School Advisory Board – Meeting Minutes
2014-15
Date of Meeting – November 19, 2014
Members and Attendance
Officers
Nicole Towns - Chairperson
**Vice Chairperson (open position)
Sarah Gernetzke - Secretary
Attendance
yes
**
yes
Standing Committees/Representative Chairs
**Buildings and Grounds (open position)
**Finance (open position)
**Marketing/Communication (open position)
**Student Achievement (open position)
Technology – Brian Mrozinski
Attendance
**
**
**
**
yes
Adjunct Members
Pat Morse - Consultant
Katie Berger - Faculty
Lesley Schmidt - Faculty
Fr. Michael Lightner – Parish Administrator
Michelle Schultz – Parish Council Liaison
Steven Perez - Principal
Attendance
no
yes
yes
no
yes
yes
Recorded Minutes –
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Call to Order – Nicole
Opening Prayer – Nicole, all attendees
Approval of October 15, 2014 Meeting Minutes – Board Members
Parental Policy Concerns – None at this time
Review of open items from last meeting – none at this time
Committee Reports and Updates
Buildings/Grounds – None at this time
Finance – None at this time
Marketing /Communications –none at this time
Student Achievement – Mr. Perez brought up that report cards are coming out. Honor Roll breakfast will be
held in 2 phases for different grade levels (middle school – Friday, elementary – Monday) 150 people
representing students/families have RSVP’d. He also discussed that the School Leadership Team is has been
meeting and discussing student achievement for 2nd semester in prep for the 2015-16 school year.
Technology – Brian informed the board that Pat had a meeting with representative regarding phone and
internet in one bundle but that he did not know how the meeting went.
Parish News – None at this time. October Parish Council meeting did not discuss any school related issues
7. Principal’s Report – Mr. Steven Perez
1. School update
Mr. Perez reiterated how he would like to see the SAB function and assist him. Board input for the larger school
items is key. Items include:
1


Adoption of standards based grading system
School enrollment cap
Mr. Perez updated the board about topics discussed at a school parent meeting called to order by Fr. Mike.
Fr. Mike called the meeting for parents who wanted their concerns about school policies/procedures addressed.
He shared the following topics that were brought up by parents:
- Needs of some families are not being met by the principal
- The school discipline policy is not tough enough and the school is out of control
Mr. Perez also shared that parents are always welcome in the school to view what is happening at StMM as
concerns arise. He stated that parents who have brought concerns to him, have not yet came to observe school
climate and procedures in action.
The board began discussing the perceived disconnect and the change - the difference between this year and last
year under new leadership. Overall, some parents are satisfied academically and culturally while others are not.
Sarah shared a positive change seen this year compared to previous years, and that is that with a new teacher
affiliated with the parish, middle school students are receiving a high quality Catholic education. Lesley shared
classroom teacher viewpoints and the need for continued, consistent support from leadership. She also
discussed the need for classroom aide support at the Kindergarten levels, early elementary. The board
continued to discuss what supports are needed in the classroom to ensure student success. This led to the
longer discussion (under item 8. New Business) as Mr. Perez would like to have board input as to what it sees for
student population.
8. New Business –
1. What should the enrollment of StMM be?
*300 to sustain, 375 max capacity
*What should we do and why?
A discussion addressing this agenda item was conducted. Highlights of the discussion are as follows:

Mr. Perez discussed current and ideal class sizes.
Data was shared and is listed on the following page:
Current Enrollment Data:
Grade
K4
K5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Current Enrollment
26
33
28
37
26
38
25
23
45
28
Capacity
28
36
40
40
27
40
27
28
45
28
If at 100% capacity, student enrollment would be 342
2

School is currently at 90% capacity with student enrollment at 309
Ideally, student enrollment would be:
Grade Enrollment
Capacity (Hard Cap)
K4
2 classes of 14
28
K5
2 classes of 15
30
1
2 classes of 15
30
2
2 classes of 18
36
3
2 classes of 20
40
4
2 classes of 20
40
5
2 classes of 20
20
6
2 classes of 20
40
7
2 classes of 20
40
8
2 classes of 20
40
364 total enrolled


Capacity (Soft Cap)
28
30
30
36
36
36
36
36
36
36
340 total enrolled
Some of the data presented was clarified such as the 309 student enrollment is based on the 3rd Friday
Statewide DPI count conducted September 2014
As in the past, an enrollment of 260 students puts StMM in the red financially, 300 plus is ideal for budgeting
purposes.
Continued discussion about current enrollment, ideal class sizes, and future enrolment for sustainability was
held with the following points made:





Lesley stated that a Kindergarten class sizes of 15 are ideal, with a full time classroom aide
Mr. Perez discussed capping a class at 20 students
School would need increased enrollment in certain grades (5th and 3rd ) when looking at current numbers
and projecting for upcoming school years
Mr. Perez also discussed per pupil spending – MPCP is $7,200 while public schools receive 5-7 thousand
dollars more per student
StMM has 97% MPCP enrollment
Per pupil spending and the percentage of students in MPCP led to a conversation about budgeting.
This included:





Expectations for teacher support in the classroom
Holding students accountable behaviorally to maintain control in the classroom
The cost of teacher aides – StMM aid salary would make less than at MPS
Of the $1.8 million budget for StMM School, 80% is human resource related
Potential opportunity to create endowment to increase funding for the school – Does StMM have the
potential?
A brief discussion was held regarding classroom support.



Classroom support is not just having a classroom aide
Parental involvement and volunteer opportunities is considered a form of classroom support
How can school improve parental support
3
9. Closing Prayer – Nicole, all attendees
10. Adjournment – Nicole, Next meeting 12/17/14, will build upon the discussions/information shared above
(8. New Business)
11. Future Business –
- Utilize results of ACE study and uses as a template for policy and strategic planning
- Meet with Fr. Mike to define what we do and how we can help him
- Recruit members from the church, school, and the community
- Assist Administrator with long term strategic plan
- PARK for Education Chair/Committee &/or further clarification of advice sought from SAB
- Standards based report card vs letter grades
- School scoring Advanced, Proficient, Basic in accordance with standards. Based on scenario of student
getting A in Language Arts but is in 25th percentile in reading
4