School of St. Joseph
2107 E. 33rd Street
Des Moines, IA 50317
Minutes of the Board of Education
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Parish Center, 6:00 PM
Call to Order
6: 01 PM
Prayer: Steve Johns
I.
Roll Call Doug Asher, Dan Stamey, Dave Dietrich, Father Hurley, Paul Jackson, Steve
Johns, Aimee Lovan, Carolyn Farrell, Stacy Halbach, Phyllis Konchar, Karen Dassinger
Staff: Jennifer Simmons
Absent:
Visitors: Lucy Corrigan, Jenny Gervais
II.
Acceptance of agenda:
Motion – Steve Johns
Second – Dave Dietrich
Passed
III.
Comments/In Service:
IV.
Open Forum - Phyllis Konchar speaking on behalf of Jenny Gervais: Jenny Gervais is
requesting a salary position; she has 20 yrs. experience with a bachelor’s and master’s degree.
Currently she is an independent contractor where she establishes her own fees and collects
monthly fees. Currently she receives a monthly stipend from the school of $10/mth/student.
Her main goal is to have more students enroll in band, piano and bells and feels that would be
possible if she were given a salaried position. Currently she helps with mass and prayer
services. Many schools have a school band director. Creating a position for her would be a
selling point for prospective families. Grades 5-8 music program is optional but some students
can use it as instrumental instead of vocal. Additionally, music benefits in the area of team
building and creates discipline for students. Respectfully bringing this proposal to the board
for consideration.
V.
VI.
Lucy Corrigan, our Diocesan School Board Rep. spoke and informed us if there’s anything we
want to bring in front of the board please go to her. She was happy to be here last year to talk
about Common Core. Diocesan school board minutes are available on the school board
website. Current topics being discussed on the Board are ESA and the Bishop’s initiatives on
the recruitment of Latino students.
Approval of Minutes:
Motion: Paul Jackson
Second: Steve Johns
Passed
Reports:
Pastor: Bill Konnath will be retiring; his last day will be Dec. 31. Pastoral and finance council
have discussed whether to get a full or part time person. Needs to be someone who can handle
tuition and tithing duties. HR is important, such as Virtus. Property insurance is another job
duty. Bill does a lot of e-mailing out information. Ideal candidate would be someone that is
half time in early retirement and Catholic. We have ads in the bulletin.
Moving slowly on bldg. addition because of walls and garage. The garage is 8 ft. below school
footings so needs lots of form to hold back the school. Roof structure is steel. Not pouring
sidewalk by door because we are waiting to finish steps so the cement trucks do not back into
new concrete. Breaker box will be in the garage that’s why the light poles are not on. We’re
seeded but so much summer rain causing all the contractors to be behind and we’re waiting on
subs and landscapers. Currently we don’t want to seed until trees are in and then we’ll finish
landscaping in the spring. Walnut trees are in the north part of the lot and requests have been
made to remove them but we are unable to due to our green requirements. Problems with roof
flashing on church overhang. We will try and get a lift on the weekend. Wall out front looks
great thanks to Doug. Finish in the Spring along ramp wall.
Church picnic was great. Young families came out. Bishop Charron’s mission talks were great.
Principal’s report: last week Jenn Simmons and I went on an Administrative retreat in
Omaha the focus was salt and light. It was a very enlightening spiritual retreat. ITBS tests
were held this week finished on Thursday with makeups on Friday. Tuesday night Ryan
Thorncraft our web master came to our Home and School mtg and demonstrated how to
navigate the site. He will meet with teachers next to show how to add to their blog. Next week
is conferences: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. All parents are signed up as of today. Oct.
20th will be the 3rd session of school faith. It has been very enjoyable. Different presenters
bring different flavor. Catechism was the last main focus. It’s a 2 yr. process. School
directories were sent home. Completed Fall BEDS. They are Educational data surveys. They
are Reports sent in the fall about salaries, student race, enrollment, RADON, etc….
Director of Religious Education/Youth Ministry:
RE: Kickoff went well. Parish mission last week with Bishop Charron was good. Out of
sequence schedules are set (12 elementary kids 3 middle school). After February they will
decide when to have 1st communion. Reconciliation parent night was good. Would like more
time with parents as much as possible though. Middle schoolers competing in Respect Life
looking to compete within the same grade as school kid. Confirmation year 1 and 2 is good no
overlaps. First lesson night for year 1 was 40 kids. Large attendance was due in part because
kids from year 2 and youth group were there. Moving Confirmation nights to gym so more
room. Confirm enrollment cutoff was Oct. 1. 30 kids for year 1. Year 2 is good turnout too.
Ministry fair is this Sunday with food, inviting ministry speakers to show up. Goal is to
involve teens in the church. Kids are writing notes to shut ins who can’t come to church and
they are responding very well. Youth group on Sept 24 went very well. Talked about respect
for each other and Core Team members and it was well received by the kids.
Youth ministry:
President’s report:
No report
Buildings and Grounds:
Sept. 23 mtg. Walnut tree issues were discussed and making
permanent handicap spots in the new parking lot. 60x60 bounce house was donated. But need
somewhere to store it. Phyllis raised a question about the plywood on the preschool front
steps? Maintenance is addressing it. Church bathroom remodel is our next focus for the next
year for the collection envelopes. Paul talked about playground equipment and the idea of
adding a black fence to keep balls intact, etc.
Athletic Committee report: This weekend volleyball tournament. Mtg coming up for
basketball and cheerleading. Tina Woods in charge of Athletics.
Inservice Dinner report (formerly appreciation): renamed
Parish Council report:
VII.
Unfinished Business
.
A. Building Addition – covered in the pastor report
B. Buses: 2 new buses. Need to work on plan to make sure we update them. We have enough
in budget to decide whether to pay off or just trade in. Washing the bus is very important.
Panels on bus rust so we need to wash them. New bus has same features and equipment.
C. Committees-Verify and determine meetings
VIII. New Business
A. Finance report: Father wants to meet with finance committee.
B. Bishop wants all schools to have a safety committee.
C. ESA-Education Savings Accounts (Phyllis): passed out ESA info letter that went out to
parents. Tax dollars are set aside in an account under your name and you designate where
it goes. You can choose to have it pay tuition as long as your child attends an accredited
nonpublic school. We encourage parents to respond and support this in legislature. It
doesn’t affect the amount of money that goes towards your public school from your
property tax. It would be a game changer for our school. It raises a lot of questions for
where we go from here.
D. Parish plan for strategy for recruitment of Latino students (Phyllis). Our strategy includes:
identifying parents that can speak English/Spanish and they become our point of contact
for each school and they’ll help in recruitment, a negotiated tuition program (strategy
includes REP), create a welcoming environment with Spanish mass, open houses, assist
families with translation via written and at conferences and marketing. We are to create
funds to help families who need assistance. Need to develop ELL program for students and
parents too. Make information known about tuition assistance. Employ staff who can
administer Eng. /Span language proficiency. Professional development on the Latino
culture to help us understand the students we’re serving. Fr. Hurley is very proactive in
putting a lot of these in place. Communication has been a challenge for us right now
because no email, phone. Spanish mass is a challenge right now. Suggestions are separate
Spanish mass? Spanish misalette? Integrating parish and members is another challenge. Do
we get a Spanish translating device? Home language survey gives us information of
whether or not we need ESL/ELL.
X.
Questions of and by Board Members
XI. Next Meeting:
Thursday November 6, 2014 6:00 PM
Refreshments/Prayer/Teacher Treats – Doug Asher
XII. Closing Prayer Steve Johns
XIII. Adjournment 8:40 pm