St. Patrick’s School Board Minutes

November 20, 2006

Present:  Don Ridder, Kimberly Fangman, Charlie Olson, Joan Hogue, Steve Morrissey, Wendy Anderson, and Mike Socha

We began with an opening prayer and approval of the minutes.

Home and School Committee

Joan reported that Home & School had donated $5,000 to the school for technology and $100 to each teacher for supply reimbursement. Home & School will also be subsidizing the staff shirts with money earned by directory sales. Christmas Elves (gifts for staff members) will be done again this year, and a new scrip drive will start December 1.

Pastoral Council, Finance, and Development Committees:

Mike reported that all three committees were discussing the feasibility results and the upcoming capital campaign, approved for spring with Cosgrave. A committee comprised of Father Ron, John Dunn, Jon Doyle, and Jan Martin will work on a proposal that looks at campaign goals, debt, and buildings to be completed. Based on the feasibility study results, the gym is very close in desirability to the academic wing. The next campaign will be a five-year campaign, and we are looking at the possibility of building the new academic wing and the gym simultaneously.

Archdiocesan School Board:

Charlie reported that in the 2006-2007 school year, the Archdiocese has 18,292 students in K-8, 500 less students than in 2005; we lost most of these students in our rural schools. The savings to taxpayers when a student chooses a Catholic school is $7,995.80 this year.

Charlie emphasized that he felt it was important to provide opportunities for rural and inner-city schools to raise money. He was surprised by the lack of fundraising in these schools.

Communications:

Wendy mentioned that the Elkhorn Public Library will host St. Patrick’s School Choir on February 24th at 1:00. The group will sing patriotic songs.

Facilities:

Don reported that Father Ron said three of the trees could be cut down to make room for portables in the parking lot as long as the one Pin Oak stayed. The portables will be located in front of the trees by the access road.

Don said he had a projected cost of $20,000 per portable (leasing, not purchasing). Hopefully, we will need these for only one year. Don mentioned that the portable square footage was larger than our regular classrooms, and the portables have windows for lots of light.

Safety Committee: 

Steve reported that the committee is discussing drug, alcohol, and Internet safety issues in the classroom. They are also discussing parking lot issues and are finding that dismissing one group of students early is easing congestion.

Steve also mentioned that the real road work on Hwy. 31 will begin April 2 and last through the end of the school year. Steve mentioned that we need to emphasize now the need for parents to not turn left when leaving the east exit. Don mentioned that a “don’t turn left” sign will be one of the first items of business when construction begins.

Continuous Improvement Committee: 

Kimberly reported that she and Don had discussed incorporating stewardship as a factor in admission policies for all grades. They had discussed forming an admissions committee to review stewardship participation for school families each year. Steve mentioned the difficulty of monitoring this information, but Joan said that Home & School already relied on a database (coordinated by John Dunn) to monitor involvement. We discussed the practicality and effectiveness of an admissions committee. Don mentioned we might form a committee to investigate this issue and to talk with personnel at St. Vincent’s to see how they handle the same situation.

Don mentioned that currently, 70% of our families are involved in stewardship (either in the school or the parish). He’s hoping that around March 1, he can send letters to school families informing them of the stewardship expectation and the influence of this on the waiting lists. Kimberly mentioned that she believes the admission standards in the handbook should be prefaced with comments that positively reflect stewardship as a symbol of our high standards and commitment to “teach as Jesus did. “ Don agreed that we need to lead our students by example.

Don also reported that CIP will be meeting to discuss distributing surveys to discover what people actually know and understand about the school. He hopes to have this survey distributed by Christmas with results published in January or February.

Principal’s Report: 

Don discussed the possibility of hiring a ½ time art teacher. She or he would not have a room or office but would be a traveling teacher. Joan and Charlie discussed the possibility of obtaining grants for this purpose.

Don also mentioned problems with parents not picking up kids in a timely fashion after school. This creates tension when the children are sent to Extended Care and charged for their time there. Don says the situation has improved, however, since he’s been able to meet and talk with parents when they arrive.

Don reported that this year’s ITBS scores are again very good. He also mentioned the possibility of holding tuition weekend in the spring rather than in the fall. He thinks this would allow greater stewardship opportunities. Everyone agreed this was a good idea. Joan suggested we call this “Registration” or “Sign Up” weekend rather than “Tuition Weekend” to emphasize our true purpose.

We closed with a prayer. The next meeting will be December 11 at 6:30 p.m. in the school library.

Respectfully,

Kimberly Fangman, School Board Secretary