Saint Theresa Parish Board of Education Minutes

Tuesday, October 17, 2006  – 6:30PM

Opening

q       Prayer-6:32

q       Approval of September Minutes-Amendments: School section-26 students had left St. Theresa, Action Items-Barb was unable attend the Faith Formation Council meeting due to CHRP. Father Larry moved approval of the amended September minutes. Carried by the Board.

Changes to Agenda-Susan’s communication with Jerry Deegan added to Action Items

Open Forum -6:37. David Butruille’s son had been injured via a beam in the gym, requiring five stitches. Mr. Butruille had heard mention of other potential like injuries, and questioned whether there was a safety policy and if accidents were tracked. Mr. Butruille commended the effort of the temporary padding that had been added to the beams. He expressed concern over liability for the school, citing worn hooks on the monkey bars in the older playground equipment as an example. Ellen said when a child is injured; the corresponding teacher completes an accident report. It was possible for additional effort to be put forth for tracking incident statistics. A majority of accidents at the school consist of kids falling. The school is audited every quarter and visited annually by Catholic Mutual Insurance Company. A past change to augment safety had been changing from pea gravel to mulch on the playground. Ellen apologized for the incident with Butruille’s son and said the PE teacher had taken pads from gymnastics to put around the beams in the gym. She thanked Mr. Butruille for coming forward. Beth thanked him as well, saying he raised good issues, and she asked whether he was requesting implementation of a policy which would track incidents. Mr. Butruille stated he recognized that accidents happen with children and that they are hard to avoid, but there were gaps to be filled. He said he was not there to threaten, but to raise concerns. It was stated that if parents see issues of a safety concern they should report them to Bob or Ellen. There was discussion of the playground monkey bar hooks. Routine maintenance issues are handled by Jerry and major issues are handled by the Building and Grounds Committee.

ADMINISTRATOR REPORTS

q       Faith Formation – Kathy – 6:48. 115 students from 75 families are enrolled for Wednesday Faith Formation (WFF). Four sessions have been held, including a well-attended family Mass. The Faith Formation Council met for the third time on Sept. 21. Kathy read the vision statement that had been created for the council. The next meeting for the council was Oct. 19, when job descriptions for council officers would be evaluated. Six council members were enrolled in an online course on the USCCB document on adult faith formation. The first Generations of Faith Festival was scheduled for Oct. 22 and Oct. 25. WFF surpassed its Stampede goal of $2500 by almost $300. The funds will go to Generations of Faith. Brian and Sue Tingleff are to be commended for their work leading Stampede. The Red Wheel fundraiser would be a pared-down effort. Order forms would be in the parish bulletin and sent home through school and WFF. Children would not be sent out with Red Wheel forms. The funds will go to sacramental preparation. A First Reconciliation parent meeting was held Oct. 11. A seventh-grade Confirmation meeting for parents and students would take place the following evening. Steve commented on the increase from last year in the number of families registered for faith formation. Father Larry mentioned Kathy’s efforts to improve communication with faith formation families. She explained that she had email addresses for about 75% of the families and communicated with the rest by mail. There was mention of connecting youth group students and faith formation students. Kathy would check with John Gaffney about having the youth group students stay after their regular Wednesday meeting to personally invite faith formation students to join the group.

o       Parish – Bob – 6:56. Results from the parish needs survey had been compiled. Bob shared one comment offered about the school looking more like a Catholic school. The first ministry fair had been a success, with the school well-represented and a lot of information provided to participants. The air conditioning and boiler had both been turned on and off due to weather changes of the fall season. Jerry Gumpert had gall bladder surgery and was back and doing well, with restrictions on lifting. Bob and a parishioner were helping to fill in. Benefits information had been presented to newly eligible school employees, though none had chosen to be added to the plan. A web-based program was being looked at that would ultimately assist with reserving school and parish facilities. Bob has billed for school tuition from all students for whom he has paperwork, and was working on identifying any for which he does not have paperwork.

o       Financial – Paul – 7:04. Items were highlighted from the current financial estimate through Sept. ’06. The school administration showed a variance, which Bob and John McMichael would investigate further and follow up on with the Board. The income for Oct., Nov. and Dec. was understated. The latch key program had a variance due to salaries which would be discussed later. Regarding variance to budget, things were doing much better on both expenses and income, and things would smooth out in the coming months. The school secretary salary was showing a positive variance due to overtime in preparation for the school year. Numbers for the pre-school were not showing as they should, and an adjustment would be made. With expenses, the parish was showing a 40% positive variance in relation to last year and the school was showing a 29% negative variance. It was not clear why and John would be investigating further. Childcare was $5700 over budget due to salary adjustments resulting from changes in staff duties.                                                                                                                                                                      

o       School – Ellen –

School Tuition Organizationn

7:35. Ellen and Father Larry had been a meeting for the School Tuition Organization the previous week. The timeline for the organization was detailed and frequently asked questions were touched on. Information on the organization will go home in Friday folders. There is a very good tax incentive with the program, with a credit of 65% of the gift. Contributions cannot be designated for an individual. There was discussion of the program. Ellen distributed brochures that will be sent home to parents. Project Hope will remain, but with less focus. Father Larry indicated that the School Tuition organization could be a good marketing tool for families weighing whether they could send their children to St. Theresa based on cost. There was discussion of how funds from the program would be allocated between different schools and grades within a school. Ellen would report ongoing developments to the Board.

Action Items

7:55. Communication from the Marketing Committee had gone out in the parish bulletin and the committee was awaiting a response. The Childcare Advisory Committee did not meet this month. The Wellness Committee had not yet met this month. With regard to Policy, Jean had gotten electronic copies of all policies from Ellen and would begin reviewing them. There had been previous discussion about giving Ellen additional latitude for decision-making relative to tuition payment. After further review, a decision will be made on whether to revise any related policy. Regarding PTC, Stampede went well. The Tingleffs will chair the fundraiser again next year. Father Larry said that the combination of Stampede with WFF was good. Jean had gotten positive feedback on the pancake breakfast. There would be later follow up on Staff Needs.

Agenda Addition

8:02. Susan had been on contact with Jerry Deegan at Dowling regarding the reputation of St. Theresa at Dowling, specifically how graduates of St. Theresa were perceived academically as compared to other schools. Susan asked the Board its thoughts on pursuing a relationship with Dowling where related information would be provided as feedback from Dowling. There was discussion of the benefit of the feedback and how to respond. Susan would follow up with Jerry Deegan.

Miscellaneous

There was no report from attendance at the Parish Council meeting. With Kathy reporting on Faith Formation, it was suggested that Barb switch committee assignments to Grant Writing. There was some discussion of grant writing. Barb and Steve will join in with Staff Needs until their committees begin to meet. Beth ran down prayer and PTC assignments. Barb would prepare the prayer for the November Board of Ed meeting and Molly would attend the November PTC meeting.

Executive Session

8:15. The Board adjourned to Executive Session.

                                           Next Meeting - To be determined.