St. Mary’s School Board Minutes

January 11, 2006

 

Guests:  Deb Kelly, Melanie Peetz, Forrest Peetz, Jill Everitt, Valerie Wecker, Tim Schneider, Jennie Schneider

 

Janet Fletcher called the meeting to order.  Gene Soukup led with the opening prayer.  All Board Members were present, including Janet Fletcher, Lawrence Reiman, Merri Schneider, John Boyle, Mel Ohri, Luann Shields, Hugh Shoemaker, Gene Soukup, and Sharon Spencer, along with Father Nigli and Alice Marx.

 

Mel Ohri made a motion to approve the agenda after revision, and also the minutes, 2nd by John Boyle.  Vote: All in favor, none opposed.

 

Guests were recognized and invited to speak.   Melanie Peetz requested that the Board revisit the decision that had been made, regarding the half time performances.  She stated that while she understands the concern that half time performances should be limited, so that the teams have the opportunity to use the court, she has had many people tell her that they really enjoyed the tumble team performances.  After further discussion, Motion was made by Lawrence Reiman, 2nd by Luann Shields, all in favor, to allow the tumble team to perform between the girls and boys varsity games, with the understanding that the performance shall not exceed the 10 minute time frame which had been allotted in the past.  

 

Deb Kelly gave an update on the grade school computer lab.  There will be no start-up expense for the school or church.  The only expense will be the donation of $1,500 from St. Mary’s Home & School, for the purchase of software.  Deb showed a revised draft/sketch of the room layout.  Tim Schneider answered questions regarding any construction/remodeling that needed to be addressed.  They asked permission to paint the walls, remove the coat rack and remove the chalkboards (due to the chalk dust), to be replaced with a dry erase board.  The board agreed to accept this proposal with a motion by Hugh Shoemaker, 2nd by John Boyle.  All in favor.

 

Deb Kelly also requested approval to write a grant for an additional 16 computers for the year 2006.  Motion to approve this plan was made by Gene Soukup, 2nd by Sharon Spencer.

 

Pastor’s Report:

 

·       Father Nigli and Candy Conradt attended a Pastor/Principal’s meeting for the archdiocese.  Discussion from this meeting concerned the issue of rural schools losing enrollment.  In order to survive and thrive, our school must have a long term plan, with a school vision and accredited staff.  We should promote the national test scores, advertise what a good “deal” we have at our private school, get handbooks up to date, and focus on the sacraments. 

·       Father spoke with the archdiocese regarding an Associate Pastor after Father Olson leaves.  He was informed that after review of the needs of this parish, it appears that we will most likely get an Associate Pastor replacement after all.

·       A review process will be put into place to review what works well, and what needs improvement with our school, e.g., Christmas program, etc.

Principal’s Report:

 

·       Candy reported on the Pastor/Principal’s meeting she and Father attended, in addition to Father’s report, she stated that they also discussed budgeting.  The big concern is that rural schools are left on the back burner because of the smaller number of students.

·       Will be attending NVC Meeting scheduled for January 12.

·       Coach Chvala will be celebrating his 400th basketball win after the next two wins.  The school has ordered cookies to be given to the crowd, along with special recognition after the game.

·       There has still been no decision made regarding the O’Neill Invitational (on Holy Thursday) Track Meet.  Father is waiting to hear back from some other Catholic Schools.  It appears that the schedule for the meet will allow for the students to be finished in time to attend the Holy Thursday mass.

 

Committee Reports:

 

A.  Policy Committee:  Janet Fletcher reported that they have rewritten Section 4000 twice by Father Nigli, and will be sent out again for final approval before the next Board meeting.

B.  School Finance and Development Committee:  Completed a building and grounds walk through and wrote up the areas of concern.  Candy will address these issues with the staff.

 

Old Business:

 

A.              Benton Street Committee & Traffic Flow Concerns – Father Nigli, Lawrence Reiman and Hugh Shoemaker, along with the Finance Committee and Parish Council met with the Hospital Board.  They have some ideas to address our concerns.  They will keep the issue in mind as the plan proceeds.  Candy asked that the grade school teachers be solicited for planning ideas at the next meeting.  They have a few thoughts concerning the traffic flow.

B.               Religion Grades – Discussed the issue of religion grades holding a student off the honor roll.  Although the grades need to be counted towards GPA, the issue should be an emphasis placed on learning religion.  Candy recommended that the religion teachers should have more organized notes since so many of the terms are so unfamiliar to the students.  We need to emphasize the ideals of religion so that the students will still be excited about their teachings when they finish school here.

 

New Business:

 

A.              Building and Grounds Walk-Through – Reviewed the list of concerns created from the walk-through.  These items were prioritized, and Candy will address the appropriate staff regarding this issue.

B.              Minutes on Website –Motion was made by Gene Soukup, seconded by Lawrence Reiman to have these available on the website.  After each meeting, the approved minutes will be forwarded to Mr. Bahrij, in order to be posted on the school website.  There will be a note in the bulletin to direct the public to the website to review the minutes.

 

Motion to go into Executive Session by Sharon Spencer, 2nd by Luann Shields.  Motion to come out of Executive Session by Mel Ohri, 2nd by Luann Shields.

 

Motion to adjourn by John Boyle.

 

Meeting was adjourned with a closing prayer led by Sharon Spencer.