Membership Update
We hope you and your families are well.
During this unprecedented time, we have appreciated your support and patience while we wait for additional information to continue to make informed decisions.
In the past few days, we have been notified by the:
1. Jubilee Auditorium that all bookings through until the end of May are being cancelled or postponed to the Fall.
2. City of Beaumont that all City facilities which include the CCBCC and the KNRCC will be closed until May 31, 2020 at which time they will reassess.
At our Executive Meeting this week, given the above, we have made the following decisions:
1. Cancel versus postpone our year end show.
2. Continue to offer the voluntary Zoom and Band App classes in the manner we have been until May 23, 2020.
3. All volunteer/fundraising cheques will be shredded.
4. Proceed with depositing the held cheques from March and April on May 1st. For those members with multiple cheques, our Treasurer will reach out to you directly by email regarding timing of deposits. For those on the Competition Team who have cheques for deposit as well, our Treasurer and Performing Director will coordinate together.
5. Approved a BSSD Credit from March 15 to year end to be applied to next year’s registration fees based on the following scale. The scale will be calculated based on the 2019-2020 registration forms.
(This information can be found in the email sent to our members.)
Picture fees will be credited in full to next season. $20 per costume
MacLab Show Tickets fees paid will be credited in full to next season. $10.00/ticket
Credit will be per dancer based on the 2019-2020 registration form.
As an Executive, we looked at several options, which included what other dance studios are doing, and BSSD Financials. Many Studios have continued to offer online classes and have chosen to not issue credits or refunds. Other studios are offering credits for next season in variety of different ways.
As an Executive, we feel we have made the best decision to ensure that as a not-for-profit organization, we can remain viable and in a positive financial position going into next season while providing families with a credit back to help offset the in person classes that were cancelled. We feel a co-blended model was in the best interest of our membership and the organization as there are many costs behind the scenes that we have either paid or need to continue pay that we budget for based on enrollment at the start of the season. These include insurance, janitorial, contractor fees, Etandem Licensing fees, costumes, etc….
We will indicate the BSSD Credit that will be applied to your 2020-2021 registration fees on your recommendation sheets for next season. These recommendation sheets will be emailed out on June 1st.
We realize that every family is facing a different financial situation, but if you would like to donate your BSSD Credit to BSSD please let us know. As a not for profit, every dollar brought into the organization goes directly back to the dancers.
Please send an email to bssddonations@gmail.com by May 15, 2020.
Please note, we are not able to issue tax donation receipts, as we are not a registered charity.
6. Costume fees for the 2020 – 2021 season will be reduced from $50 to $20 per year-end show dance. We have to order the costumes for year end show at the end of November beginning of December for arrival for costume fitting day in March. The costumes are all paid for and received. Our teachers will be using these costumes for next season and pulling costumes from our costume room as much as possible; however, we may not have enough for a particular class or the correct sizes so we may need to order more or obtain a new set. Our teachers are committed to re-use but there may be situations where it will not work and we need to take this into account.
7. Scholarships will still be awarded this season to recognize dancers for their hard work this season. The Kobly and Lutomski post secondary scholarships will be awarded as well. The award recipients will be acknowledged in the newsletter and their certificates delivered to them. More details will follow.
8. Graduating students will be acknowledged. We are currently finalizing a plan with their input and we are committed to having them participate in the 2020-2021-year end show at the Jubilee in a special performance to recognize their dedication and commitment to dance and BSSD. Watch for more details to come.
9. For the Competition Team, we have officially withdrawn from the Whistler Competition. No decisions have been made regarding other competitions at this time. We will be sending out an email to the Competition Team explaining this in more detail.
For the past several weeks, we have started planning for the 2020-2021 season. We are excited to announce that we will be moving to an online registration system. Details will be released with the registration packages for next season.
We are also working on how we will be best able to meet anticipated social distancing and group gathering sizes for the fall as well. We will be taking the provincial health guidelines into consideration in structuring classes for the fall and how we can best move forward. We have a committee working on enhancing our infection control procedures and how to move dancers through the Studios safely. There will be more information provided on this in the next month.
Our goals are first and foremost:
The safety of our dancers and their families.
Ensuring that we remain a viable and financially stable organization so that we can keep operating moving forward making dance available to all in the community at the lowest cost while providing a high level of dance instruction.
We appreciate all the positive feedback on the Zoom and Band classes and everyone’s support as we work through the current COVID situation.
We remain committed to keeping you informed as we have additional information and work through the next steps of preparing for next season.
If you have any questions, please email president@beaumontdance.ab.ca
Stay safe and have a great day.
BSSD Executive
Julia P. Reid, President
