O.L.L. Education Commission Meeting Minutes

 

February 12, 2007

 

 

Attendance:  Julie Balzano, Jim Frede, Karen Rusche, Terri Brown, Maureen Kissinger, Lynn Breidenstein, Nancy Jamison, Lynda Sexton, Amy Osterfeld, Sue Kampel, Joe Lovell, Ed Woelfel, Karen Bergen, Scott Liesch  

 

Terri Brown opened the meeting with a prayer.  There was an approval of the minutes.

Lynda Sexton asked if the “Action Plan for Parents” was sent out through the parish.

Karen Rusche stated that was in the process.

 

Principal’s Report:

 

1.  Our External Validation has not been completed due to the weather and early 

     dismissal.  They are working on Goal I and will meet again February 23 to finish

     the discussion.

2.  Catholic Schools Week and Science Fair went well.  The registration for new students

      is February 20 and 21.

3.  The fifth graders will be participating in the Archdiocesan Writing Sample     

     Assessment.

4.  The second set of Parent-Teacher conferences will be February 15 and 16.

5.  On Friday, February 9, the eighth graders participated in an all day retreat in

     preparation for Confirmation.  They will receive the sacrament on March 1.

    

Nancy Jamison inquired about a telephone chain used at school.  Karen Rusche stated the youngest child in each family is currently notified, but they are considering contacting the oldest child of each family in future occurrences.

 

Maureen Kissinger mentioned that at the Power of the Pen competition our students did very well.

 

The sub-committee for the Dress code Policy then distributed a revised edition of the School Uniform Policy.  Nancy Jamison, Sue Kampel, and Karen Bergen met with teachers:  Peg Cassaro and Anita Brakmann.  Scott Liesch recommended the uniform policy be sent out with report cards at the end of the school year, so families have the opportunity to have the proper uniforms when school begins in the fall.  The Uniform Policy was discussed, and there will be a follow up with the sub-committee.  The current changes will be announced in the Lowdown and updated in the Handbook.

 

Jim Frede then talked about the meeting with the Finance Committee.  He stated we cannot accept a decrease in enrollment.  As to an update on the Statement of Commitment, there is still the question of enforcement.  Anything we do must be finalized by Fr. Dave.  Jim stated he will work on Commitment Statement with Ron Walters to create a list of tasks for volunteers to do.  As for eliminating the “out of parish tuition rates, there will be tuition aid for parishioners only, and they will be required to be Catholic.  There has been no follow up on increasing parish collections because the census is still being updated.  This had not been done for quite a while.

 

The Finance Committee and a sub-committee will meet at a separate time to draft a tuition policy.  This committee will consist of:  Terri Brown, Sue Kampel, and Scott Liesch with Jim Frede, Joe Lovell, and Bill Maly.

 

There was discussion of the Futures Committee’s feedback and expectation forms being returned to Fr. Dave.  Jim Frede explained that the meeting was the first of three steps:

 

Step 1:  What is the state of current reality for parish schools?

Step 2:  What is the solution to declining enrollment?

Step 3:  How do we implement the plan?

The Futures meeting at this time was meant to be communicative.

 

There was an adjournment of the meeting and a closing prayer.

 

The next Education Education Committee meeting will be March 8, 2007.

 

                                                          Respectfully submitted,

 

                                                           Julie Balzano