St. John School Board Report to the Pastoral Council 

 

 March 14, 2005

 

I would like to thank the School Board Members for their efforts so far this year in meeting the goals established at the beginning of this school year. The following activities have been in progress since our last report.

 

• Communication to the School and Parish Community

§         The Bulletin Board in the lobby of the school was decorated for Catholic School’s week and includes reports to the Pastoral Council from the School Board, the School Board Milestone Plan for this year, and the Committee Structure and Goals. These documents are also available on the St. John Web Site.

 

• Budgets and Financial Matters

§         In February, the School Board approved several new Financial Policies,  the Operating Budget, and discussed a draft Capital Budget for the next school year. 

o        Financial Policies - Most of the new Financial Policies were developed to deal with administrative issues that result from the withdrawal of prospective students before the start of school. Various registration fees will become non-refundable to help ensure that prospective families are serious regarding enrollment at St. John. Other new policies were developed as a result of the new FACTS tuition payment system that was successfully implemented last year. Based on reports from the Administration and Finance Committee, this program has been very successful in helping with tuition payment and collection. 

o        Operating Budget – The Operating Budget for next year was discussed and approved by the School Board and will reflect a 6.5% tuition increase. This would impact a family with 2 children paying on Plan II (middle plan) about $40/month. After much discussion on the recommendations presented by the Finance Committee, it was felt that this budget best reflected the balance we are trying to achieve between holding tuition levels steady  while at the same time maintaining financial strength for the School. Parish Assistance in this budget is $130,000.

o        Capital Budget – A draft Capital Budget was developed and discussed. This Budget was not approved by the School Board because it was determined that more information is required, primarily regarding All Day Kindergarten planning. St. John will be required to provide All Day Kindergarten beginning in 2007. If the existing facility is utilized, it may impact sprinklers, fire protection, and other code updates in the School. A report on All Day Kindergarten has been requested and will be submitted to the School Board in May 2005. We expect this report to help to clarify some of these issues. In the interim, Gabrielle Peregoy has shared the draft Capital Budget with the Parish Finance Committee to provide visibility of  these requirements and items under consideration. In addition, Terry Jones was able to attend the last School Board Meeting. Some other construction related projects outlined in the School Inspection and Safety Audit from January are already being addressed in the due course of Parish Construction Projects. Terry is assisting the School Board in reconciling some of these projects and helped participate in a lively debate about priorities. The School Board expects to provide additional information to the Pastoral Council by the end of this School Year. We appreciate Terry’s assistance on these items.

 

• School Board Governing Documents

§         As previously reported, the School Board is required to develop new Governing Documents based on the new Manual for Elementary School Boards this year. A draft of the proposed By-Laws has been developed and will be discussed by the School Board in March. The School Board would like to provide the next draft to the Pastoral Council for informational purposes and comment sometime this Spring. We are required to have local Parish approval of these documents for submission to the Archdiocese by June.

 

If there are any questions or clarifications on this report, please contact me at 410-840-3001 or Tom.Witmer@MistyMeadowHoldings.com.

 Respectfully Submitted,

 Tom Witmer

Chairperson

St. John School Board