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Mill Creek 有料盒子 & School Association

Policies and Procedures

2019-2020

We want to take this opportunity to thank you for volunteering your time and energy as we work together to make the 2017-2018 school year a great one for our kids.  Following are some guidelines. We hope that these will help you to navigate your way easily through the year.

COMMITTEE EVENT PROPOSAL FORM

After your committee meets, please fill out the proposal form detailing the event. This will provide the description of the activity and estimated costs. The proposal will then be presented at the board meeting, which occurs the first Friday of the month. Remember that early in the year activities need to have proposal forms submitted at the August board meeting. Proposals are due no later than two months prior to the date of your event – keep in mind the timing of the board meetings and your committee’s specific requirements and get your proposal in earlier if needed. The committee will be notified if the proposal form has been approved or if it needs modification after the board meeting.

EVENT PLANNING

If your committee needs to use space at school for an event or meeting, please fill out an “Event Planning Form” several weeks in advance at a minimum and as early as you know your date.  This form secures approval for the use of the requested space and informs the custodial staff as to the set-up needed for the event, i.e. tables, chairs, AV equipment, etc.  These forms are available from the main office. 

COMMUNICATIONS

In order to ease communications, we have divided up the committees between the HSA Co-Presidents.  We ask that you update “your” co-president about your initial event planning so that any concerns, event specifics, costs, etc. can be approved early on by the executive board. You must also route all communication requests through your co-president for your event.  Note the only allowed communication methods are those described throughout this document.

Please try to communicate with your assigned co-president first.  However, if one of us is not available, you can always contact the other.   Maria Bouchard can be reached at (215) 534-9648 or bouchardmg@gmail.com and Lori Crowley can be reached at (215) 869-5138 or dpcllo@yahoo.com. Thank you for taking on the responsibility of volunteering for one or more of Mill Creek's HSA committees!

Mill Creek 有料盒子 & School Association

E-Flyer Approval and Distribution

2019-2020

The following outlines the procedures for securing the necessary approvals and for distributing your committee's e-flyers.  It is so important to the 有料盒子 & School and to Mill Creek’s principals and office staff that these procedures are adhered to at all times. Remember committee information regarding HSA 有料盒子 can go home only in one way by e-flyer through the weekly email blast.

Committee members should not post information regarding HSA events or solicit volunteers using Facebook or any other social media venue.

All information needs to go through Mill Creek’s office.  Sign-Up Genius links or other comparable online sign-up facilities may be used to sign-up volunteers solicited by your e-Flyer, and these must be approved in conjunction with your flyers. 

When at all possible, please use personal emails to send correspondence to a committee or parents related to a 有料盒子 and School activity.  In addition, Mill Creek does not use any emails collected for soliciting purposes

All E-Flyers distributed must have Principal and Co-President’s approval.

You must allow 2 weeks for the approval process to be complete.

• Committee chairs will need to monitor requests to insure that they are approved well in advance of the intended distribution date. Your final, approved e-flyer and Sign-Up Genius link (if applicable) must be emailed to your co-president three school days prior to the intended e-distribution in order to make that week’s email blast.  You are responsible for your own time frame to meet your desired distribution date.  When you contact your co-president to submit your flyer for initial approval ask which day of the week the email blast goes out to ensure you know when the final, approved version must be submitted.

   

• Every week, the front office will send an e-mail blast to all families containing copies of the e-flyers.  If you have an RSVP deadline approaching and would like that information included in the weekly e-mail blast in addition to your E-flyer, you need to send the information you would like inserted to your HSA co-president at least three school days prior to the intended distribution date.  They will then forward it on to the office for inclusion in the weekly blast. Be sure to be aware of the day of the week the email blast goes out to ensure you know when you must get any reminders submitted.

   

• ALL e-flyers must identify the event as a 有料盒子 and School activity with the words – “Mill Creek 有料盒子 & School Association” – in the header and/or footer of the e-flyer. In addition to all the relevant details of your event, always have a contact name and phone number in case of questions and also any necessary Sign-Up Genius link. Remember to save your file as a PDF, and please view it to make sure that the display is as you wish prior to sending it to your co-president for review.

   

2. Sign-ups for event attendance will be accomplished via parent printing the flyer at home, completing the form, and sending in the form with payment in a labeled envelope to the HSA office. Generally, paper flyers will not be used. If your committee has a unique circumstance that you believe requires a paper flyer, contact your Co-President at least one month prior to your distribution date.  (For example, the 6^th grade event flyers will go home via paper due to the very high participation percentage for those events.)

