January 18, 2017
Time: 4:00 pm
Place: St. Patrick’s Co-Cathedral Conference Room
Present:
Ken Frazier, Chair
Karen Fagg, Vice Chair
Reverend Steve Zabrocki, Parish Representative
Leo O’Brien
Mary Susan Fishbaugh
Ashley Harada
Brian McGovern
AJ Miller
Bob Cerkovnik
Shaun Harrington, BCS President
Jan Haider, Foundation President
Kaitlin Overton, Finance Officer
Bruce St. Clair, Director of Technology
Kathy Harris, Marketing Dir./Enrollment Mgr.
Shel Hanser, Principal BCCHS
Deb Hayes, Principal SFP
Opening Prayer: Brian
Approval of Minutes:
Vote: Bob made a motion to approve the minutes from January 4, 2017. Brian seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Foundation Update:
Capital Campaign:
St. Francis School is progressing well. Shelly Engels with Integrus will be in town next week from Seattle and will meet with the principals to finalize the furniture, and build a wish list of items they may want but will need additional funding for. The Campaign Leadership Team met last week after taking 2 months off to reenergize the group. Tours will be conducted with major donors to thank them and with prospective donors to encourage them to participate.
Jock Michelotti and David Charles will be meeting with Greg Hatley today or tomorrow to discuss the legal action needed to sell the Fratt building. Dani Emery has identified over 300 heirs with addresses though out the United States.
The Billboards will be in place on February 1, and a media blitz will be conducted to encourage enrollment with the same image via email, pamphlets, US mail and social media.
The construction loan from the Diocese was approved by the Foundation Board at a special meeting on January 11. 9.5 million dollars have been spent to date and there is still 500,000 in cash, so there may need to be draws next month. Tiffany at 1st Interstate, who is handling the Lana Favero Trust, is confident they will be distributing the funds in March.
Anniversary:
January 19th is Ziggy and Stella Ziegler’s 60 wedding anniversary, if you would like to send them a note of congratulations. Jazsaz33@Q.com
Year-End Appeal:
In December the Foundation received nearly 1 million dollars between year-end, annual fund and capital campaign payments on pledges.
Mayfair:
Plans for Mayfair are well underway. The first donation solicitation letters will be sent out in the next couple of weeks. Committees will start meeting regularly next month.
Business Committee:
The tuition task force presented a 2017-2018 tuition proposal to the Business Committee. The Business Committee approved it and brought it to the School Board for final discussion and approval. Two proposals were discussed at the task force meetings. There was the standard tier system that has been used by BCS in previous year and the new system based on cost to educate and child and other income combined. The task force decided to move forward with the second option.
Under the cost to educate model tuition is lowered across all grade levels. Additionally majority of our automatic discounts (multiple child and tier) are removed. These discounts are replaced with scholarships that families apply for either via an application or Smart Aid. Families with an adjusted gross income lower than $100,000 or families with three or more children may apply for a Billings Catholic Schools’ scholarship.
The funds received from Mayfair and BACET this year will be used as scholarships for FY17-18. Therefore it is possible that there may not be any scholarship funds available for families who miss the scholarship application deadline. Therefore families, who enroll and/or apply for financial aid late, may be negatively affected by the plan. However, tuition review will still be available.
There are 2 concerns with the change in the tuition process. The first is how parents will perceive the change and meeting BCS budget needs. The Board decided that the use of the term “Cost to Educate” was incorrect since the formula is offsetting cost with other income received by BCS. Administrative staff will remove this working from tuition schedule. Kaitlin provided a handout that compares the total projected revenue for the two options which shows that both models predict roughly the same total tuition revenue.
Shaun read a statement from Great Falls Central Catholic High School that stated their school was eliminating the tier system and replacing it with 8 per cent of the family annual adjusted gross income but no more than the cost of education starting with 2018-2019.
Vote: Mary Susan made a motion to approve the proposed tuition plan with a change in wording. Leo seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Preschool and Daycare Fees: With the many unknown factors in the upcoming year, Kaitlin proposes a 5% increase in the preschool fees. The time options will remain the same with an exception that 1 day of care has been added. The Business Committee has reviewed and approved the proposal.
Vote: Karen made a motion to approve the Preschool and Daycare Fee schedule presented. Mary Susan seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Preschool: There are currently 51 students in Kindergarten at BCS. Montessori has a waiting list for their early education. The parents are asked for a 2 to 3 year commitment. A full day preschool in 2018-2019 was proposed. It will be a priority discussion during planning for next year.
Marketing/Enrollment Report:
Upcoming Events: There is a preschool fair at the public library that Kathy will attend to represent BCS. January 25th current BCS families’ registration will open and everyone else will start registration on February 1st.
The awards nominations are available and will be given February 3rd. Over 80 nominations have been received. Invitations to Discovery Night will be distributed at the Religious Education classes. There are yard signs available to advertise Discovery Night.
Catholic Culture Committee:
The Catholic Culture Committee report will be given at the next Board meeting.
Introduction: Bruce St. Clair was introduced to the Board as the new Director of Technology.
President’s Report:
Pre-K and Daycare – Architectural Review: There was an architectural review of the SFI building for its transition to the Pre-K and Daycare. Most things are appropriate for that age group. There will be a few sinks installed and a fence placed around the playground. The playground equipment at SFP cannot be moved without damage but the set at SFI is age appropriate.
Parent/Stakeholder Informational Meetings: There was good attendance at the meetings. The parents had great questions. People who had attended Catholic schools in other areas had suggestions on how to handle the pick-up and drop-off logistics. The parents appreciated having the opportunity to discuss the plans.
CEEDAR Grant: The grant will give teachers options to enhance their technological skills. There is a possibility of sending 5 teachers to Bozeman for summer training at the Montana Behavior Initiative Institute.
Title Funding: The funds will remain the same. The title money will be used for Math180, teacher training, coaching Math 180, and increased licenses.
Downtown Exchange: Shaun spoke to the Downtown Exchange. Several people took the handouts with them. The facts and information Shaun presented was very surprising to many of those who attended.
Discovery Night – February 1st – At 5:00: The next Board meeting will be at the BCCHS library. Discovery Night will be after the meeting and it will give the Board members a chance to meet the public.
New Business:
SFP Closure Due to Waterline: Tuesday morning SFP did not have water. The school had to be closed because the boilers run on water and they had to be shut down. The closure was announced on TV, Radio, and School Messenger. There was no damage to the building or SFP property.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 6:00 pm.
Respectfully Submitted: Shaun Harrington, Billings Catholic Schools President