December 6, 2017
Time: 4:00 pm
Place: BCS/BCSF Conference Room
Present: Karen Fagg, Chair
Bucky Heringer, Vice Chair
Ken Frazier, Past Chair
Fr. Steve Zabrocki, Parish Representative
Leo O’Brien
Mary Susan Fishbaugh
Ashley Harada
Brian McGovern
Brittney Souza
A.J. Miller
Bob Cerkovnik
Alex McCready
Nate Haney
John Newbury: Foundation Representative
Shaun Harrington, BCS President
Superintendent Timothy Uhl
Jan Haider, Foundation President
Kaitlin Overton, Finance Officer
Bruce St. Clair, Director of Technology
Danielle Watson, Education Director
Kathy Harris, Marketing Director
Shel Hanser, Principal BCCHS
Travis Heringer, Mayfair Chair
Clayton Augustine, Mayfair Chair
Opening Prayer: Shaun
Approval of Minutes: Superintendent Uhl made a motion to approve the November 1, 2017 School Board minutes. Bob seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Foundation Update:
Annual Fund: Annual Fund mailing was sent in October and the Foundation has done both email and Facebook appeals. The Foundation has collected just over $14,000. There will be another email appeal before Christmas, and then the second phase will begin in January. The Foundation is planning a phone-a-thon during Catholic Schools week.
Strategic Planning: Rita Turley sent out the materials to do the SWOT analysis in preparation for Strategic Planning. She has asked that everyone participate and return the completed materials to her by December 20th so she can compile the results before the meeting.
Capital Campaign Update: The capital campaign is waiting for the final bill from Langlas. It will be about $65,000. The city has not sent their final invoice and the locker issue has not been addressed. The traffic lights will be installed this week, which is part of the $65,000. Brian McGovern has committed to donating the donor wall, so that will be started soon. After the Fratt building is sold, the capital campaign still needs about 1.7 million dollars to be fully funded.
Fratt Building Update: There is one potential heir whose son has hired a Billings Attorney on his mother’s behalf to contest the filing. Attorneys representing Great Falls/ Billings Diocese as well as the Billings Catholic Schools Foundation and the Billings Catholic Schools are working with the potential heir’s attorney to evaluate the legal filings.
Mayfair Presentation: Travis Heringer and Clayton Augustine, 2 of the 6 Mayfair chairs for 2018, spoke to the Board about the upcoming event and the Mayfair Special Project. The chairs reported that they are very excited about the new changes for the 2018 Mayfair. The chairs consist of 3 families which have 1 or 2 people that have been involved in BCS for a lifetime, 2 of the families have children in the school system and Travis’ nephew attends BCS.
Mayfair is being treated like a business and getting back to fundamentals. The theme this year is “FOCUS” as it pertains to children. Shane Fairbanks will provide photography and they will be used for black and white murals around the room at Mayfair.
Some donations are coming in, there will be “class warfare” to get the alumni involved. Erin Augustine, Clayton’s wife, visited with Principal Hayes wanting to speak at the Christmas concert about Mayfair and the Special Project.
The Board would like to thank the Mayfair chairs for their commitment. The Board donates an auction item every year and would like input from the chairs about that item. The Board will also help with Mayfair in other areas.
The Finance Committee discussed the special project proposals.
Elevator at BCCHS
The elevator is a priority however, the feasibility study needs to be completed to compile more information and help determine cost.
Gym floors at BCCHS
Replacing the main gym floor and refinishing the small gym floor at the high school may be done with Dorothy Porter money and hopefully, donor matching funds.
Upgrades at Colton Field
Colton Field may be funded without being a Mayfair Special Project.
K-12 Language Arts
The Language Arts project was originally suggested for K-8 but will be expanded to K-12.
The consensus is the Language Arts project will touch every child attending BCS now and for years to come where the other projects would be for a specific school.
A K-12 program will keep the instruction consistent throughout the system.
The question was posed about purchasing an electronic or paper version
Electronic version has a 5 years license and when the license is up the program disappears
The paper version can be used for many more years
Superintendent Uhl has suggestions about some new materials he would like explored
Danielle Watson, the Education Director, is researching to determine the best choice for BCS and the cost
The Mayfair Chair’s Special Project recommendation for 2018 is K-12 Language Arts.
Vote: Ken made a motion for the K-12 Language Arts program to be the 2018 Mayfair Special Project. Brian seconded the motion. After further discussion, the motion was carried unanimously.
