CHMPA Parent Handbook
CHMPA Mission Statement:
"Supporting a strong music program at Cedar Hill Middle School, with a wide range of opportunities for students to experience music throughout their middle school years."
Structure of the CHMPA
Roles and responsibilities
Chair:
Decision-Making Process
How are decisions made within the CHMPA
Fundraising Policies
What kinds of fundraisers will we support?
Prioritization For Fund Allocation
Deposits
"Supporting a strong music program at Cedar Hill Middle School, with a wide range of opportunities for students to experience music throughout their middle school years."
Structure of the CHMPA
Roles and responsibilities
Chair:
- Calls meetings and provides an agenda, arranges for reports on agenda items.
- Chairs meetings, closes meetings and sets date for following meetings.
- Liaises with music teachers.
- Signing authority on cheques.
- Supports chair and stands in when Chair is absent, to chair and organize meetings as needed.
- Handles banking, cheque writing and book keeping on behalf of the CHMPA.
- Records are kept.
- Ensures that funds received reconcile with designated amounts.
- Reports on finances as required.
- Also has signing authority along with chair.
- Attends and takes notes at meetings.
- Circulates notes to executive and corrects based on feedback received.
- Submits notes to CHMPA website.
- Will also help with parent correspondence.
- Monitor and distribute messages received through email account
- Participate in CHMPA meetings
- May take the lead on CHMPA events
- May coordinate volunteers for events
- May be an alternate signing authority.
Decision-Making Process
How are decisions made within the CHMPA
- Discussion and consensus at meetings or via email
- Executives
- Consultation with the music teachers
- What fundraising activities to undertake, e.g. chocolates, magazines
- How to use the funds raised: e.g. for capital items such as instruments, contributions to concerts and activities
- What extracurricular music activities to support with funding, and at what level
Contributes to for financial policy decisions supporting extracurricular music activities and fundraising events
Fundraising Policies
What kinds of fundraisers will we support?
- Consistent with school values
- Highest return for least effort
- Fundraisers with a low rate of return
- Fundraisers promoting products that do not fit with school or CHMPA values
- 80% student account, 20% general music fund
- As a courtesy, funds can be transferred to account for sibling who is already in or coming into the music program, if parent requests in writing or email form before end of May of the school year.
- If no sibling, funds are returned to general fund to support future music program activities - funds cannot be refunded to student as they were raised specifically for Cedar Hill Music Program activities
- Music teacher and treasurer
- List of what is in accounts posted in Music room, by PEN number (to protect student anonymity)
Prioritization For Fund Allocation
- Activities that benefit all students equally
- Covering costs for students who cannot afford to participate , normally this is a school responsibility, but the school may contribute to music program bills as a compensation for funds spent by the music program to cover students who cannot afford to participate
- Activities that benefit the greatest number of students
- Balance between different music programs (choir, strings, band) as needed
Deposits
- Normally deposits required for trips include transportation and accommodation, plus any activity fees
- All monies refunded that are refundable
- Refunds will not be given for trips once the bookings are made, because reservations are made and costs are determined based on the number of students who have committed to participate
- If there are any funds that are discretionary, these can be refunded
- Music teacher will select chaperones based on various criteria, including their suitability for the trip and volunteering for the music program they may have done
- Chaperones must have a completed Criminal Record Check well before trip dates. A good time to do this is early in the school year
- Parents able to transport other students get priority
- The school’s policy is to pay for students who cannot afford to pay
- Families needing support should contact the school Principal
- CHMPA will contribute on a case by case basis if there are funds in the trip account
- If a cheque does not go through because of non-sufficient funds, CHMPA will follow up with the family
- Families should contact the principal if they are not able to pay
- Come to a meeting or two!
- Make the most of the fundraising events. Fundraising for 3 years adds up to $ in your student account, which helps to make the bigger trips more affordable!
- Volunteer for the band concerts.
- Get involved!