St. Mary’s School Board Minutes
Guests: None
Board President Janet
Fletcher called the meeting to order, and Father Nigli began with an opening
prayer. Board Members present included
Janet Fletcher, Lawrence Reiman, Merri Schneider, Gene Soukup, Melvin Ohri,
Luann Shields and Sharon Spencer, along with Norm Hale, Father Nigli and Alice
Marx, with John Boyle and Dian Edwards being absent.
Gene Soukup made a motion to
approve the agenda with a second by Lawrence Reiman. Vote:
All in favor, none opposed.
Janet Fletcher pointed out a
correction for the minutes of the
With there being no guests
present at the meeting, the next item on the agenda was the Pastors Report.
Pastors Report:
·
Father stated
that since he had been commissioned by the School Board to address a person
regarding comments made in the community, which had been concerning the closure
of St. Mary’s High School. He managed to
meet with person over phone, and they discussed concerns.
·
Confirmation
Retreats were successful, and the students and all involved were
satisfied. We have two retreats during
the process of being prepared for confirmation.
Sharon Spencer stated that she was pleased that high school students
were able to assist with the retreats, as this is a good opportunity for them
to expand their faith as well.
·
Discussion was
held regarding student grievances, and the manner in which they should be
handled. Mr. Hale will clarify the
procedures which are in the student handbook.
·
On St. Patrick’s
Day, there will be a shortened school day, and a team of people along with
teachers have put a program together for the afternoon, in order to celebrate
the Feast of St. Patrick’s. This group
is inviting everyone to attend.
·
In regards to the
Honors Day for the last day of school, Father Nigli asked for a review of
plans, and would like to ensure that these plans are followed through.
·
An anonymous
donor has granted four $800 scholarships to be offered (2 boys/2 girls) to
students moving from 6th to 7th grade. Teachers would recommend a student by verifying
that students meet certain criteria. A mailing
will go out to all the Catholic 6th graders in the area in April. To apply for the scholarship, the students
would need to write a paragraph stating why they would like to attend St.Mary’s
High School. A committee has been put
together to select the recipients.
Sharon Spencer will assist Father in this process.
·
Auditors came in
and gave a glowing report regarding the state of the accounts of St. Patrick’s
Church. One recommendation that came
from this audit was that the individual accounts raised by various school
groups must be closed. Father will
address this matter with each of these groups.
The monies will be deposited into one account, but will be restricted
for individual purposes. Alice Marx will
provide a general ledger account statement will be provided to each group upon
request.
·
Review of budget
for 2005-2006, and have put together a proposal for 2006-2007, which will go
before the Finance Council at their next meeting. Discussion was held concerning whether to
continue with St. Mary’s Pre-school.
Will really promote enrollment for the upcoming year, a brochure is
being developed, and Father will address at Masses. The Board will reassess this matter for the
2008-2009 school. Also a discussion was
held regarding NVC passes. Norm will ask
Mr. Allen to bring a list and give an overview of the history and process of
handing out NVC passes. Perhaps these
should only be given to those associated with the school. Another suggestion was to begin charging $1
per head for junior high ball games.
This matter will be discussed at the next meeting. Motion made by Lawrence Reiman to increase
bus fees from $15 and $30 to go to $25 and $50, seconded by Gene Soukup. Other items discussed included salaries of
faculty and staff. Father is proposing a
5% increase to their base, which will put St. Mary’s at 100% of Public School
current base salary. These figures will
need to be approved by the Finance Council at their meeting on March 15.
·
Father mentioned
that after the last meeting, he met with Parish & Finance Council to
discuss the plans for the school. He was
told to come back with plans to fit within the limited budget for the
project. He presented the scaled-back
plans. These plans will be reviewed by
the Councils at the meeting on March 15, and if approved, the construction and
other improvements will be completed before the 2007-2008 school year. The other issues addressed were the roofs of
the school, and all classrooms which do not have blinds will get
window-coverings. Other security features
will be added. Plans are in place to add
a nurse’s office for the high school. He
also presented the revised plans for St. Patrick’s Church as well. The costs associated with these plans will be
scaled back from $850,000 to $500,000.
This should be within the budget, which is close to $1,000,000. This plan will be well-communicated to our
Parish, so that the entire community understands. If approved, by July 1, we should be
breaking ground for the project. Motion
made by Gene Soukup to approve the adjusted plan for school/parish improvements,
if approved by Parish & Finance Council.
Second by Sharon Spencer. All in favor, none opposed.
Motion by
Luann Shields, second by Melvin Ohri, to go into Executive Session at
Motion by
Gene Soukup, 2nd by Luann Shields, to come out of Executive Session
at
Principal’s Report:
I.
School Climate – Students are getting along fine, the teachers are interested in the
plans for the upcoming school year.
II.
Step Up to Writing Program – Teachers do not have a professional development day
available to complete the plans for this program for next school year. They proposed that on the day of the St.
Mary’s Track Meet, since most students are gone on this day, school would be
dismissed, and the teachers would be allowed to use this day as a planning
day. Motion to approve this day for a
professional development day, by Lawrence Reiman, second by Gene Soukup.
III.
Distance Learning – Mr. Hale will invite Paula and the other committee members to come to
next meeting and discuss plans for distance learning, and college credit
classes
IV.
NCA Visit –
The reports came back good. One thing
that surfaced was that they realized that staff may need to be more educated regarding
the school improvement plan. A school
improvement plan will be implemented to include faculty, school staff and also
some parents.
V.
NDE Visit
VI.
Intent to Return Forms/Schedule Discussions – All but one forms have been returned by teachers
VII.
Staff Evaluations – This matter was covered during executive session.
VIII.
Bubbylonian Encounter – Internet safety course, which would cost
approximately $600 for a one day program on Internet Safety, one session for 5-6th
grade, and a session for 7-12th grade. Parents are also welcome to come to this
program. Motion to approve this course by
Sharon Spencer, seconded by Gene Soukup, all in favor, none opposed.
IX.
Girl’s Softball (Discussion) – Board reviewed letter concerning coop of softball, from
Amy Shane. After review of Mrs. Shane’s
concerns, the Board determined that we have athletes that are interested in
this program, and would like them to be allowed to participate if the O’Neill
Public School Board makes the decision to coop this program.
X.
Policy 4000 (Janet) – Janet reviewed Policy 4000, and after clarifications
and revisions, a motion was made by Luann Shields, seconded by Gene Soukup to
approve the revisions.
Father made a list of names
of possible School Board members to fill the three vacancies. He will contact the nominees on the list, and
the election will take place in April.
There being no further
business, Motion was made by Luann Shields to adjourn the meeting. Second by