Business Committee Report: Mayfair Special Projects and Dorothy Porter funds: The Business Committee discussed the Mayfair Special Project and how it connects to Dorothy Porter funds. The Business committee’s goal is for Dorothy Porter funds to be spent on dire need capital improvements like, resurfacing the staff parking lot at Central, VAT replacement at Central, gym floor replacement at Central. The Business Committee asked the high school principal, Shel Hanser, to get bids on each of these projects. After the 17-18 school year, the Business Committee hopes to set aside a portion of Dorothy Porter each year toward an elevator at the high school, with the hope of funding that project over the next few years.
The Foundation will cover the cost of the SFI renovation for the Early Childhood center in the amount of $134,000. This allows the Dorothy Porter distribution to be spent on dire need capital improvements.
Proposed Budget 2017-2018: Kaitlin presented the proposed 2017-2018 budget to the Board for their review. It includes budgeted revenue before Special Projects of $6.4 million and after Special Projects of $6.8 million. The budgeted expenses before Special Projects are $6.4 million and after Special Projects are $6.8 million. The budget balances with $630 of net income.
Kaitlin reviewed a few of the line items that changed significantly from prior year. Most were due to moving into the new Saint Francis building. One change unrelated to the new building was the reduction in budgeted professional growth expense. In the 2017-2018 school year, BCS received a significant increase in Title funds which are designated for student remediation (Title I) and staff professional develop (Title II). The Title II funds increased to $33,000 in 17-18 compared to $6,500 in 16-17. Given this information, the BCS professional growth budget was decreased by about $10k. The Title money does not impact the BCS budget. It is distributed directly from School District 2.
Title money is determined by the Federal Government and is subject to change. There was a change from “No Child Left Behind” to “Every Child Must Succeed”. Under the new program nonpublic schools are entitled to more money than before. BCS has always received Title funds. Last year BCS received approximately $24,000 for Title 1 and $6,500 for Title II. This year BCS will receive funds of; $44,000 for Title I and $33,000 for Title II. BCS has a complication since it is a private and parochial school which may impact the use of the funding.
Kaitlin reviewed a few other expense items that changed. Athletic stipends were increased in the 17-18 budget. The budgeted general liability insurance went down. Budgeted property taxes went up because of the new school. Budgeted rent went down since it only includes the administration building in 17-18.
Father asked about the BCS health insurance package and if there was any progress on meeting the Bishop’s request to match the Diocese’s package. In 17-18 BCS moved a step closer to the Diocesan benefits program. Shaun and Kaitlin met with Rich about employee benefits a few months ago to discuss the progress. There was a misunderstanding relating to terminology but that was explained and overall the meeting ended very well.
The Board noted that proposed changes in one of the Federal tax plans there is a change intended for colleges that may affect BCS because it is a private school and receives tuition. The Board elected to keep a close eye on Congress’s progress with the Federal tax bill.
The Business Committee approved the proposed budget for 2017-2018 and requests a School Board vote.
Vote: Leo made a motion to approve the Billings Catholic Schools 2017-2018 budget. Mary Susan seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
October 31, 2017 Financial Overview:
Statement of Financial Position
Cash is down by around $300,000 as compared to prior year.
Tuition, parish, and bus receivables reduced in the current month by payments received. Tuition receivable is up from last year by about $200,000. The administration office’s collection efforts are still in full force. Advertising A/R increased by the amount billed in October for business sponsorships. BACET A/R consists of October payroll and intercompany bills for the new school. Other A/R is mainly due from BCCHS and SFCS activities funds for credit card activity and due from Scrip for 16-17 profits.
Accounts payable is considerably lower than last month; however, there are some October bills that have not been entered.
Statement of Activities
Tuition and registration fee revenue is under budget about $28,000. The tuition budget is spread over 12 months; however, the ACE portion of tuition isn’t received until October, therefore it is spread from October through May. A similar outage occurred last year from the start of the year until December or January. BCS is currently projected to meet the tuition budget by the end of the year. Interest income is under budget $8,000. The Administration Office is checking to see if any families were not charged interest on their payment plans in Smart Tuition.
The Other Special Project revenue is for locker sales and locker donations at the high school.
Personnel expense is under budget $90,000 but that is mainly due to savings over the summer. The October monthly change was over budget by $8,000. Technology expense and Administration and Educational expenses are over budget but they both include the amortization of numerous prepaid items.
The Dorothy Porter expense item contains the cost of moving the Preschool/Daycare program.
Additional Comments: The expenses are down by $20,000 and the overall budget is under by about $31,000. The personnel budget is down and is on track to remain under budget. Some expense items are over budget but that may be due to majority of purchases by the secretaries taking place at the beginning of each semester.
