LEBANON CATHOLIC SCHOOL BOARD MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 8, 2008 Attendance: Fr. Paul Fisher, Fr. Philip Burger, Michele Ambrosia, Rose Kury, Ryan O'Donnell, Michael Eck, Dennis Chapman, Carlene Stachura, Brian Marko, Tony Mohl, Monica Simmers. (Excused: Fr. Michael Reid, Deb Nash, Bev Abernethy, Kathy Hoke) Call to Order and Opening Prayer: Call to Order was made by Mr. Eck; Opening prayer was given by Fr. Fisher Review and Approval of Minutes from May 12, 2008 Board Meeting: Since there were not enough voting members present to approve the minutes and not enough voting members responded to Fr. Reid's e-mail of August 2, 2008 concerning approval of the minutes, they will be sent to the board members again by the recording secretary for approval under the process approved under Old Business this evening. After this final approval, the minutes from May 12, 2008 shall be posted by the Principal/Assistant Principal to the LCS website. School Emergency Plan: Mr. Tom Beazley Mr. Beazley advised that the School Emergency Plan is updated and renewed each school year and has been recently completed. This Plan is confidential, for safety reasons, and can only be viewed and used by school personnel and certain Board members (Fr. Reid, Chairman and Mr. Eck, Vice Chairman), as well as those who are on the emergency response team: Frs. Fisher and Rothan. The Lebanon City Police will review and respond to the Plan. The police and SWAT will also have emergency access to the building's doors and will be provided with the building's floor plans. Each faculty member has a floor plan for his or her assigned section of the school. Principal’s Report: Mrs. Ambrosia Mrs. Ambrosia submitted the general and elementary report dated September 8, 2008. She also advised that the current enrollment total is 373 students. She added that this is the first time in seven years that there has been an increase at the elementary level. Assistant Principal’s Report: Mrs. Kury Mrs. Kury submitted the report for the middle and high school. She added that the new computer teacher, Mr. Duvall, is also dealing with computer and technical issues, as well as working with Evenlink. Development Director’s Report: Mr. O’Donnell Mr. O'Donnell submitted his report dated September 8, 2008, as well as the 2007-2008 fundraising breakdown, and the 90-Day Strategic Plan. He advised that the school has received approval regarding the asbestos issue concerning the carpet installations. Fr. Fisher advised that Fr. Sullivan of the Diocese needs to approve any major changes or renovations to the chapel; Mr. O'Donnell will contact him to obtain this approval. The open house/welcome night for new families was held two weeks prior to the beginning of the school year. Speakers included Mrs. Ambrosia, Mrs. Kury, Mr. O'Donnell, Scott Clentimack, who addressed the POS (Point of Sale) program for lunches, as well as current LCS families who offered information and answered new parents' questions. The offer from the owner of the not-for-profit Radio Omega, Doug Neatrour, would not be put into effect in the immediate future. Additional resources are needed, such as an antenna on the roof with wires running directly to the broadcast area, which LCS is not currently committed to expend (the radio production would not require personnel to operate it). Concerning the 90-Day Strategic Plan, Mr. O'Donnell advised that the interest forgiveness proposal has been submitted to the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) of the Diocese; we are awaiting his response. It is hoped that this proposal will be completed within 90 days. The money saved would be rolled into marketing efforts to retain students from 5th to 6th grades and from 8th to 9th grades, by cutting the tuition increases for those grades by half for the next several years. Mr. O'Donnell and Mrs. Ambrosia advised that the Jazz on the Hill performance of Steve Smith of Journey will not incur any cost to LCS. Phone orders for tickets will be accepted through the school office. Tickets would be available for purchase in Lancaster and Harrisburg as well. The data base of LC alumni is expected to be completed prior to the Annual Appeal. There are approximately 4,000 names on this list. Communication in the form of a newsletter, etc. will be sent to these alumni at the end of September. It will also ask family and friends to provide information concerning alumni for whom we do not have current addresses. The Annual Appeal will then begin in October, which will include mailings to all alumni in the data base. Building and Grounds Report: Mr. Mohl Mr. Mohl was informed that in order to apply for the Pa. Safe Route To School grant, we must first do the work and incur the cost of installing the parking lots and then submit the bill with the application. Mr. Mohl was attending a meeting