SAINT THERESA PARISH BOARD OF EDUCATION MINUTES

Tuesday, February 27, 2007  6:30PM

Opening

q       6:31. Geri led the Board in prayer.

q       Approval of January minutes - 6:35. Amendments: 1) In the Report on Action Items from the November meeting, it was to be clarified that while Susan reported at the November meeting on her meeting at Dowling Catholic on advanced Algebra, the fact that waiting one year was necessary to drop out of the common agreement for advanced Algebra was brought to light as a result of a conversation with Ellen, not the meeting at Dowling Catholic. 2) Lisa indicated that the date on the first page of the minutes had the year at 2006, when it should reflect 2007. Jean moved approval of the January minutes with the two amendments, which was seconded by Geri and approved by the Board.

q       Changes to Agenda - 6:36. None.

Open Forum - None.

ADMINISTRATOR REPORTS

o       Faith Formation – 6:37. Kathy distributed her report, along with another document from the St. Theresa website illustrating the relationship between the St. Theresa Council for Lifelong Faith Formation and other St. Theresa groups. There would be no Wednesday Faith Formation sessions in March to provide possible for time for families to participate in parish Lenten activities. Letters explaining the decision to families went home to parents along with a message in the parish bulletin. Kathy would distribute a packet with ideas for what families could do with the time the following night at the WFF session. Kathy would be surveying catechists and parents on how things are going with the WFF program in Mar. and April. Generations of Faith would be held Mar. 11 and 14, with 7^th and 8^thgrade students required to attend with their parents. John Gaffney and Kathy had presented on Faith Formation at the STS teacher development day on Feb. 26. The Council for Lifelong Faith Formation had met Feb. 15, and included discussion of the USCCB document, “Our Hearts were Burning.” A lot of faith sharing was occurring at the Council meetings, and discussion of the USCCB document would be ongoing with the Council. The Council would meet Mar. 15 at St. Francis in West Des Moines with Bishop Charron and the Diocesan Council for Catechesis, which was hosting a session on the diocesan “Pastoral Plan for Catechesis.” Kathy distributed copies of the diocesan plan for catechesis to the Board, which was encouraged to attend the meeting with the bishop and the DCC. There was discussion of Board member attendance at the meeting. Kathy said it would be beneficial for as many people as possible to know about the diocesan document. Sacramental preparation was currently a substantial Faith Formation item. A letter had gone home explaining the bishop’s inability to celebrate Confirmation this year and designating Fr. Larry to do so. Six children had participated in a half-day retreat in preparation for the sacraments of initiation and received a certificate of completion. There was discussion of the good turnout for Fr. Larry’s Catholicism 101, and a general sense of perceived hunger for faith formation among parishioners. There was discussion of the structural difference up to present in function between parish groups, and how that would work going forward with the new faith formation model. Communication would be important with this. The diocesan plan was to be in place by 2010. St. Theresa is ready and won’t need until that time. There was discussion of miscommunication having lessened attendance at the 8^th grade retreat.  

o       Parish – 6:51. Bob had begun his second year at St. Theresa on Feb. 1. A new dishwasher had been installed in the school. New locks were installed in the parish office. The locks would be timed and childcare parents would have individual codes for access. The locks can be timed for doors to be open for specific events. There are doorbells on both floors of the parish office building. The new locks were an effort to eliminate multiple keys and increase security. Mar. 2 would be the date for the insurance meeting for staff, and the estimated increase in healthcare costs would be 15% for the budget. VIRTUS training was scheduled for Mar. 24 at St. Theresa. Volunteers who put in three more hours a month are required to complete the training, and the policy would be fully in effect and enforced by the start of the coming school year. A letter would be sent to parents advising of the policy and upcoming training. Bob had attended a couple budget meetings with school staff and Finance Council members. Tithing is up and the parish had continued to cover the school budget shortfall. Ellen, Paul and Ed Downey would review the budget before the next Finance Council meeting and discuss school expense and income variances. Paul told the Board that the Finance Council would look for fiscal responsibility ongoing, and that the Council would need to be notified of future unplanned expenditures. There was discussion of budget responsibility. As principal, Ellen is responsible for the school’s finances. Paul said that the planned variance report would be a tool for tracking variances and managing finances in the future. Bob told the Board that the Finance Council would begin to require that all checking accounts with the parish tax ID be moved to one bank, being West Bank. The parish groups’ accounts at West Bank would remain autonomous. Fr. Larry added that the diocese had concerns about fraud and wanted utmost control exercised. John Gaffney had suggested that a parish calendar be established to most effectively schedule fundraising efforts.  

