School Board Meeting Minutes

St Albert the Great

School Board Meeting Minutes

September 8, 2014

In Attendance: Kelly Evans – Chair Greg Sysol

Charles Stafford – Vice-Chair Brittany Pesche

Josh O’Bryan - Secretary Craig Vermost

Kelly Schulz – Past President Kim Demling

Holly Preischel

Bernadette Cooper – Principal

Tom Simms – Asst. Prin.

Kitty Wagner – Faculty Rep

Excused: Rev. Wayne Jenkins

Meeting was called to order at 7:00p.m.

Opening Prayer: Mrs. Evans

Approval of minutes from May 2014 meeting: Motioned by Mr. Sysol, seconded by Mr. Vermost

Principal’s Report: Mrs. Cooper

Mrs. Cooper began her presentation by describing the Elementary School Data Report, including brief updates on the following topics:

·  Charitable Courses

·  Percentage of Non-Catholic students (7%)

·  ESL

·  Elementary Contacts

·  Students receiving financial assistance ($26,400 – 7% of students)

Mrs. Cooper then gave a statistical report regarding non-graduating students leaving St. Albert following the 2013-2014 school year, based on exit survey results:

·  37 total non-graduating students did not return

·  21 went to public school

·  6 went out of state

·  4 went to other Catholic schools

o  2 to St. Mary’s

o  2 to Holy Trinity

·  5 moved because of specific academic needs

·  1 left because of “drama” during school year

o  This relates to an informal SurveyMonkey survey conducted by anonymous parents

·  There are currently no openings in 6th Grade

·  Until August 13th, there were no openings in pre-school, when 1 spot came open (there were only 3-4 children on waiting list)

o  Mrs. Cooper suggested that deposits be increased to protect against school shopping – St. Albert’s deposit is only $50

Mrs. Schulz suggested that the Data Committee could track departures and applications to look for trends; Mrs. Preischel noted that current data could be tracked by Rediker, but prior years’ data would need to be input

Mrs. Cooper described the excitement around the new teachers and staff. Mrs. Wagner indicated that they appear to be acclimating to the school.

Mrs. Cooper described the upcoming Archdiocesan accreditation process. As part of the process, St. Albert parents, students, faculty and staff are required to complete a survey.

·  20% of parents must complete

·  Grades 5-8 are completing the survey

·  There will be a follow-up survey in Spring 2015

Mrs. Cooper explained that St. Albert would be applying again to be a Blue Ribbon School.

Mrs. Cooper described the Rediker roll-out as bumpy, but getting better. As parents use it more, it should become more comfortable for all.

PTO: Mrs. Gould

Mrs. Gould reported on the following PTO initiatives:

·  City Saver Coupon Book is expected to net PTO over $9,000

·  PTO decided not to do the Innisbrook promotion this year since there was no one to run it

·  Normally nets $17,000;

·  Made sense in Gala year

·  Gala January 31st – generally nets $60,000

·  Book Fair

·  Haunted Halls – October 18

·  No pay

·  Family event

·  Budget less than $100

·  Santa’s Shop – 12/9 through 12/11

·  Only K-5 go shopping

·  Jr. High can go, but after school

§  Free Dress

·  Only one this year

§  Kroger Plus Cards

·  Can link cards to St. Albert

·  Kroger.com/communityrewards – code 10132

·  Do not know amount received by St. Albert

Committee Reports: Committee Chairs each presented their proposed 2014-2015 Work Plans for approval by the Board.

PR/Marketing/Devel. Mr. Sysol and Ms. Demling detailed the Committee’s proposed Work Plan, which focuses on:

·  Assisting the administration with recruiting and retention efforts

·  Reaching out to various cohorts

o  Alumni

o  Grandparents

o  PREP

·  Developing Talking Points for School Ambassadors

·  This Work Plan was approved

Planning: Mrs. Pesce detailed the Committee’s proposed Work Plan, which focuses on:

·  Facilities

·  Staff Recruitment and retention

·  Job-sharing across Diocesan schools

·  Student teachers

·  Teacher Incentive programs

·  This Work Plan was not approved

Budget: Mr. Vermost detailed the Committee’s proposed Work Plan, which focuses on:

·  Improving communications with Parish Finance Council

·  More frequent budgeting updates to board

·  Better budgeting process; providing better opportunity for faculty input

·  This Work Plan was approved

Policy: Mr. O’Bryan, as interim Policy Committee Chair, detailed the Committee’s proposed Work Plan, which focuses on:

·  Review and refinement of Discipline Policy to provide Administration with the ability/power to use athletics in student discipline

·  Review Archdiocese bullying policy to address gaps in School policy

·  Bus behavior policy and expulsion policy review

·  This Work Plan was approved

Data: Mrs. Preischel detailed the Committee’s proposed Work Plan, which focuses on:

·  Leveraging Rediker to improve data collection

·  Developing Data collection process/procedures for easier year to year transition

·  Establishing better communication among committee members

Technology: Mr. Stafford detailed the Committee’s proposed Work Plan, which focuses on:

·  Wi-fi project was a substantial investment that was paid for by the parish

·  Large-scale projects may not be well-received given current budget environment

New Business: The Board held a brief discussion regarding the proposed Constitution. It was determined that comments would be emailed, and a consensus on approval of the final Constitution would be attempted via email.

The Board approved a letter to be published in the bulletin and the Monday Memo, thanking the parish for the wi-fi.

Closing Prayer: Mrs. Evans led the board in a closing prayer.

Meeting adjourned at 9:15p.m.

Meeting minutes submitted by Josh O’Bryan

Next meeting: November 3, 2014

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