Saint Theresa Parish Board of Education Minutes

  I    Prayer  5:45  Father Larry
Cindy motioned to move Agape earlier on the agenda to after prayer, which was approved by the Board. Agape (Dave Sherer), who was the STS artist-in-residence that week, spoke about his background and approach as a Christian Hip-Hop artist, as well as how he was working with the students for the social justice week. He gave a performance for the Board.

  II   Open Forum/Visitors’ comments 6:02 Gail and Tonya Eaton expressed frustration with the tuition billing process. Examples given were their having been billed for the wrong amount owed; and also having been billed for a zero amount-due when there was actually an outstanding balance, and then later getting billed later for an extra large amount to catch up. Additionally, the Eatons said they had requested a monthly statement more than once and had not received one. They told the Board they refuse to sign up for ACH withdrawal going forward because of their experiences.

6:09 Kenneth Seymour spoke about his frustrations in working with parish management to schedule facilities for Cub Scout meetings. A reservation he’d had on the schedule for some time was later taken away due to double booking. Further, when he later inquired in advance for other future reservations for the purpose of avoiding additional double-booking situations, he’d been told there was no 2010 calendar. Kenneth suggested an online master calendar and questioned whether policy was first-come first served, since he understood that he was first to have the date secured in the double-booking instance he experienced. Kenneth stated that the Board should be unified in its response to issues with parish management, and requested that the Board put forth a vote of no-confidence in Parish Manager Bob Wrobel. Kenneth said that this would be in the best interest of the school.

 III   Acceptance of January Agenda 6:15 Agape had been moved up from New Business to after the opening prayer. Family Life Curriculum with John Gaffney was tabled until February. Ellen would email the parent survey information to Board members. Acceptance of the amended January agenda was moved by Geri, seconded by Kelly and approved by the Board.

 IV  Approval of Minutes from November meeting 6:49 Under Administrator’s Reports-Director of Faith Formation: correct spelling of “Cristo Rey”. Father Larry moved approval of the amended November minutes, which was seconded by Tom and approved by the Board.

  V  Administrators’ Reports

1. Director of Faith Formation 6:19 Regarding Wednesday Faith Formation: Stations of the Nativity were presented by 5th and 6th grade students at the Dec. 16 session and this had been covered by the Des Moines Register; the Jan. 6 session was cancelled due to weather; that week’s session would feature Agape; catechists had given lessons the week before on how each person can make a difference and one class had decided to become pen pals with children in refugee camps. Regarding Sacramental preparation: A Confirmation retreat was scheduled for the following weekend; Rite of Choice Masses would be Jan. 30-31; Confirmation was scheduled for Apr. 12; a First Communion meeting was scheduled for Feb. 10 and learning centers scheduled for Apr. 14; First Communion was scheduled for May 1-2. Three young women who are 6th and 7th- grade STS students were preparing for sacraments of initiation and reception into the Church at Easter Vigil. Part of the Dec. generations of Faith festival had been cancelled due to weather, and the next festival would be Mar. 3 and Mar. 7. St. Theresa had submitted a request for Totus Tuus teams for summer 2010. Kathy and Barb Woods would host a monthly meeting of catechetical leaders that Thurs. Parish staff had a retreat day at St. Thomas More Center Jan. 4. Kathy had purchased 75 New Revised Standard Version family Bibles for resale. She said it was a Catholic version and would sell for $25, with Kathy and Barb Woods as contacts for purchase. 
2. Parish Manager 6:30 Bob’s report had been emailed to the Board in advance of the meeting.
3. School Administrator 6:30 A reverse collection take place Jan. 31. Catholic Schools Week was Jan. 31-Feb. 5. Primary grades had just finished DIBELS assessment, diocesan Math Assessment; ITBS would be the week of Feb. 8. Mission visioning was discussed and a graph of core values would be shared at the Feb. meeting. There had been some technology problems and the technology committee had met. A technology grant would be coming from Prairie Meadows as would funds from the Microsoft settlement. These would be put toward laptops, docking stations, the Smartboard and monitors for the computer lab. Servers would be changed at the end of the school year. There was discussion of the purchase of hardware. There would be no legislative non-public schools day this year at the State Capitol. In its place there would be a breakfast meeting Feb. 23 at St. Anthony to which legislators would be invited. There was discussion of the current legislative session. Summer school programs were being looked at.   
4. Other 6:45 Father Larry exited the meeting for a wake. The Board reviewed the maintenance job description and discussed updating the description. There was discussion of investigating school maintenance concerns and needs; assessment of maintenance issues; and HVAC issues. The Board discussed the structure of maintenance and management between the parish and school. Discussion was also held on tuition billing.   
5. Executive Session 7:15 Added to agenda as needed.

  VI Committee Reports Tabled until February.

 VII Old Business

1. Financial review process Covered in Executive Session.
2. Policy Review 7:43 Policy 520-Student Search: Broken into two sections, reworded to have adult witness present and add parental notice would be attempted; approval moved by Geri, seconded by Steve and passed by the Board. Policy 530-Weapons: Deleted and use diocesan policy; Geri motioned to approve, seconded by Jeremy and passed by the Board. Policy 540-Students as Parents: Geri moved approval, seconded by Kelly and accepted by the Board. Policy 550: Tabled. Policy 560-AIDS: Remove and use diocesan policy; Kelly moved approval, seconded by Cindy and passed by the Board. Policy 600-Regulation of student use of grounds: Times changed to 7:50 a.m. and 3:25 p.m., delete detention reference and add that students unaccompanied students on school grounds outside regular hours would be sent to childcare and parents would be assessed a fee. Geri move approval, seconded by Jeremy and approved by the Board. Policy 610-Permission to use building and grounds: Tabled.
   
   8:15 A proposed registration checklist was distributed and registration discussed. The Board discussed the upcoming open house. It was determined that any tuition increase would not amount to more than $100. Rachael would email open house specifics to the Board.
3. Budget Goals 8:33 The Board discussed budget goals. Ellen requested assistance with budget. Jeremy, Cindy, Geri and Kelly would help, and a special meeting would be held.

VIII New Business None with amended agenda.

IX   Other Business 8:37 None.

X    Adjournment 8:38 Date of next meeting Feb. 23, 5:45 – moved for conferences.
March 23, 5:45 – moved for spring break.8:40 Kelly moved to adjourn, which was seconded by Geri and approved by the Board.
   

Next Meeting – 5:45  Feb. 23, 2010