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Saint Theresa Parish Board of Education Minutes
ADMINISTRATOR REPORTS Religious Education At 6:55 Kathy addressed the Board. *There were roughly 105 students enrolled for Wednesday Faith Formation, which would begin the following night. Around 20 people were participating in the Faith Formation Council, which had met twice and was set to meet again Sept. 21. *Barb Woods and Kathy had met with diocesan Faith Formation staff members Fr. Tim Fitzgerald, Director of Lay Ministry and Cheryl Fournier, Director of Adult Faith Formation on Sept. 15. Father Larry had been present for the last part of the meeting, and the plans for Faith Formation at St. Theresa were discussed. The diocesan staff members offered resources, support and advice. *Kathy gave the website address for the foundational document for the Diocesan Council of Catechesis. *Barb Woods, John Gaffney and Kathy were registered for the first national gathering pertaining to lifelong faith formation, to be held in Orlando, Fl. In January 2007. *Kathy and a majority of St. Theresa staff attended the diocesan pastoral leadership day in Stuart on Sept. 9, which focused on stewardship. *At 7:00 Kathy took questions. *There was discussion of the Red Wheel fundraiser, the funds from which go to sacramental preparation for both Wednesday Faith Formation and the school. *There was also mention of Wednesday Faith Formation enrollment numbers and the thought was raised of a possible effort to connecting S.T.A.Y. and Wednesday Faith Formation students together to make initial contact between the groups before junior high retreats took place.
Parish At 7:05 Bob began his report. *School had begun. *The parish needs survey had gone out and 164 responses were returned. *Jerry Gumpert had done a good job maintaining chemicals in the school building boiler, producing optimal efficiency. *Volunteers had mowed and trimmed parish grounds. *A refrigerator and a gas-powered trimmer had been donated. *Two classrooms on the south side of the first floor had been flooded due to a leak caused by a slow-running line. An estimate for excavation and repair would be forthcoming, with the temporary effort of snaking the line every six months in the meantime. *A 2006 Ford Explorer dubbed, “El Diablo” had been donated for use by the parish and school. *Amanda Vande had succeeded Ginny Nelson as parish secretary. *Insurance enrollment forms had been completed for the new teachers. *ACH tuition withdrawals were still resulting in corrections and changes. Finance Report At 7:10 Paul began distribution of his report. *The Board examined the budget statement for August-end. *The beginning of the school year could show unusual variances, with things generally smoothing out by November. *The school showed a variance due to annual tuition payments that were made in August. *There was nothing unusual about the report as a whole and overall there was a positive variance. *Paul detailed a current estimate report of the budget. The Finance Council had requested regular review of actual figures versus projected figures through fiscal year-end 2007. Paul would provide this for the Board each month.*He reviewed school income and expenses for the Board. *Paul would identify variances each month for the Board, illustrating how variances can differ from what is initially budgeted, and this should serve to assist the Board in budget planning for the coming year. School At 7:32 Ellen addressed the Board. *Twenty-six students did not return to St. Theresa this year. Ellen had not received most of the related exit reports, and the ones she had received were available for the Board’s review.*A new banner containing the Christ is the Principal message had been obtained from the diocese. *The school year was going great so far, with students and teachers very excited. *Renee Groene was working with Ellen and Bob on a template for the website that would provide for consistency throughout the site. *Email would be switched to Mediacom, which would result in greater bandwidth. *Jan Henter was the new Pre-K a.m. aide. *Diminished numbers of students enrolled in band at St. Theresa and other Des Moines-area Catholic schools was of great concern. Ellen spoke about the proven benefit of musical instruction in kids’ development. Nolan Schwada had proposed decreasing the band fee from an across the board fee of $45, to $40 for the first student in a family and $35 for additional students. The band fees directly impact his compensation. There had been scheduling issues where students had to choose between band and other activities. Band fees varied throughout Des Moines Catholic schools, with St. Theresa in the mid-range. Susan moved to allow the band fee to be reduced from $45 to $40 for the first child in a family and $35 for subsequent children, which was seconded by Geri and approved by the Board. There was discussion of how to implement the fee change and when it would take effect. Bob would adjust parent accounts through Parishsoft to be backdated to the beginning of the school year. Future band communication with parents would be typewritten and approved through the school office. *A meeting of the school tuition organization would take place Oct. 12. *Ellen invited Board members to visit the school. *There was discussion of improved student achievement and continued improvement of reading scores. *Teachers and staff were very busy with new programs at the school. *Ellen accepted questions beginning at 7:45. *Students would have a choice between fitness standard testing programs. *There was extensive discussion of the before-school Algebra I program, that had previously been available at St. Theresa, for which St. Theresa students now had to travel to St. Anthony each day. Veronica Degen provided logistical input on the program, having been a teacher for it. *There had been increased requests for advanced classes for middle school students, as per Susan, and she stressed the importance of doing everything possible to make the classes available at St. Theresa, not only for convenience, but to offer advanced enrichment opportunities to students and maintain enrollment numbers.
Board Communication *At 8:05 Beth began discussion of proper procedure and handling of contact by parents and other parties with Board Members with regard to issues at St. Theresa School. Beth explained that it was acceptable for a Board Member to not have an immediate answer for questions upon first contact. Beth stressed that every email should be responded to by the Board Member who receives it, even when the answer to the inquiry is not immediately known. Board Members cannot discuss specific issues with parents and other parties in most cases, due to confidentiality, but they must be available to hear the concerns of parents when they are approached. Parents with concerns are encouraged to approach the Board as a whole at regular meetings, should a specific situation warrant it.* Beth asked Board Members to make a list of any missing items from their Board of Education notebooks, and inform her of what is missing.
Policy Revision *At 8:18 Ellen distributed Board Policies #240- Tuition and Fee Rates, #250-Tuition Payment and #260-Special Tuition Agreements. Ellen would bring revisions of the policies to the next meeting. *There was discussion of the proposed policy of restricting activities not relating to faith formation on Wednesday evenings. It was determined that the Board would approach the idea of preserving Wednesday evenings at St. Theresa for faith formation and family time by recommendation. St. Theresa would not host any activities past 5 p.m. on Wednesday evenings that are not related to faith formation or its corresponding celebrations. *Beth informed the Board of the ministry fair to be held Sept. 30. Ellen and Beth would staff the table featuring the Board of Education. *Beth reviewed Board assignments for committees and leading prayer at meetings.
Action Items *Molly had attended the Childcare Advisory Committee meeting on Sept. 11. Parents had expressed concerns at the meeting, which had been brought before Ellen, who would continue to address them. Geri reported that the Wellness Committee would be administered through the school versus the PTC. Barb was unable to attend the Faith Formation Council meeting due to CHRP. *There were still questions on the specifics of the tax credit relating to the School Tuition Organization. Father said the diocese would make a presentation to the pastors on the organization in the coming weeks.
Executive Session *At 8:45 the Board adjourned to Executive Session.
Next Meeting- October 17, at 6:30 p.m. |