MILL CREEK HOME & SCHOOL ASSOCIATION

DETAILED FINANCIAL POLICIES

2019-2020

COLLECTION OF MONEY

All money collected for any activity / event / merchandise is to be deposited in its entirety.

No money is to ever be used as petty cash to purchase items for your activity / event. This policy will help insure a proper accounting of all money received. Note that all deposits must be in the hands of the assistant treasurer (via personal delivery or drop-off in school drop-box with email notification) no later than one month after the event occurs and ten days prior to the last day of school for the year for events near year-end. If this poses any problem, contact the treasurer prior to this deadline.

Payment by check is preferred. Please have all checks made payable to Mill Creek 有料盒子 & School. Before preparing the deposit, please verify that all checks are signed and made payable to Mill Creek 有料盒子 & School. Each deposit should include a Deposit Form or a spreadsheet listing the details of each check. The Deposit Forms are available in the 有料盒子 & School office or on the website. Excel is a great tool for keeping track of and balancing your deposits. If you want to use it as a substitute for your deposit form, you'll need to include ALL the information that is on the standard form. This includes columns for: Check number (or CASH), Amount, Payer's Name, Child's Name (if different than Payer). Regardless of the form your documentation takes, it must be clear, straightforward, and complete.

Also somewhere on the form, you'll need the committee/event name, name of the person submitting the deposit form, date of deposit, and totals for: cash amount, check amount, and grand total. Most often, the check number or the Child's Name are left out, along with separate totals for cash and check amount. It is critical that all of these pieces of information are included for auditing and to track any issues that arise.

Each deposit must be counted and signed by a committee member and also verified by recounting with a second signature from either a committee member or another Mill Creek volunteer.

THE CHECKS MUST BE TURNED IN IN THE SAME ORDER THAT THEY APPEAR ON THE DEPOSIT LOG (spreadsheet or pre-printed deposit form).

Communication: When a deposit is ready, please notify the Assistant Treasurer, Kim Pinkerton, via email kimpink@comcast.net.  If possible, please attach a copy of your excel deposit form to the notification email.  All deposits should be put in the deposit box in the 有料盒子 & School office.

Remember, each deposit must include:

1. Completely and clearly filled out deposit form (either the HSA provided form or an Excel spreadsheet)

2. All checks and/or cash being deposited (in order in which they appear on the deposit form)

3. Name of committee / event

4. Date of deposit

5. For each individual amount collected: payer’s name, student’s name (if different from payer), amount, check number (or indication that amount is cash)

6. For whole deposit – total checks, total cash, grand total (checks plus cash)

7. Two signatures verifying totals listed on form (please either sign legibly or also print name)

EXPENSES

There are generally three reasons for which funds may be requested: reimbursement of expenses incurred by committee members for the event, direct payment to vendor for event or event-related items, request for start-up funds necessary for event (limited to several specific events). Requests for funds (checks and/or start-up funds) must be received at least two weeks prior to the date the funds are needed and must be in the form of a completed Request for Approval of Funds Expenditure form along with the signed contract/agreement or invoice/receipt. Be sure to include the total amount needed on the form. See Procedures for Requesting Reimbursements and Funds Expenditures below for detailed instructions. This form is available online on the Mill Creek website or in the 有料盒子 & School office. The appropriate Co-President must approve all requests for funds. Note that all funds requests must be in the hands of the treasurer (via personal delivery or drop-off in mailbox with email notification) within one month after the event and, no later than 10 days prior to the last day of school for the year for events near the end of the year. If this poses any problem, contact the treasurer prior to this deadline. Expenses submitted after this deadline without prior notification will not be reimbursed.

Reimbursement of Expenses Incurred by Committee Members or Direct Payments to Vendors:

The Mill Creek 有料盒子 & School Association is a tax-exempt organization. Because of this status, we are exempt from paying the 6 % Pennsylvania sales tax. In order to take advantage of this exemption, you must present a tax-exempt certificate at the store when making your purchase. These tax-exempt certificates can be obtained from the Treasurer, Tanya Nghiem. She can be reached at tmk79@aol.com if you have questions.

You must obtain and include with the funds request form, an original receipt for all purchases to insure reimbursement. For payments directly to vendors, you must include an invoice or contract with the funds request form. The receipt, invoice, or contract must detail the items purchased.

