Saint Theresa Parish Board of Education Minutes


Tuesday, September 21 2010, 6:00 p.m.                       

Attendees

 

Title

Name

Board Members

Ellen Stemler, Rachael Seymour, Geri McMahon, Steve Kouri, Tom McCarthy, Rob Jackson, Jim Wainwright, Lori Mordini

Absent

Cindy Mumm, Kathy Wipf, Fr. Larry Hoffmann

Guests

Veronica Degen, Tonya Eaton, Jen Faber

Secretary

Lisa Bourne

 

 I     Prayer  6:03 Jen Faber and Middle School students, who also spoke about Middle School Houses.

 II   Open Forum/Visitors’ comments  6:07 Tonya Eaton requested consideration for the school counselor to be made either three-quarters or full time, expressed concern over the frequency with which students are scheduled to meet with the guidance counselor and said she was pleased with how Edline was going.    

      

 III  Acceptance of September Agenda  6:09 Move Old Business and New business earlier to after Approval of Minutes from September Agenda. Tom moved approval the amended agenda, which was seconded by Rob an approved by the Board. 

      

 IV  Approval of Minutes from August meeting  6:10 Rachael moved approval of the August minutes, which was seconded by Tom and approved by the Board.    

 

VIII New Business  6:12 Moved from later in the meeting

       A.  Middle School Students – Houses covered earlier with opening prayer       

B.   Christen Lacy – Art Christen introduced herself and gave basic background info.

C.   Deborah Welsch – Guidance Counselor Deborah introduced herself and gave basic background info.

 

VII Old Business  6:14 Moved from later in the meeting

A.   Smart update Mary Baker spoke about Smart tuition, which was going well. Mary explained basics of Smart tuition, and also training details and reporting specifics. Mary shared background information for herself, and she spoke about some of the new processes with Smart tuition. As of Sept 1, $19821.61 had been collected, not including seven families in specific circumstances referred to earlier in the meeting. Over $500K remained in tuition receivables. Mary had not received many calls since welcome letters had gone out. Veronica said it was going well in her experience. Mary would have a monthly report for the Board and the Finance Council. The Board discussed Smart tuition.

 VIII New Business  6:36

F. Patrick Benoit – Maintenance Patrick introduced himself as Facilities Manager. He is PTC President as well. Patrick said there are numerous “band-aids” on the grounds, and he will not have band-aids. Safety is the top priority, and he will require vendors to comply with the approach. Background checks would be required for vendor employees. The position will be more proactive than it had been. There would be a work-order system developed. Patrick spoke about specific concerns that would be addressed. Reducing cost would be a priority. Rob requested that Patrick come to the next several Board meetings to give a report.   

 V Administrators’ Reports     

A.   Director of Faith Formation 6:54 No report

B.   School Administrator 6:55 Screening is in progress for a Parish Manager. A call would be put out for Board members to sit in on interviews. Ellen would email the job description and the interview schedule to the Board. The Smart tuition role is an evolving position, and would be fulltime for the time being. School administration would meet with Smart tuition representatives and diocesan staff soon. Ellen distributed a statement of activities for the school as of Aug 30. Ellen would meet with Paul Galloway that Thursday for a final budget assessment. The budget emailed to the Board gave correct salaries, and all staff had been hired. Work was in progress to combine the school website with Edline. Jennifer Jorgensen was doing well as school Office Manager. Enrollment numbers would fluctuate somewhat as Des Moines Public Schools continued to send prospective Pre-K students. Ellen said Pre-K would be full. Tonya handles Pre-K referrals for the diocese and said it benefits the Des Moines Schools to have the Pre-K classes full in the non-public schools. Diocesan Centennial Mass and Cathedral tours were scheduled for St. Theresa on three dates in Oct.      

VI Committee Reports

A.   Athletics 7:24 The Athletic report had been received by the Board. Steve reported things were going well. The program was moving away from being fee-based. Steve mentioned some ideas for the sixth-grade charity game. The Board discussed athletics. Tom spoke about the availability for Des Moines University students to offer sports physicals. Ellen would email info on this out on Edline.     

     

B.   Policy 7:33 The Policy Committee would meet Oct 3 at 5:30 at Veronica’s house for final processing of Board policies. The Board discussed specifics of what needed to be accomplished and how. 

     

C.   PTC 7:39 No report

 

D.   Health and Wellness 7:39 Ellen and various staff would attend an all-day workshop on health and wellness on Oct 14.

 

E.   School Improvement 7:11 Tiffany Bickell said the goal was to have surveys out by Nov 3 and closed up by Nov 24. The survey would be available for review at the Oct 26 Board meeting. Results would be compiled at the Jan School Improvement Committee meeting and then be available for the Board to review. Tom requested a copy of the previous survey for comparison. Surveys would be annual. The Board discussed how to respond to feedback.

 

VII Old Business

B.   Smart update Covered earlier

 

VIII New Business
       A. Middle School Students – Houses
Covered earlier with opening prayer       

B. Christen Lacy – Art Covered earlier

C. Lindsey Bruner – Music Lindsey will come in Oct

D. Deborah Welsch – Guidance Counselor Covered earlier

E. Maggie Schopp – Middle School Faith Formation Teacher/Director of Youth   Ministry Maggie will come in Oct

F. Patrick Benoit – Maintenance Covered earlier in the meeting

 

 IX Budget Approval  7:41 Reminder of the meeting at 7 a.m. Thurs, Sept 23. The Board discussed vendor contracts and bidding. Steve and Rob would be available for future meetings with Patrick pertaining to vendor issues.

 

 X  Other Business  7:52 Board introductions for Lori

 

 XI Adjournment  7:56

      Date of Next Meeting Oct 26, 6 p.m.

      Prayer

Rob moved to adjourn to Executive Session, which was seconded by Jim and approved by the Board. The Board adjourned at 8:25 p.m.

Next Meeting - 6:00 p.m. October 26, 2010