PTA Council Discusses Budget and Bullying

t held a Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Council meeting Monday night.  The Council, consisting of an elected body of parents and Superintendent of Schools Anthony Annunziato, discussed the 2011-2012 budget, cyber bullying and school improvements. 

A preliminary presentation of the 2011-2012 budget was presented to PTA Council members.  Members had questions about the budget, including ways to possibly save money and cut costs on non-government mandates. 

Annunziato expects to present the budget to the public later in January and will not release numbers associated with the budget at this time. 

One concern of the council was the protection of students. The PTA Council is creating a bullying and cyber-bullying program to hopefully reduce this new form of oppression. 

According to the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), cyber-bullying has become a national problem. Children and teenagers are at risk in school and at home. Unidentified, online cyberbullies spread lies about victims, trick them into revealing personal information, send malicious messages and harass victims by spreading personal photos of victims without their consent.

The Council hopes to assemble a panel of speakers including members of the Suffolk County Police Department that will address the issue of bullying.  The Council hopes to have the panel created by March.   

"Everyone is concerned in general," Annunziato said of bullying, adding that Bayport-Blue Point is no different in their concern for bullying than any other district.

Another item on the agenda was lunch cards. Elementary school students may be getting the Point Of Sale (POS) cards to purchase lunch at school. This card program was already instituted in the high school.  The cards work as debit cards.  With POS cards, parents can view the lunch purchases of their children and add or subtract money from their account. 

 On another note, Annunziato is slated to release a Question and Answer sheet to parents in late January.  The Q and A is being generated by PTA Council members in regard to questions the parents in their district have for Annunziato. 

Lastly, the district's playgrounds may soon be getting some TLC with various updates.  Thought the updates are not mandated the state, Annunziato hopes to replace some of the outdated equipment, such as the wood chips that exist in many of the playgrounds. 

Annunziato is looking into the possibility of paying for the updates with money left over from a $35 million bond from years ago.  Approximately $1 million still exists in that fund, which must go toward repairs and updates.  Residents would have to approve the spending. 

The next PTA Council meeting will be held on Feb. 7.  It is closed to the public and only elected members of the PTA Council are invited to attend.