St. Patrick’s School Board Minutes

October 9, 2006

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

We began by attending a presentation conducted by the St. Pat’s Student Council. We were impressed with the professionalism of the students’ presentation and by the wonderful services the Student Council is offering our school and community. After the presentation, we discussed the possibility of having Student Council members participate in the dinner/auction but decided this was not a viable option since alcohol is part of this event. We opened our formal meeting with a prayer and an approval of last month’s minutes.

Home and School Committee

On behalf of the Home and School committee, Staci raised the question of whether or not we should revisit bidding for school uniforms. She mentioned that parents were pleased with the quality of the uniforms, but some parents wondered if we had the most competitive price. Staci also mentioned that down the road, Home and School might want to serve as shirt vendor for the school. After discussion, the Board recommended to keep our business with Midwest Impressions because we are pleased with the quality of the product and want to maintain a good relationship with our local community and this parish-owned business.

Staci said Home and School earned $218 from its “fun night” at Bene Pizza. Another “fun night” would be held at Burger King at 138th and Maple on October 18. Other businesses are lined up for November.

Spooky Scrip Week was a rousing success, with $19,000 worth of scrip purchased. Mike suggested we check with Scooters, a new business in Elkhorn, to see if it would participate. Staci added that her committee was doing an excellent job coordinating scrip sales, and Charlie mentioned he was surprised more schools in the Archdiocese weren’t using this excellent fundraiser.

Finally, Staci said grounds maintenance will now be distributed equally between Home and School, the Men’s Club, and the parish. Don added that the head custodian will be in charge of coordinating volunteers. October 22 will be the parish clean-up and winterizing day.

Religious Formation

Jackie reported that the RF Open House will be November 8 from 6:00 - 7:30. They will serve hot dogs and have games for the kids.

Pastoral Council, Finance, and Development Committees:

Mike reported that the Parish Council was looking into 100% tithing participation from RF students. He also mentioned the feasibility study meeting went well, and respondents indicated that building the new academic wing and gym were top priorities. The Development and Finance committees would be meeting soon to discuss questions such as if Cosgrave would be hired to coordinate the capital campaign and when it would start. After the Development and Finance committees have made recommendations, the Parish Council will vote on how to proceed. Mike assumed this process would be completed in November or December, and the campaign would start late first quarter or early second quarter of 2007. Mike added that Cosgrave was very upbeat and proactive and would do a fabulous job if hired.

Archdiocesan School Board:  Charlie reported that he is now serving as President of the Archdiocesan School Board. He felt the new superintendent would do an excellent job. One of the main issues for the Board will be getting the school choice issue on the ballots within the next four years. Charlie added that four states currently have school choice (Iowa is one), and many people misunderstand the details of this issue. Charlie emphasized we need to do a better job of marketing Catholic schools, especially in rural areas, and put a lid on raising tuition to attract more students.

Facilities

Since Steve had to leave early, Don reported. He said if we went with Cosgrave’s plan, we would still need portables for next year. However, he has looked into a less expensive alternative of leasing instead of purchasing portables for the year. The portables would probably be situated in early June of 2007. Don said we had two options on who could occupy the portables:  next year’s 6th grade (2 sections), or the 7th grade in one and the 8th grade in the other. (The students need to be old enough to do without bathroom facilities in the portables.) Jackie mentioned the noise level might be high with construction, and Charlie mentioned the possibility of building a fence around the portables. Our discussion will continue.

Safety Committee:  We had no report.

Continuous Improvement Committee:  Don thought we should discuss the current waiting list policy, which gives parishioners with kids in school priority when registering for K-8. This makes it difficult for some families who don’t enroll their children in our preschool to get their children enrolled, even though they are contributing parishioners. Is this fair? Don mentioned that last year by December, we already had 58 students on the waiting list, and he sees a larger list happening each year. Don will schedule a meeting with CIP members Pat and Kimberly to discuss this issue.

Communication Committee

Cindy mentioned they are still discussing purchasing a sign for school/parish use.

Other Discussion Items

Don mentioned the Athletic Committee was debating whether or not “Angels” should remain our school mascot. He said Father was fine with leaving “Angels” alone. Tricia Harder, Athletic Club president, said she was also fine with “Angels” but thought the name wasn’t used consistently with the teams. Kimberly mentioned that “Angels” came about not as an athletic mascot but as a theme for the school due to a Home and School sponsored sweatshirt contest the first year. Since only the students and RF students of that year voted on the name, perhaps it’s time for a new contest. Charlie mentioned the problems with different teams within the leagues and whether they could have number or color designations along with the unifying mascot. Don will take these comments back to the Athletic Committee.

Principal’s Report: 

Don has hired Craig as full-time custodian and has also hired a ½ time custodian.

We closed with a prayer. Our next meeting will be November 13 at 6:30 in the school library.

Respectfully,

Kimberly Fangman, School Board Secretary