Saint Theresa Parish Board of Education Minutes


                                                                   
Tuesday, May 18 2010  5:45 PM

Attendees

 

Title

Name

Board Members

Ellen Stemler, Kelly Coleman, Rachael Seymour, Geri McMahon, Steve Kouri, Tom McCarthy, Fr. Larry Hoffmann, Cindy Mumm, Bob Wrobel, Rob Jackson

Absent

Jeremy Rogers, , Kathy Wipf,

Guests

Veronica Degen, Tonya Eaton, Angela Wolfe

Secretary

Lisa Bourne

 I     Prayer-  5:49

 II   Open Forum/Visitors’ comments 5:50

       Tonya Eaton reiterated the issue expressed at the April meeting during Open Forum

       regarding Edline use. Her feeling was that only one middle school teacher was using

       it to post assignments and update grades. Veronica offered general concurrence.

 III  Acceptance of May Agenda 5:51

       Move Angela Wolfe up to just after Approval of April Minutes. Geri moved    

       acceptance of the amended May agenda, which seconded by Kelly and approved by   

       the Board.

 IV  Approval of Minutes from April meeting 5:52

       Geri moved approval of the April minutes, which was seconded by Father Larry and  

       approved by the Board. There had been issues with electronic distribution of the  

       Agenda and April Minutes Board in advance of the meeting.

   (VI  Old Business)

    C. Angela Wolfe, Nutrition Director 5:55

       Breakfast week was Mar 8-12, with 182 breakfasts served that week. Sixty-nine

       breakfasts were served the following week, which was higher than normal.

       Grandparents Day had brought in between $900-$1,000. Average for daily revenue

        was $585.54. Angela ran down meal numbers. The Farm to School federal grant         

        program that would fund a parish and school community garden had been applied   

        for. Confirmation was expected by the end of the week and St. Theresa would be   

         the first chapter in Des Moines. The Board discussed varied possibilities for starting

        the garden, and also discussed breakfast specifics.

V Administrators’ Reports 6:08      

A.   Director of Faith Formation Report submitted electronically in advance of the meeting. The Board reviewed Kathy’s report.

B.   Parish Manager 6:10

      Regarding Building and Grounds:

      The Knights of Columbus and other volunteers had really stepped up with a team

      of people coming each Wednesday to do parish grounds work. The Farm to    

      School program had been discussed at the Parish Council meeting. The parish

      would be going to biodegradable trash bags. Regarding tuition billing: Bob

      acknowledged issues with his handling of billing and mentioned his having met

      students and families. Bad debt numbers had been discussed with Rachael

      before the meeting. Twenty- three letters had been sent out in April, six certified

      and 17 regular. Three families had left since the beginning of the year. The   

      school operates on a cash basis and diocesan CFO Tammy Mason had

       recommended that operations be on an accrual basis. Nineteen accounts were

       expected to be written off. The total amount would be $32,344.85. There was

       discussion of how write-off amount would be budgeted versus discounts. Father

       commented that the status was about the same as this time last year. The Board

       requested that Bob produce a report for review of delinquent accounts without

       individual names. The Board discussed policy for non-payment. Tammy Mason  

       and/or diocesan Finance staff would return to the school for further billing review.

       A group comprised of two Finance Council and two Board of Ed members would

       decide policy. Ellen would not be involved in policy creation. Ellen said errors

       need to be identified and good numbers put into the Smart tuition system before

       things could move forward on enforcing policy. Ellen said a lot of hard work

       would be ahead to regain confidence in tuition billing. Bob said a decision had

       been made to hire a Facilities and Maintenance Director rather than contract a

       maintenance company. Determination of candidate choice was still in process.

      The Board discussed the maintenance position. There was also discussion of

       how the Board would take action with regard to the school budget as it involves   

       the maintenance position.

C.   School Administrator 7:04

Registration numbers: 267 total, 24 in pre-k, 26 in kindergarten, 28 in 1st, 35 in 2nd, 22 in 3rd, 17 in 4th, 34 in 5th, 21 in 6th, 31 in 7th and 29 in 8th. The Des Moines pre-k grant was in place for next year. A representative from Smart tuition would be coming in to the school to be available to parents for questions. Billing options would include 10 and 12- month, annual and semi-annual, as well as quarterly. The Smart system would include a St. Theresa late fee. CTO application stats illustrated the financial need of families. A second round of CTO applications would be accepted in July. Plans were to add an office staff person to focus on the Smart system and on marketing. Ellen distributed a report from Josh Faber on marketing. There was discussion among the Board.
V Administrators’ Reports (revisit)

    B Parish Manager 7:23

    The Board reviewed, questioned specifics, and discussed Bob’s report. Action    

     items: The policy on nonpayment of tuition would be pulled for review and

     amendment consideration at the June meeting. The Board asked Bob to run and

     issue the same delinquent payment report to the Board five days in advance of

     the June meeting. The diocesan policy on nonpayment of tuition was read to the

     Board.

  VI Old Business

A.   Visioning Process for Parish Council  7:46

      The group had met, and a lot had been completed on step 3. Work thus far had    

      been sent to the Board. A final version would be forthcoming and discernment  

      would continue via email. There was discussion among the Board.

B.   Budget 7:49

     A meeting had taken place the previous Thursday morning. Father Larry motioned  

     to move the Budget discussion to the end of the meeting with Executive Session,     

    which was seconded by Rob and approved by the Board.

C.   Angela Wolfe, Nutrition Director (Moved earlier in Agenda to just after Approval of minutes from April meeting.)

  VII New Business

A.   Board elections 7:50

      Board elections were scheduled for June 12. Rachael would communicate with

      Amanda Vande for nomination and ballot material specifics. Candidates would

      contact Rachael, and candidate bios would be due May 29. 

B.   ITBS 7:55

      The Board had composite scores. Ellen detailed results, which would also be

      sent to parents. More detailed results would be made available to the Board. The    

      Board discussed the composite scores.

C.   Other 8:08

      The Board discussed the proposed summer programs.

  VIII Adjournment  8:16

          Date of next meeting: June 22, 5:45 p.m.

          Prayer

Father Larry moved to adjourn to Executive Session, which was seconded by Kelly and approved by the Board.

    

      Next Meeting-5:45 June 22, 2010