St. Patrick’s School Board Minutes

January 8, 2007

Present:  Pat Adler, Charley Olson, Cindy Engel, Jackie Coco, Staci Witkowski, Steve Morrissey, Mike Socha, and Kimberly Fangman

We began with an opening prayer and an approval of last month’s minutes.

Home and School Committee:  Staci reported that we sold over $29,000 in the Christmas scrip drive. She mentioned that overall scrip sales were going well, on track with last year’s amount, and that she’d seen a nice jump since the tuition reimbursement plan began. Christmas Elves also went well, and each teacher was given $100 for Christmas (all staff members were given gifts).

Staci said she would be asking the Men’s Club for help in sharing groundskeeping duties with the Home and School, since the work was becoming overwhelming.

Religious Formation:  Jackie reported that RF students would return on January 10.

Pastoral Council/Development:  Mike said the next stage in the feasibility plan was approved by the Finance and the Parish Pastoral Councils and would be going to the Archdiocese for approval. We are hoping to begin construction of the next phase in June or July. Cindy asked if the monies raised by the house lottery and the capital campaign were taxed by the Archdiocese, and Mike replied that it wasn’t, since the projects fell under “Development.”

Mike said an increase in tuition, similiar to previous years, is planned for forthcoming years. The final decision, to be made by the finance committee, will be announced soon.

We discussed how even without a gym, St. Patrick’s has done a good job of keeping St. Pat’s kids together when playing sports. Don mentioned that Mt. Michael has had an important part in this, and that Mt. Michael may even be incorporating volleyball nets for our convenience. Don suggested a letter be sent from the Athletic Committee and the School Board to thank Mt. Michael for its support of St. Pat’s athletics. All agreed.

Finance Committee:  Don mentioned that St. Pat’s was still trying to fill the Finance Manager position.

Facilities:  We discussed when the announcement that we would be using portables (“modular classrooms”) would be made. Cindy suggested we make the announcement when we announce plans for the new capital campaign; all agreed this would be a good idea.

Safety Committee:  Staci said the parking lot dismissals were going smoothly overall, and that it helped to have Lot 1 dismissed earlier.

Continuous Improvement Committee:  Don shared the letter written to tell parents about the new admission policy, as well as the revised admission guidelines. He mentioned he didn’t like the phrase “tuition commitment weekend” found in the letter, and Pat suggested it be changed to “Registration Commitment Weekend.” All agreed this was better. We voted to approve the new admission guidelines and letter with the new wording.

Don also shared a wellness policy St. Patrick’s has adapted after a new state policy required we have one. Mike suggested we remove Jocelyn Elders’ quote at the top of our Wellness Policy since some of her beliefs contradict Catholic teachings. Don said he would make the change. With this quote removed, all Board members approved St. Patrick’s new Wellness Policy.

Communication Committee:  No report.

Principal’s Report:  Don discussed scheduling for next year, including those students who would go into portables. He mentioned that Chris Nelson is going to be the new High Ability Learner/Computer teacher for next year. He feels she is the ideal person for this position. He’s still considering a half-time art teacher. He’s hired a new 2nd grade TA, as well.

He also talked about the events to be held in Catholic Schools Week. He mentioned that in honor of our service day, second graders were going to start collecting school supplies for a sister school in Africa.

Our next meeting will be February 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the school library. We closed with a prayer.

Respectfully,

Kimberly Fangman

School Board Secretary