on September 11, 2008 concerning the drainage issue. There are two proposals by Lebanon City, both of which are expensive. Mr. Mohl hopes to obtain City approval of the proposal and hopes to lock in the cost of $8500 for the engineering plans and City costs. Maintenance Report: Mrs. Ambrosia The maintenance report of Mr. Heagy, dated September 1, 2008, was submitted by Mrs. Ambrosia. Mrs. Ambrosia added that Mrs. Sheffy returned to work on September 8th. She added that volunteers from the PTO helped with painting and other duties this summer, for which everyone was very grateful. Finance Committee Report: Mr. Chapman Mr. Chapman submitted the Finance Report dated September 8, 2008. He added that it is not necessary for parents to sign up for the Excess Profit Sharing program--all families are automatically enrolled. Mr. Clentimack will keep track of the fundraising profits for families and credit them to the cost of tuition. The first meeting of the newly created Enrollment Committee is scheduled for October 8th at 6:30 p.m. Itwill be held in the faculty room unless attendance requires moving it to a larger room. The intention is for this committee to be an on-going one with its only purpose to increase and retain enrollment. Mr. O'Donnell will attend this meeting and will advertise it on the website and through the communication folders. All parents and friends of LCS who are interested in improving our enrollment figures are encouraged to attend. Some ideas so far for us to promote: LCS doesn't have to prepare our students for standardized tests; compare the success of our students in SATS, PSATS, acknowledgements and awards from organizations with our local schools--these can be advertised in church bulletins and included in articles for the “Hill Chatter”. All positive ideas welcome! Old Business: Approval of the School Board Meeting minutes - this needs to be expedited so that we can get them posted on the LCS website as soon as possible. The Board members present this evening have approved a process to complete this in a timely manner. May's Board meeting minutes will be resent to the Board members for approval and posting to the website. Summation of Exit Surveys - Lori Kostow, the Admissions Coordinator, sent 32 surveys to families leaving LCS. Of the 8 returned, one was blank (from an exchange student) and one was undeliverable. The results included a wide range of comments, such as: improvement needed in the communication of teachers to parents, the tuition cost is not high, insufficient special education program (LCS currently has one part-time teacher), the quality of the surrounding private schools is average, need mentor families (LCS has begun this program), more teachers should be upbeat, while others commented that the teachers here are caring, website contains electives but should also include a list of core subjects. Suggestions by the Board: put LCS website information in parish bulletins, including the website address, advertise in bulletins that the website is much improved, keep the website up to date, and include a link to the LCS website on parish websites. First Draft of LCS Drug Policy - Mrs. Kury explained that a lot of research and input from other schools was used in creating the draft of this policy. The School Board needs to form a subcommittee for curriculum and policies to finalize this policy. An e-mail will be sent by the recording secretary to the Board members asking for volunteers to participate in this subcommittee. New Business: Mrs. Simmers advised that she has been asked for clarification of the policy for use of school facilities. Mrs. Ambrosia offered to give her a copy of the policy. Mrs. Kury advised that some parents have asked that their child be allowed to take on-line courses and that LCS reimburse them for the cost of the course. Mrs. Kury advised that the Diocese currently has no policy concerning this matter and that LCS in the past has not approved on-line courses are part of the curriculum, but she requested that the School Board decide what the LCS policy should be in this matter. Mr. Eck felt that the Diocese should create a policy. Mrs. Kury advised that the surrounding public schools do not offer on-line courses. After discussion, the Board members present unanimously agreed that LCS should not offer on-line courses, nor should the school choose such a course for a student or pay for an on-line course. It was agreed that the Board members not present this evening need to vote on this matter in order for a policy concerning on-line courses to be instituted. Next School Board Meeting: Closing Prayer: Note: In keeping with the new procedure presented at this meeting concerning the new process of approval of the Board minutes, the May 12, 2008 meeting minutes have been approved and will be posted on the LCS website. Respectfully submitted by |