School Board Minutes - June 7, 2004
Present:Jeff Thompson – Chair, Sherry Sloger, John Ross, Bill Maurer, Father Jeff Holtman – Canonical Administrator, Liz Hellrung – Teacher Rep., Jim Grover, Dave Gebhardt, Theresa Rendleman, Debbie Shah, Dale Kobayashi, Lynn Kerkemeyer
Absent: Marsha Maller, Kit Morrissey
Guests: Jack Holmes, Sue Stahlhut, Jennifer Parker, Kathy Parker, Denise Farnworth, Lynette Lambert, Chuck Stowers
Call to Order: Jeff Thompson called the meeting to order.
Opening Prayer:Sherry Sloger
Approval of May minutes with changes;
Finance – a request was made that the finance committee review the cost per classroom; Grants – grant committee would track the grant monies till completion and finance will add line items for accounts payable and accounts receivable to budget; motion to approve minutes with changes Jim Grover; seconded by Bill Maurer; vote taken – 8 yeas, 0 nays, 1 abstention.
Correspondence – Karen Wassick has voluntarily resigned from the school board; Kit Morrissey will fill Karen’s position; Karen will be on the Faith Development Committee per her request; this will help St. Cecilia’s school board rotation; Dave Gebhardt’s term will end in 2005, Jeff T hompson’s and Jim Grover’s terms will end in 2006 and Kit Morrissey’s term will end in 2007.
New Members and Administration – There was an introduction of all school board members and administration; new school board members are Theresa Rendleman, Dale Kobayashi and Kit Morrissey, new principal Jack Holmes, and new teacher rep Liz Hellrung.
Assignment of Prayer:Theresa Rendleman
Old Business
School Budget – Handout given; discussion of variances in budget.
Survey – There was some background information given about surveys to the new school board members and new administration; exit survey will be sent to those families that have chosen to leave the school (not 8th grade); Father Steven Janoski has a query about question #5 in the survey; there will be a change in wording - #5 Overall, how satisfied were you with the level of involvement of your parish community as a whole in St. John Neumann School; Diane Richter, the past school board chair, will see this survey through completion; discussion of curriculum portion of survey; motion to approve exit survey with revision of question #5 – Jim Grover; seconded by Dave Gebhardt; vote taken – 9 yeas, 0 nays, 0 absentions.
Raffle Calendar – Discussion of adding coupons on back of calendar; perhaps purchase only 500 calendars as opposed to 1000; we’ve sold 105 calendars; we will try running the program again; discussion of Althoff calendar sales; if we sold all 1000 calendars, the profit would be approximately $11,000 - $12,000; Althoff sells calendars for $25.00; perhaps calendars to take over classroom fundraisers; profit on 500 calendars would be $4,500 - $5,000; business advertisement could be sold on calendars; perhaps local businesses could offer coupons; more discussion about calendars; motion made to move forward with 500 calendars with coupons and advertisement – Jim Grover; seconded by Debbie Shah; vote taken – 8 yeas, 0 nays, 1 abstention.
New Business
Roll of School Board – The roll of the board is advisory; CA makes the final decision with member pastors input; school board can make recommendations; there are 4 members from each parish; all have equal vote; we have a teacher rep, principal and CA as non-voting members; need quorum to proceed with meetings; everyone needs to have input into the discussion.
Member Survey Responses – Discussion of reconciliation of school; need to support the new principal and new CA; be supportive of fundraisers; these are the key concerns of the 2004-2005 school board; school board needs to project positive image; we need to promote school at our own parishes; survey responses will develop a blueprint of how to proceed during the coming school year.
Board Meeting Dates – Discussion of upcoming dates; September meeting will be held on September 13 due to Labor Day holiday the previous Monday.
Committee Assignments – Handout given.
Mission Statement – Revisions will be sent to Jim Grover and then forwarded to Rose Mersinger.
The following reports are Old Business.
Policy Review – Student/Parent Handbook receipt required by the Diocese; motion to accept receipt as written – Bill Maurer; seconded by Jim Grover; vote taken – 10 yeas, 0 nays, 0 abstentions; Note: number of votes taken is different due to late of arrival of school board member. Aids’ policy needs to be in handbook.
Athletics – #5018 - Discussion of “absence” situation; Unit 10 does an average of grades to determine eligibility; policy will be passed on to the pastors for review.
Communication of Concerns – Discussion of changes in policy; review policy with the Diocese and then forward on to the pastors; discussion of term “repeated behavior”; much discussion of this policy.
Classroom Capacity – Discussion of fixed costs of school; we need 37 children per grade level to cover fixed expenses; more discussion of fixed costs.
Subsidy Policy - #2018 – Perhaps committee should come up with a new subsidy policy.
Committee Reports
Pastor Report – New CA and new principal will start duties on July 1.
Principal Report – No report given.
Teacher Rep – Teachers are busy with cleaning classrooms; looking forward to sitting with the new principal.
Finance – Handout given; letter sent out to 3 pastors concerning subsidy dollar amount; will be closing out the books.
Building & Grounds – No report given.
Development – Annual Fund; 127 responses; no numbers yet for Rummage Sale; we are examples as school board members for fundraisers; stuffers in rummage sale bags concerning fundraisers; we still need a chair for the Mardi Gras; will talk to Joe Gonet about replacing Athletic fundraising cards; perhaps selling entertainment books.
Planning – Diane Richter sent Annual Progress Report concerning our 5-year plan to Diocese; exit survey will include Diane till survey end.
Faith Development – No report given.
Grant Writing – John Ross will continue to check on grants; Ronald McDonald grant needs more info from our budget.
Survey Committee – Covered earlier in meeting.
Next Meeting – August 2, 2004
Closing Prayer – Sherry Sloger