            Start-Up Funds Requests:

Only the following committees need and will be provided with start-up funds: directory, school store, fall and spring book fair, spring fair, Magic Miles. Requests for start-up funds must include the total needed and the break-down by denomination. If you are unsure of the appropriate amount of start-up funds contact the treasurer.

While we greatly appreciate the time of our volunteers, the HSA will not reimburse committees for food purchased for set-up volunteers.  Any event requiring two hours or more set-up time will be considered for reimbursement but not without pre-approval from your Co-President.

Mill Creek 有料盒子 & School Association

Procedures for Requesting Reimbursements & Funds Expenditures

To be reimbursed for expenses related to your committee or to request a check for a committee or event:

1. Fill out a Request for Approval of Funds Expenditure Form which can be found in the 有料盒子 & School office or online on the Mill Creek website (HSA section).

2. Be sure to fill in the committee for which the expenditure is being made and the total amount requested.

3. Write a brief explanation of the expenses.

4. Please note if there is a specific date by which the check is needed. Please do not write “ASAP” unless it is urgent, in which case you must notify the treasurer via email or phone. The standard turn around time is two weeks from when the request is submitted.

5. Indicate to whom the check should be made payable.

6. Indicate how the treasurer should get the check to you or if it should be mailed to a vendor (if mailed to vendor provide address).

7. Have the request approved by a committee member. This can be yourself if you are on the committee.

8. Attach all related original receipts for documentation and clearly indicate exactly what is to be reimbursed on each receipt. For checks to vendors, attach all contracts or invoices for documentation. Include the total amount for which the check should be written on the form. Do not rely on the treasurer to find the correct amount on the documentation – documentation is provided for verification, not to determine the amount due.

9. Put the completed request form in the Treasurer’s mailbox in the 有料盒子 & School office and allow two weeks for processing. Email the treasurer with notification that you’ve placed the request in the mailbox. The Treasurer will forward the request to your assigned 有料盒子 & School Co-President and the Principal for their approvals.

10. If you need a check for an event sooner than two weeks, please call or e-mail the treasurer to make arrangements.

Thank you for volunteering your time and please feel free to call or e-mail the treasurer if you have any questions throughout the year.

QUOTES

All proposed expenses must be pre-approved by the board. Any proposed purchases that are over $ 500 require three written quotes. If purchases are made without approval, it is possible that the committee will not be reimbursed for their purchase or expense.

Mill Creek Elementary 有料盒子 & School Association

Committee Financial Expectations 2019-2020

Apparel –We host one sale in the beginning of the school year through a temporary online link set up by Kampus Klothes. A second sale may be held in the spring at the discretion of the committee or at the request of the executive board. Apparel sales are budgeted to generate income of roughly $1 per student (full school student count). There are no expenses budgeted.

Book Fair – The Fall Book Fair is budgeted to generate income.  This amount is usually estimated based on the prior year’s actual profit. The Spring Book Fair is the BOGO Fair and there is no profit generated particularly since the HSA has been able to fund $6 per student for this fair.  (Thus, there is an expense of $6 per student budgeted for the Spring Book Fair.) There may be minimal expenses for both fairs including supplies and snacks for volunteers.  6% sales tax is collected on sales and remitted to Scholastic, who remits the sales tax to the state.  *Snacks for volunteers are not provided and are not in the budget.

Box Tops – Box Tops income is budgeted based on the prior year’s income.   Box Tops are submitted twice a year and we receive two checks.  There is a minimal expense to this committee for postage and supplies to mail the box tops as well as a small reward based on incentives offered by the committee for participation. (Example, movie popcorn party for class with most box tops submitted.)

Charity- All funds collected (minus the cost of the water ice used for water ice days) are sent directly to the charity chosen for the year.

Directory – The directory committee is budgeted to earn income, with a price per paper directory of $5 (to be raised if direct expenses make it necessary). When pricing the directory, make sure that enough is charged to cover the 6% sales tax that we must pay for the directory sales. There are no other expenses associated with this committee.

