• Alex Berger, PTO President (president@melrosepto.org)
    • Community COffee Hour this Friday in the Parent Center at 8am
    • Beautification this Saturday 9am-12pm
  • Julia Wiss, PTO Vice President & Melrose Games Committee (rusyuliya@yahoo.com)
    • Melrose Games is Friday May 1st & needs to raise $166k
      • Melrose Games fundraising is beginning
        • Second largest school fundraiser of the year
        • Fall Annual Giving is a financial ask for caregivers whereas Melrose Games is structured to raise money from extended family, friends, businesses, etc.
      • Register your student at MyBooster.com
        • Sign up and then search for Melrose Elementary, input student name and teacher — this is very important for your student to get credit and be eligible for the many fundraising goal prizes
        • Share fundraising link / info via email, text or social media or do in-person asks
          • Goal for each student to raise $500 each and 100% participation
        • If preferred to pay via check, please make sure your student’s name and teacher name is on the check
        • When donating via MyBooster.com, the person donating can select whether they want to cover the credit card fee or not
          • The fee is capped and any excess collected will be sent back to the school
      • Incentives for kids to hit certain fundraising goals (e.g. 1st pledge, everyone who raises $50, most creative ask, etc) to receive gift cards from local businesses, etc
        • Most creative ask needs to send photo/video to Julia
      • Schedule for the day:
        • 1st grade @ 8:30am
        • 5th grade@ 9:30am
        • Kinder @ 10:30
        • 4th grade @ 11:30am
        • 3rd grade @ 12:30pm
        • 2nd grade @ 1:30pm
      • Tshirt contest winners
        • 1st runner up Aria (4th Grade)
        • 2nd runner up Hikaru (4th Grade)
        • WINNER — we don’t know whose artwork it is!
  • Nasim Kablan, PTO Treasurer (treasurer@melrosepto.org)
    • Sewer line failure over multiple times in boys and girls bathrooms
      • Poor repairs by district over the years caused these issues
      • Scheduled to replace sewer lines this summer
      • When there is a backup, the only bathroom available to use is the nurse’s bathroom
      • Girls bathroom is 250% further than recommended by school code
      • PTO and Principal Jackson are pushing for a prefab permanent structure permanently tied into Melrose’s sewer lines
        • Installation needs to be coordinated with the other campus upgrades
    • Along with district funded campus beautification upgrades (aka PACEUP), PTO has over $500k for a 2nd place structure
    • Around 2015 Melrose was identified as desperately needing repairs and upgrades
      • 2021 board approves measure RR making bond money available to fund LAUSD exterior upgrades
      • 2024 Melrose is finally awarded $9M for exterior upgrades
      • Anticipated construction schedule start Q3 2026, completion Q3 2028
    • This summer scheduled to dig up asphalt, complete sewer repairs then new asphalt placed down then the following summer asphalt dug up again to
      • Then $500k of Melrose parents’ money
        • PTO would like to get the parent community together to advocate to redirect this money to current student body and have LAUSD pay for playground
    • What does this mean?
      • Lack of coordination is creating longer construction timeline and health risks
      • Most current students will never see the new playground or upgrades
      • Wasted funds and duplication of efforts across projects
      • Pto pays for play structure
    • What can we do?
      • Demand originally scheduled upgrade timeline to be honored
      • Demand LAUSD pay for play structure and reinvest PTO funds in current students
      • Copy and send PTO email to the list of stakeholders by Tuesday March 17th
      • Attend the March 24th at 6pm hybrid meeting with the District and voice your concerns
        • Parent & Community Meeting regarding the Playground and Campus Exterior Upgrade Project at Melrose Elementary School.
        • Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at 6:00 p.m.
        • Location: School Auditorium (Hybrid Meeting)
        • Parents and community members are welcome to attend in person in the auditorium. For those who cannot attend in person, the meeting will also be available via Zoom.
        • Zoom Meeting ID: 823 2457 4123  /  lausd.zoom.us/j/82324574123
    • Zoe Wilhem talked about “Schools Beyond Screens” initiative
      • Parents from many different LAUSD schools trying to make sure that the district is being deliberate and conscientious
      • The meeting will be Sunday March 15 at 9:15am at Farmer’s Market (3rd and Fairfax) in the upper dining area.
      • Please complete this survey to share your concerns about tech use/screen time at Melrose: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScVVSyc1DX34aF9dujGddfVSU3cXSdmw74ETOnK6XuFJXmy5A/viewform?usp=dialog
      • Resolution coming to the board on April 11th requesting a full assessment of technology is used in school
      • bd4info@lausd.net – Board Member Nick Melvoin’s office