GEHLEN CATHOLIC SCHOOL BOARD MINUTES

Thursday, September 14, 2017

The Gehlen Catholic Board of Education met onThursday, September 14, at 7:00 p.m. in the Kolker Library/Media Center. The following members were present: Fr. Bruce Lawler, Fr. Dan Greving, Fr. Matthew Solyntjes, Mr. Jeff Alesch, Mrs, Lorie Nussbaum, Mr. Jim Tentinger, Mrs. Anne Oloff, Mr. Mark Kallsen, Mr. Jeff Arens, Mrs. Cristal Pedroza, Mrs. Tamara Kramer, Mr. Dan Goergen, and Mr. Andy Schmidt. Members not in attendance included: Mr. Rick Kellen and Mrs. Lori Budden. Also in attendance wasMrs. Lisa Niebuhr, Mrs. Mindy Scheitler, Mr. Jared Morris, Mr. CadenKneip, Mrs. AlissaSchipper, Dr. Andrew Geha, and Mrs. Christina Kellen.

The meeting was called to order by Mr. Kallsenat 7:01 p.m. Opening prayer was held.

Dr. Geha, CadenKneip, Jared Morris, and AlissaSchipper were present for public forum. They requested that the Board consider the students to participate in “No Shave November” to raise money for cancer research. Dr. Geha participated in a similar event at the high school he went to and noted that it promotes the idea of brotherhood and community. Male students who participate would pay $20 and not have to shave during the month of November.

It was moved by Mr. Arens and seconded by Mr. Schmidt to accept the minutes of the August2017 School Board meeting. All Board members approved and the motion carried.

STANDING REPORTS

Principal -

  • Mr. Alesch noted that enrollment numbers are great this year.
  • Mrs. Nussbaum did not have anything to add to her report.

Development –

  • Mrs. Niebuhr informed Board members that due to outreach efforts there have been more requests by community members to be involved at Gehlen.

Finance –

  • Mrs. Scheitler noted an increase in tuition revenue, which was up $180,000 from last year. She is still working on tying up year-end stuff and estimates that report will be done in November. She added that she received a call from Diane at the Diocese. They are looking for a new processor for MLTF to help avoid problems with delays in the future. They hope to have the processor selected by November.

JClub-

  • They are talking about getting new JH uniforms.

Fine Arts Boosters-

  • Mrs. Niebuhr said they will be working on the Turkey Dinner tonight.

Technology –

  • Nothing to report.

Chaplain –

  • Nothing to report.

OLD BUSINESS

  • Review policies – There were none to review.
  • Junior High Sports –In his September Administrator’s Report to the Board, Mr. Alesch informed the Board of the following:

He met with members of the Granville St. Joseph’s Parish Council. They will allow us to use their gym for all JH events, but we would have to pay $25 per hour. Mr. Alesch told them he didn’t know if we could pay that since we would already be spending around $5,000 just to transport the kids to and from Granville. They said they understood, but needed something to pay for maintenance, cleaning and heating of the gym.

Mr. Alesch proposed the following to the Board:

All JH volleyball practices are already at Gehlen Catholic. They will play 4 JH volleyball games at Granville and pay rent of $25 per hour plus transportation. It is getting late to change these dates. If changes are made we could have conflicts with other schools and officials.

All JH basketball practices were in Granville and Alton the past 4 years. One class would practice in Alton and the other would practice in Granville.

This year we could move one class to Gehlen Catholic and practice at 3:30 (our HS girls do not practice until 5:30 because of our head coach’s work schedule). The other class could practice at Alton at 3:50. The kids going to Alton could ride the route bus to Alton and they could return to Le Mars when the route bus comes back to Le Mars. The Spalding Catholic students that practiced at Gehlen Catholic could ride the activity bus back to Alton when practice was over. All games would be at Gehlen Catholic.

A motion was made to approve the proposal as presented in the secondary administrator’s report by Mr. Schmidt. The motion was seconded by Mr. Arens with all Board members approving and the motion carried.

  • SB/BB Complex Shed – JClub still has not provided Mr. Alesch with the numbers.

NEW BUSINESS

  • Spalding/Gehlen Homecoming – Mr. Kallsen told the Board he has received some concerns about the letters/info sent out about Homecoming that had both schools in the header, which lead to further concerns about it being included in other correspondence. Fr. Lawler questioned why the concern was there. Mr. Kallsen stated that it was because Spalding Catholic High School is no longer there. Mrs. Niebuhr mentioned that Spalding is included because the businesses up there are still asked for contributions. It was also mentioned that Homecoming isn’t just for current students, it’s for alumni, too. Keeping Spalding on there helps keep Homecoming for those alumni, too.
  • Board members on Subcommittees – Jeff Arens has joined the Personnel Committee. Cristal Pedroza has joined the Enrollment Management Committee. Mr. Arens has also requested to be on the Finance Committee, but it is full. He would like consideration if someone steps down.
  • Subcommittee written reports – Written reports will be submitted with the Board packet for review in the month following the subcommittee meeting.
  • CSIP – Mrs. Nussbaum highlighted areas of interest in her report. Mrs. Oloff made a motion for the Board to approve the goals as presented in the CSIP so they can be reported to the state. Fr. Greving seconded the motion with all Board members approving and the motion carried.
  • Track bill –Mr. Alesch will contact Bruce Kellen to discuss JClub paying the $7,250 for the track repair.
  • Capital Campaign – Mrs. Niebuhr told the Board that the mailings went out last Wednesday. To date, they have raised over $223,469.
  • No Shave November – Mrs. Nussbaum reminded the Board that all fundraisers need to be approved a year in advance. Fr. Lawler would like to see them reapply next year. Fr. Lawler made a motion to deny the request based upon fundraisers needing to be approved one year in advance, but would encourage them to make the request again. Mrs. Oloff seconded the motion with all Board members approving and the motion carried.
  • Homecoming Royalty – Mr. Alesch mentioned that it has caused some problems in the past with hurt feelings, etc. He wonders if there is something that can be done instead of royalty. Board members agreed that if a change was going to be made, it should be made prior to the end of school this year in order to have time to educate people as to the change. Fr. Lawler suggests putting information out there and inviting input from the community as to what their feelings are.

Closing prayer was held and the meeting was adjourned at 8:09p.m after a motion by Mr. Tentinger, which was seconded by Mr. Arens with all board members approving.

Christina Kellen

Recording Secretary