorming was done on trying to find childcare for meetings, possible future meeting place, ways to get the word out about CoMO SEPTA, and more. There are a lot of enthusiastic people in this group, which I love to see. After the meeting was adjourned, many stuck around to socialize and share ideas, which was also nice to see.
The next meeting date will be decided upon by our officers. It will likely be in September. I’ll update as soon as that’s on the calendar. I hope to see everyone back and would love to see even more.