Family Fun Nights- These committees are expected to make a modest profit depending on the type of event. Each committee with an on-site event must make sure that enough is charged to cover the expenses for your event and add a dollar on top of that amount.  If in doubt, round up.  Committees with off-site, ticketed events should contact their co-president to determine the appropriate ticket price for their event. By charging this amount, your committee will make sure that the event does not lose money and that it will provide the profit required by the budget to sustain important budgeted expenses (for example, in-school assemblies, extra library materials, educational periodicals for classroom use, etc.).  All expenses need to be pre-approved by the board before they are incurred. Expenses that are not pre-approved by the board will not be reimbursed. Please submit the Committee Event Proposal Form by its due date for board approval. Some Family Fun events require deposits to hold the date.  When you submit the Committee Event Proposal Form and the expenditure request for the deposit, you need to attach an invoice or contract to these forms.  Remember that this expense is charged to your committee in advance of deposits received so make sure that you factor it into your total cost estimates when pricing the event.  Family Fun nights are not taxable. 

Magic Miles 5K Scholarship*- For 2017-2018, all funds collected, minus race expenses and scholarship payouts were used for this years scholarships. In subsequent years, it was advertised that proceeds would benefit not only the scholarships, but also include funding for the 有料盒子 & School. Therefore the amount and number of scholarships are determined on a yearly basis.  Any monies not used for scholarships or future scholarships remains in the 有料盒子 & School general account. Race registration fees should be set to ensure coverage of all race expenses and scholarships, with consideration given to the fact that there are race sponsors who provide additional funds.

Spring Fair*- Spring Fair is budgeted to earn income; however there is also a budget on the expense side that offsets the income.  The net effect is the profit from the Spring Fair.  These budgets are generally based on prior year’s actual numbers.  Each year the Spring Fair committee should make budget recommendations and requests as necessary in April following the fair for the next year based on the current year’s experiences. 

Magic Moments – This event occurs every other year.  All classes should be priced to provide a modest profit, taking into account the fee of the instructor and any required materials. Please discuss with your co-president prior to setting prices for each class.

Supermarket Rewards Programs - Supermarket Rewards programs (currently Giant A+) have income budgeted based on prior year’s income. There are no related expenses. This is not a committee but is handled by the treasurer.

Sixth Grade Committee – This committee runs several events for the 6^th grade students. With the exception of promotion and the ice cream social, for which there are expense budgets, the events should be priced to make a modest profit, with the amount charged to the students covering the cost to run the event plus a small amount of profit (used to cover extra 6^th grade items such as yearbooks, ropes course). To the extent that the 6^th grade events as a whole generate some income this amount may be used for any additional promotion expenses above the budgeted amount. Keep in mind, however, that these additional funds are available only to cover higher prices on items already in the promotion budget, not additional items. The committee must contact their co-president if they believe there is a need to exceed the communicated budget amount. The treasurer should be consulted to obtain information about budget amounts and any additional available funds.

Assemblies – There is an expense budget for assemblies.  Please make sure that you are aware of the balance when booking future assemblies.  You can call the treasurer to obtain the current balance.

Hospitality-Teacher’s Lunch/Dinner – There is a budget for this expense.   Please verify the balance when you are planning your event. 

Mill Creek Café – There is an expense budget for this committee.  Please coordinate with committee members monthly to stay within the budget set for the year.

School Store – There is no budget for the school store.  It is not intended to make a profit.  The income generated by its sales is offset by the costs to purchase the inventory.  The prices are set to cover costs and to include sales tax, which is paid by the 有料盒子 & School to the PA Department of Revenue as the consumers (the students) are not tax exempt.

Fundraiser – Our annual fundraiser is budgeted to generate income based on prior year experience and student number changes. There is also an expense budget for this committee – contact the treasurer to obtain the amount and find out what items are part of this budget. When planning the fundraiser, consideration is given to how much is needed to cover desired expenditures and the format of the program is changed to raise the needed funds but not more or less.

Yearbook – The yearbook is intended to generate a modest profit. Please contact your co-president and the treasurer with price per book and any other costs prior to setting the yearbook price charged to the students. We do need to pay the PA Department of Revenue sales tax on all yearbooks sold directly by Mill Creek HSA (for yearbooks sold directly by the vendor to the students, the vendor collects and remits the associated sales tax) so 6% sales tax should be factored into the price of the yearbook along with photography and printing costs.  To keep costs down, digital photography should be the mode of choice whenever possible.

If you have any questions regarding your budget, please contact Tanya Nghiem, Treasurer, at tmk79@aol.com or you can always contact the co-president in charge of your committee.  The 2017-2018 budget was presented at the May 有料盒子 & School Meeting and was finalized in June. It is possible that minor changes would have been made to the budget after June based on final prior year numbers and any programing changes. 