o       Financial – 7:06. Paul said school operations were still running behind, caused mostly by expense and income variances in school administration. The variance report would be utilized for discussion at the next meeting. Childcare had the same issue but would be coming into line through salary reduction. Bob mentioned that variances don’t reflect performance; rather they indicate that numbers were set wrong. The variance report would help show historical data and facilitate good decisions. Hot Lunch was projected to break even. The Bus YTD was positive, and that program had been set to break even. There was discussion of the bus reserve, and whether it was shown as a line item in the budget. The bus reserve hadn’t been showing in the same manner since the implementation of Parishsoft. Paul would check with John McMichael on specifics of the bus reserve. Various budget items, such as health insurance, salaries and the mix in childcare enrollment are unpredictable. There was discussion of the Board’s role with regard to budget process. Concern was expressed by some Board members over whether they would be qualified to work on the budget. The budget process was different this year, and Bob had brought new tools to the process. The Board’s role was to advise the principal on the budget.  

o       School – 7:35. Ellen expressed appreciation for all who came and worked at the school open house. There were a few new students and a number of inquiries from out of town and the state. Registration forms needed to go out ASAP and tuition needed to be set. Ellen had been visiting the Ballard/Huxley district in conjunction with procedural state Department of Education visits, and the state would make a visit to St. Theresa the following year. There had been good turnout for pre-k and kindergarten roundup. Beth said that the Retention and Recruitment Committee had recommended that pre-k and kindergarten tuition be established before the budget in time for prospective parents at the roundup. The staff appreciation dinner event was scheduled soon. Ellen detailed the STS alumni honor roll at Dowling Catholic. There was discussion of alumni achievements. STS had a Grandview practicum student. The middle school play went well. The school had received a grant from Prairie Meadows. Ellen had participated in a balanced leadership program at Heartland AEA. Eleven students would be taken to dinner as winners of Charlie’s Challenge. There had been three days of 10% or more of the student body absent due to Influenza A, B, two Strep strains and Pink Eye. A report had been made to the health department. A few nights were scheduled in March for CTO workshops. Tom Donahue would be stepping down as athletic director, and arrangements had been made for his replacement. Mary Landolt was leaving after 31 years. She and her husband were moving to Houston to be closer to grandchildren. There was discussion of processing of CTO applications. April 2 was the CTO application deadline date. There was discussion of putting out requests for bids and/or reaching out to the parish when equipment broke down at St. Theresa.

Budget – 8:10. The impending parish contribution amount was yet unknown. Ellen mentioned the possibility of an additional day of Spanish class to the curriculum. The plan for Art had not been decided upon. There was no plan at present to change the number of classroom aides, but some may be moved around. No change in the Guidance program was proposed. 325 students was the current budget number for enrollment. Meals would increase from $1.75 to $2.00. There was discussion of salary increases and healthcare cost increases. Tuition was currently budgeted at the same amount as the previous year. Childcare would have a slight rate increase. Bus fees would stay the same. There was discussion of the budget as not balanced and the parish contribution amount being as yet unknown. The parish contribution was $432,000 the previous year. The budget asked for $463,000 from the parish, the sum derived from adding the budget shortfall to the previous year contribution amount. Fr. Larry commented that efforts to deal with variances would be beneficial in working with the Finance Council. Childcare, with income down and expenses up, and the Bus program, with income down, were still profitable, though not as much as before. Hot Lunch had been designed to break even and had experienced the unforeseen expense of a new dishwasher. Paul said that budget numbers had been adjusted to be more realistic. There was discussion of how the budget numbers had been arrived at and the immediate next steps. The loss in students over the last three years had significantly affected income. There was discussion of trends in Catholic education. Fr. Larry offered a reminder that the primary concern of the Finance Council was control of variances versus the approximate $30,000 budget shortfall. Beth asked Ellen what program changes were desired. There was taking PE to five days, taking Guidance to fulltime once the counselor received full certification and taking Spanish from two days to three days. Middle school had a scheduling issue with regard to classes taught by non-certified instructors, when a certified teacher was required in the room. There was discussion of the summer Childcare program, and the possibility of allowing non-STS students to enroll in the Childcare program. Possible implementation of a tutoring/educational program for the summer was discussed. The Board discussed approval of the current draft of the budget. Improvement of the school fiscal situation and the commitment to keep tuition levels static for the second consecutive year were discussed. The Board expressed continued concern over the budget being balanced. Geri moved approval of the current draft of the budget. Molly seconded the motion. The Board approved the motion, with Steve voting opposed.

Report on Action Items from January

o       February ACTION ITEMS –  Add to March agenda: *Discussion of development of a parish vendor list policy for procurement. *Discussion of focus on the school as a parish school. *Email reminders of action items/agenda additions would be sent a week prior to subsequent meetings.

Executive Session – 9:05. Geri moved to adjourn to Executive Session, which was seconded by Jean and approved the Board.