St. Clare School Advisory Council

10/13/05 Minutes

 

Present: Cartie Beckett, Renee Cline, Linda Fanning, Fr. Tom, John Ferraro, Tom Fitzpatrick, Stephen Michels, Amy Leahy, Sr. Moe, John Oswald, Phil Ralston, Vicky Werner, Kim Wisniewski

 

1. Call to Order and Opening Prayer –

 

2. Recommended Actions

      a. Routine Matters:

      i. The Agenda was accepted.

      ii. Minutes for the Sept. 2005 were approved.

 

      b. New Business:

i. Full Day Kindergarten – an analysis of a proposed full day kindergarten was discussed. Further refinement of the assumptions analysis will occur that will include more information on the possible financial impact to the BASC program and the school’s entire budget.

ii. Archdiocese Financial Plan – Phil discussed the how the School Compensation Program and Finance Plan might impact St. Clare. If we stay on our current assumptions and budget we should be in good shape to meet the plan goals.  The Archdiocese plan may not be in effect for the 06-07 school year.

 

      c. Old Business

i.  Review Dates

-Town Hall – January 10th at 7 pm

-Open house – January 17th at 9 a.m., and January 18th at 7 p.m.

-Registration – January 10th through 16th  for returning families,  January 17th through 23rd for New families, January 31st through February 6th for other parishes, and February 7th begins open enrollment. 

-Spring Retreat – May 20th.

 

3.  Information/Communication Reports

a. Pastors Report – Father Tom gave the following report:

• The Oregon Chapter 11 is unique due to the statute of limitations but also the plaintiffs.  Mediation has been a challenge. All parishes will incur some responsibility for the debt.

•The Pastoral Council has a good group of new people who will serve a 3 year term.

•The Preschool Council has been challenged to become a part of the parish through visibility and faith formation.  The Council will work with the Admin Council to see what is possible.

 

b. Principal’s Report – Sister Moe distributed the following report:

•Enrollment: We took in a K and 1st grader (no charge) from Lake Charles, Louisiana.  They will be here for one month.  We lost the student from Korea.  That whole set-up with the Korean students coming here for English proficiency is not in accord with our philosophy.  After this year, the Archdiocese will no longer support its program.

•ACRE Testing: This survey was recently administered to grades 5 & 8 and our faculty.  From the results, the Archdiocese will determine future inservice topics.

•Archdiocesan  Financial Policy: Discussion occurred around the status of this document, and its impact on school and parish budgets.

•Peer Mentoring: This model is now underway in our school.  Peer mentors have gone from classroom to classroom demonstrating what a typical peer mentoring session would be like.  Students understand that it is a positive way to reconcile differences and find new skills to deal with typical problems. 

•Security: A number of schools have been broken into lately on both the east and west side of town.  Sr. Moe is hiring Tiz Dalla Gasperina to manage our server.  He will be installing cameras in the computer lab, and two in the office area to observe anyone coming into the office or the scrip room.  It kicks on with motion and will give us not only a visual of who is in the office, but date, time and duration.  The Archdiocese sent a letter yesterday asking us to increase our security.  While this won’t prevent someone from breaking in, it will give us an idea of who is getting into the building.

•Outdoor School: The discussion for the SAC Mtg. occurred about how to fund Outdoor School, (pass the cost along to parents, fund it through the SAC, or try to do a combination of both). Sr. Moe and Phil will work on the costs.  (It is $270. per child who is not in the district, and $170.50 for the kids who are in district).

•Conferences: We simply do not have enough time slots to conduct conferences with all parents, including divorced parents.  MS parents want to see all middle school teachers. This means they conduct group conferences times the number of students in middle school (70+ conferences!).  In addition, with the increase in enrollment and some conferences needing to be 40 minutes long, we will necessarily have to schedule full day conferences in the future and /or into the evening.

•Paddle Bid: We want to ask the Maybelle Clark Foundation to match our paddle bid again this year.  Sr. Moe will work with Rhoni Seguin and Nancy Bolton to explore options.  Please let Sr. Moe know if you have ideas.

 

c. PTC Report – There was no PTC report this month.  However, BINGO was a huge success!

 

d. SAC Committee Reports: 

i. Finance Committee Report: 

      1. Full-day kindergarten status: The financial analysis is near completion.  The BASC analysis pending to be completed by Oct. 31.

      2. Archdiocese School Financial Operating Plan – see above.  The preliminary analysis is complete. The net impact is minimal.

      3. Operating Budget – Status: will reconcile Sept activity next week. Issue: BASC revenue decrease.

ii. Marketing and Enrollment Committee Report:  This Committee reviewed their work plan and the Open House format.  They will work on marketing the Open House.  A Marketing and Adopt-a-Student weekend will be scheduled with Father Tom. Marketing to retain current families is also on the radar for this committee.

iii. Process and Policy Committee Report:  This committee continues to work on the Full Day Kindergarten.  In preparation for the upcoming Accreditation visit, we will add a parent survey to our work plan for this year.  Any further work on a Uniform policy and Technology plan will be coordinated with Sr. Moe. Please post your committee work plans on the school web site (through Patty Nest).

iv. Development Committee Report:  Grant writing for Middle School science wants and needs will commence once these are clarified.  “Beautification” of St. Clare landscaping (both school and church) has been identified as a need. This was suggested as a possible paddle bid item. The Adopt-a-Student and Marketing weekend was further discussed. 

 

e. Chair Report:

 

Next School Advisory Council Meeting: 

•Wednesday, November 9th from 6-8 p.m. (Stephen Michels has food, drinks and prayer).

 

Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,

Linda Fanning