O.L.L. Education Commission Meeting Minutes

 

                                                                              June 14, 2007

 

 

Attendance:  Terri Brown, Julie Balzano, Karen Rusche, Lynda Sexton, Lynn Breidenstein, Jim Frede, Sue Kampel, Gino Trotta, Terry Etter

 

The meeting was opened with a prayer.  Terri Brown called for an approval of the minutes.

 

Karen Rusche gave the principal’s report:

 

1. OLL was granted full accreditation from the Ohio Catholic School Accreditation Association.  This is valid until 2013.  We will give a progress report in 2009 and 2011.
2. There will be three groups for grade six and two groups for grade eight for the upcoming school year.
3. The Archdiocesan report cards have been revised.  The report cards were shared with the Commission.
4. The teacher surveys have been returned and most are favorable.  They will be shared with the teachers.
5. Mrs. Bonnie Schobert, Mrs. Wanda Schoenfeld, and Ms. Rusche have been selected to participate in the Initiative for Catholic Schools.  It is a year-long program.
6. Mrs. Connie Smith and Ms. Chris Siciliano have spent the past year becoming certified as intervention specialists in grades K-12.  Congratulations to Mrs. Smith for passing both sections.  Ms. Siciliano will take the test later this year.
7. All of the teachers in St. Bernadette Hall with the exception of Mrs. Diehl (personal reasons) and Mrs. Metz attended a workshop titled “Exploring Google Applications for the Classroom”.

 

Terry Etter suggested we do a PTO meeting on the different financial aid available to families.  Jim Frede stated we would need a person educated in financial aid to facilitate the meeting.  It was suggested someone from Elder come speak on grants/aid available.

 

Jim Frede stated that a high number of the June tuition bills were not paid.  He suggested collecting June and July together.  Sue Kampel inquired about doing an automatic deduction from checking accounts for tuition.  Jim Frede said the system is antiquated.  Lynda Sexton suggested since there was a 3 percent discount for paying tuition up front, there should be a 3 percent fee charged for being late.  It was stated that it is the parent’s responsibility to contact administration if tuition cannot be paid.

 

Terri Brown stated she was unaware of the By-Laws regarding the election of officers for the next term.  Terri Brown spoke with Scott Liesch, and he is aware of her nomination of him for President.  Scott said he would accept.  We did not have enough Commission members for a voting quorum.  We will do so by email.  PMT is supposed to follow up on the voting process.  Nomination for President is Scott Liesch, and Vice President is Terri Brown.  We will nominate a secretary from one of the new members.

 

Terri Brown moved to talk about the Discipline Policy at OLL.  It was suggested there be  more consistency with the points system.  It is understood that there cannot be set points given for every infraction.  Mr. Gino Trotta said that to uniform the point system takes away from the teacher’s individuality.  It was discussed the need for a sexual harassment policy be added to the Handbook.  Jim Frede stated we need to have a documented high level process of action for the more serious infractions.  There was much discussion about the sexual harassment policy and the need for awareness at school.  It was agreed the teaching needs to begin at home.  It was suggested that a review panel be in place for discipline purposes.  Karen Rusche stated that she speaks with the teachers of the students involved as opposed to a review panel.  In the past, the type of infraction determined who was involved.

 

Action:  Discuss revision of Discipline Policy, define harassment, and publish the high level process of discipline action.

 

The meeting was adjourned.  Terri Brown thanked the outgoing members and the officers for their service.

 

The next meeting will be August 9, 2007.

 

                                                       Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

                                                       Julie Balzano