School Board Minutes September 11, 2006

Present: Monsignor Mank, Jeff Thompson, Brad Sparkman, Kit Morrissey, Peggy Reeves, Theresa Rendleman, Tim Kusmierczak, Joyce Ray, Denise Farnsworth, John Ross, Steve Kassing, Dale Kobayashi and Val Holdener

Absent: Julie Keil, Jack Holmes

Others present: Mrs. Hodapp, Miss Rheinecker, Miss Hurley

Call to order: Jeff Thompson called the meeting to order.

Opening prayer: Joyce Ray

August minutes: Approved as corrected (corrections: Assignment of prayer for September; spelling of defibrillators on p. 3). Motion made to approve minutes by Theresa Rendelman and seconded by Steve Kassing; motion carries.

Corrspondence

Board Chair Thompson read and passed around a letter from Mr. Holmes to Mr. Earhardt regarding the gift of computer equipment to the school and a responsive letter from Mr. Earhardt to Mr. Holmes. Jeff Thompson noted that Mr. Earhardt will be recognized at the PTU meeting scheduled for September 19th, and reminded everyone to try to attend the PTU meeting.

Old Business

Second reading of Policy Number 8002 entitled Standard Operating Procedures - Finance Committee. Motion made by Brad Sparkman to approve the policy, noting minor corrections to be made, and forward policy to the Canonical Administrator for final approval. Motion seconded by Joyce Ray. Motion carries.
Second reading of Policy Number 8003 entitled Standard Operating Procedures - Planning Committee. Motion made by Brad Sparkman to approve the policy, noting minor corrections to be made, and forward policy to the Canonical Administrator for final approval. Motion seconded by Tim Kusmierczak. Motion carries.
Policy Committee concluded with its report for September. Committee plans to continue working on Standard Operating Procedures for each standing committee. Grants Committee agrees to provide a proposed Standard Operating Procedure policy before next board meeting to Policy Committee. Building and Grounds Committee will be next in line to propose its Standard Operating Procedures. School Board Chair suggests that Development and PR Committees propose Standard Operating Procedures jointly to clearly define the roles of the two committees.
Policy Committee has also been asked to consider a website content policy, which it will begin working on and reports that it will continue to consider whether a policy is needed to provide better direction for dress code on non-uniform days, and to work on the personnel and finance policies recommended by the diocese.

New Business

Monsignor Mank said we may be hearing about sharing resources with other schools and that our partner school is Sts. Peter and Paul in Collinsville. He said more details would be forthcoming toward the end of the month. Chair Jeff Thompson said there would be a meeting on September 27th on this subject hosted by the NCSA.

Principal's Report: Mr. Holmes’ report was read by Chair Jeff Thompson. Mr. Holmes’ hired a person to clean the bathrooms at SJN. He reminded everyone about the Building and Ground Committee’s Saturday cleanup at SJN from 8 - finish. He also reminded everyone that Terra Nova testing would take place next week and that a dance was scheduled for Friday, September 22nd.

Teacher’s Report: Mrs. Farnsworth reported that the magazine drive was going well and that the kids were excited about it. She reported that there are some problems with Fast Direct attributable to the service provider, which is being addressed. She said that Miss Rheinecker made arrangements for her class to be pen pals with 5th graders at a Catholic school in Texas.

PTU: No Report.

Finance:

Mrs. Rendelman pointed out that the finance reports the board members received are the same as those from last month. The first new report the board will receive will be the September report and the board will get that in October.
Mrs. Rendelman said that the Finance Committee has no representative from St. Cecilia and asked anyone interested to contact her or Mr. Holmes.
Mrs. Rendelman said that they have finalized the separation of duties in the front office as recommended by the Diocese. Mr. Holmes is signing checks; Mrs. Patek is opening the mail; Mrs. Delaney is making deposits and reconciling the bank statements and Mrs. Ratulowski is writing checks and keeping records.
Mrs. Rendelman said that we may hear talk about putting up a storage building on school property and advised that Mr. Holmes is revisiting the issue, but no decisions have been made.
Mrs. Rendelman said that they may ask the Policy Committee for help in developing a policy regarding late tuition payments and what the process is if a family is unable to pay tuition. She said that what is in the handbook is not in the policy manual. John Ross said there is a foundation in Illinois which helps who desire Catholic education but have financial need. Monsignor Mank said that we recently received $2000 from the Diocese from the Harvest of Thanks Campaign for needy families.

Buildings & Grounds: Mr. Kobayashi reminded everyone that Saturday, Sept. 12th is cleanup day.

Development:
- Mr. Sparkman said that a week from tomorrow is Papa John’s pizza day and that we will continue to do this once a month. Market Day orders are due September 18th, and pickup is September 28th. Next month there will be a promotion to win a 9 cubic foot freezer, which the school can use, and that we must raise $3800 to win the freezer. Given last year’s sales, we should be able to meet this goal.
- Mr. Sparkman said that Jan Thompson provided an outline of where things stand with SCRIP. The outline was reviewed with the Board. Board Chair Jeff Thompson said that they are looking into going to a “true” SCRIP program next year and that we need to look for software which would allow those that run the program to delegate data entry duties. A final report on SCRIP for ‘05-‘06 was provided. The report provides a full count of what was available as of October 31, 2005. We do not have what was on hand before this. The debt incurred to St. Cecilia to fund a fourth SCRIP box was paid in full.
- Thirty-four teams competed in the golf tournament this year which was a little down from last year but which kept play smoother.
- The auction is scheduled for November 4th, and the committee is in need of donations.
Planning Committee: The Board Chair made an annual report to the Diocese in July. Exit surveys were sent out on August 28th and a summary will be provided at the November meeting.

Public relations: Update. (see attachment)

Faith Formation: Mrs. Holdener said that confessions will be scheduled at SJN during advent and lent. The DRE from St. Jerome would like to meet with teachers to discuss use of Faith First on line. Mrs. Farnsworth states that most of the teachers use Faith First on line, but have agreed to meet with the DRE from St. Jerome. A meeting is to be scheduled. Monsignor Mank discussed a statement that he will ask Mr. Holmes to put in the Friday newsletter regarding the confusion of some parents on whether SJN teachers teach the sacraments and prepare students for the sacraments of First Eucharist and First Reconciliation. Monsignor Mank said that the second grade teachers do so teach and prepare the students. It is the parent part of the preparation process that is left to the individual parish and that the individual parish determines the manner in which it will prepare the parents.

Grants: Mr. Ross reviewed his report with the Board.

Next Meeting: October 2, 2006