Agency funds are reconciled every month and reviewed by Shaun.
The Business Committee is continuing to monitor the receivables closely and continues to work with the policies to be sure the right approach is taken.
There will be a projected cash flow report at the January meeting.
Vote: Leo made a motion to approve the Business Committee report. Mary Susan seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Marketing Enrollment Report: The registration form is being reviewed and recruiting season will start in January. BCS had several new students last fall and more coming at semester time. There will be at least 1 international student arriving in January.
Catholic Culture Committee: Nate Haney reported that he and Carlos met to review the Catholic Culture Committee background. There was a CCC meeting on December 1st and the committee discussed areas of focus. There is a January meeting set to decide on the goals for the rest of the academic year.
The St. Francis newsletter begins each day with a reading or prayer along with Advent reflections. Nate noted that it is even Liturgically correct with purple print. The CCC feels Catholic Identity is being perpetuated by things like the newsletter and the culture it helps create.
The high school will start a staff Catechism study and a monthly invitation to pray the Rosery. Nate is very impressed with the work that CCC has done and the things that are being done at the schools. The Catholic Identity is strong and growing stronger.
Karen was very impressed with the sock drive, collecting $4,800 in gift cards for the homeless high school students at Senior High, and adopting families throughout the system. All activities have been related back to our faith in action at the schools.
Kathy will make sure the Board members will receive both newsletters.
President’s Report: WCEA Accreditation Visit: Shel was asked to report on the WCEA Accreditation visit. About 18 months ago, BCCHS started preparing for the WCEA visit. The staff gathered data to evaluate and identify strengths and challenges of the school. There were 46 individual meetings conducted to prepare for the visit.
The leadership team went through about 150 items and then wrote a summery and self-evaluation. The team reviewed growth areas from the accreditation six years ago, examined current data and at the end of the self-study set areas for growth. The faculty set two main goal areas; staff development and addressing the needs of off-level students.
The visiting team received the self-study a month prior to their visit so they were familiar with the school before arriving. During the visit they met with stakeholders, sub-committee’s that worked on the self-study and wrote a final report supporting the self-study. The visiting team concurred with the identified goals, made some suggestions and had very positive comments about the school. There were no concerns of any type expressed from the accreditation team.
The team suggested that BCCHS needs to do a better job of documenting accomplishments and sharing them with the public. An emphasis should be made on professional development quality and frequency in all areas, not just technology. There needs to be a determination on how to support and fund those professional development programs.
The accreditation group felt BCS should have a state of the school annual report at the 2 separate schools, although they were not addressing SFCS, and from Shaun. Congratulations to everyone who worked on the accreditation process and putting it all together. It is important to acknowledge the work for the last 6 years in continuing to move the system forward.
BCCHS maintains 3 accreditations; Montana OPI, WCEA, and AdvancED.
Board Committees – Doodle Polls have been going out to assist with setting meeting times for committees and task forces. Shaun offered to assist all committee chairs with the doodle polls.
Home & School: Mallory Harris and Mary Kay Manuz are chairing Home & School this year. They have worked hard to plan something every month to do with the kids along with organizing volunteers. They have tried to tie each of their activities or events to the Beatitudes so that Home & School activities are supporting our Catholic identity.
Principal’s Meeting Items –
• Virtual Principal’s Meeting with Superintendent Uhl
o Once a month there is a virtual principal’s meeting with the other principals in the state
• Mayfair Special Project Discussion
• Enrollment Forms
o Being worked on for 2018-2019
• Sister Patricia Johansen
o She would like to work at BCS in the elementary school primarily
o Was at BCS before
o Semi-retired
• Issues with the new school – structurally
o Heating system
o Doors sealing tight
o List of items being worked on with Langlas
• Title Funding – Dr. Haggerty meeting in Helena
o FACTS Educational Services
• Danielle Watson, Education Director – MAP Assessment Scores
o Professional Development survey with staff
o Reviewing test scores and how to use assessments to drive instruction
Combined School Board and Foundation Board Executive Committee Meeting: The agenda from the combined executive board meeting was distributed to the Board.
Updating of Strategic Plan Document: An updated version of the 2013-2014 Strategic Plan will be sent to board members with updated outcomes. Once possible dates have been determined for the Strategic Planning session, Shaun will send out a doodle poll for a meeting time. Please remember fill out the SWOT analysis from Rita Turley by the 20th.
Next Meeting: The next Board meeting is scheduled for December 20th. If there is no need to meet, the Board will be advised in advance.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 5:55 pm.
Respectfully Submitted: Shaun Harrington, Billings Catholic Schools President