*Planned expenditures for Magic Miles and the Spring Fair include gift cards for of $50 each per custodian who is at the event outside of normal hours (weekend). It does not matter if the custodian is at the event for the full day or for part of the day, each custodian who is at the event receives a $50 gift card. If a custodian works both events s/he receives two separate $50 gift cards. Custodians who provide preparation help during regular hours (e.g. Friday night spring fair set-up) or planning assistance do not receive a gift card as their work is done during normal hours and the regular course of business. Gift cards are not provided for any other events (generally even if on a weekend) as we also provide a thank you lunch tray at holiday time and at year-end for the full custodial staff, and only spring fair and magic miles generate significant income.

Mill Creek 有料盒子 & School Association

Family Fun Nights 2019-2020

The following is a list of general guidelines that will help you and your committee host an evening that will be enjoyed by everyone. As you are planning your event, please be sure to keep your Co-President updated. Good communication is the key to a successful committee and a successful event.

• With the exception of the Father/Daughter Event and the 6^th Grade 有料盒子, snacks and drinks will not be provided for family fun nights. For the father/daughter event and the 6^th grade events, do not ask parents to donate snacks (with the exception of the Halloween Howl and promotion). Refreshments/snacks should be purchased by the committee and figured into the cost of the event.  * The Mother/Son event can have snacks/water depending on the event.

   

• The goal is to accommodate all families who would like to attend your Family Fun Night. We do not want to turn anyone away. With that in mind, history has shown that there will always be “late-comers.”  To avoid conflict with this situation, you should always plan that the number of people attending will exceed the number of people who RSVP’d. You should put a deadline for RSVPs on your flyer; however, be prepared for people to respond/pay late or simply show up at the door and request to pay then.

   

• Do not provide event favors. Since we know that more people will attend than we expect, providing favors or mementos of the evening causes a problem. We don’t want people turned away due to lack of favors, and we don’t want some people going home with a favor while others go home empty handed.

   

• You can charge per person or per family. Whenever possible, try to keep costs at a minimum. While we don’t want to skimp on things, we also don’t want to charge a small fortune for a family of five to attend a Family Fun Night. If your event is being held off school premises, the cost will be primarily dictated by the offsite venue. If you are onsite, calculate all costs and charge enough to turn a small profit per the information above in the Committee Financial Expectations section. Family Fun Night expenses (whether offsite or onsite) cannot exceed the amount of money you collect from attendees. In general, expenses for a performer or other vendor may not exceed $500 regardless of the amount you intend to charge or expect to make in total. Please contact your co-president if you would like the board to consider approving an expenditure of over $500 for your event.

   

• If you will need parent volunteers, put that on your e-flyer. If you have a tear-off response on the bottom of the e?flyer, ask if they would like to volunteer for all or part of the event. Then e-mail to confirm times, stations, etc. with the volunteers. You can also invite the teachers to attend the event as a guest or a volunteer. Alternatively, volunteers can be arranged via a pre-approved Sign-up Genius or other pre-approved online volunteer sign-up facility.

   

• Make sure your e-flyers are out in plenty of time. You will want to start the e-flyer process about 6-8 weeks before your event.  You must allow 2-3 weeks for the e-flyer approval process and at least 2 to 3 weeks for the responses to come back to the H&S office. Depending on your event, you will want to know how many people to expect at least 1-2 weeks before the event. Have as much information on the e-flyer as you can, i.e., date, time, theme, place, cost, activities scheduled, contact person and phone number, response date, if volunteers are needed, etc. The office staff will be handling distribution of paper flyers to those who do not have computer access.

   

• If you need a check to pay vendor(s), please refer to the Procedures for Requesting Reimbursements & Funds Expenditures.

   

• Also refer to the Detailed Financial Policies for instructions on how to collect and deposit all monies for Family Fun Nights. Please note that if an RSVP is returned and payment is missing, contact the family and notify them of the missing payment and request that they send the payment in in the next few days. If you then do not receive payment in a timely manner, notify the co-president working with your committee and s/he will have the office handle further collection communications. The family should be included in the event unless otherwise notified by your co-president.

   

• Finally, once the event is over, you should complete the FFN Summary Sheet, attach any flyers, and file a copy in the FFN binder. Return the binder to your Co-President.   These will be used as a reference for future years.

  The TENTATIVE dates and events for the 2019-2020 school year are as follows:

   

As always if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please feel free to contact your Co-President at any time. Thank you for volunteering your time to ensure that our children and their families have a great time!