November 16, 2016, 4:00 pm

  • 1November 16, 2016, 4:00 pm

    Place: St. Patrick’s Co-Cathedral Conference Room

    Present:

    Ken Frazier, Chair

    Reverend Steve Zabrocki, Parish Representative

    Leo O’Brien

    Bucky Heringer

    Ashley Harada

    Brian McGovern

    Brittney Souza

    J. Miller

    Bob Cerkovnik

    Shaun Harrington, BCS President

    Jan Haider, Foundation President

    Kaitlin Overton, Finance Officer

    Kathy Harris, Marketing Dir./Enrollment Mgr.

    Shel Hanser, Principal BCCHS

    Opening Prayer:              Fr. Steve

    Approval of Minutes:

    Vote: Brian made a motion to approve the minutes from November 2, 2016 with revision.  Brittney seconded the motion.  Motion carried unanimously.

    Foundation Update:

    • Capital Campaign Update: The Foundation received a trust document that donated ½ of an estate to the Billings Area Catholic Education Trust to be used for such purposes as its trustees deem proper.  The Foundation Board voted to use the money for the new St. Francis School.  As of today, the funds collected for the new school, are 14.5 million leaving 3 million left to acquire for a debt free school.
    • Social / Print Media: Keziah has been doing a great job keeping the Foundation and the project in the forefront.  She sends an average of 3 to 4 emails per month connecting with an average of 900 to a 1000 individuals per email plus 17 Facebook posts per month.  In the past month, the Foundation contacted nearly 14,000 people.  All of the email, Facebook, and Twitter posts are carefully coordinated with current projects.
    • The Brockel’s Chocolate promotion started on November 8th.  They have received a lot of advertising from the Gazette and “Last Best News”.  Jacki, the owner, was surprised at how quickly they ran out of the promotional chocolates so they are planning to make more.
    • Prints and note cards are for sale on the Foundation website.  The notecards are $16.00 for 8 cards and the prints cost $75.00 each plus shipping and handling.  At Christmas the Foundation may ask Maria, the designer, to sign some of her work and those will be sold for a special price.
    • There will be an advertisement in this month’s Simply Family Magazine that will be followed-up by an editorial on St. Francis School in February.  Pat Newberry donated the use of 3 billboards for the month of February and that will be followed by a media blitz.  They will be on King Avenue, 6th Avenue North coming down from the heights, and 15th and Broadwater.  Pat will do design work.  There will be a picture of the school and it will say August 2017.  It will include a picture of 3 kids sitting at a table with 1 empty chair and will say, “There is room at our school.”  It will be tied in with the Facebook and email.  A billboard message has to be subliminal and able to be read quickly.

    Business Committee Report:

    It is important to note that due to a bank holiday and a printing error at First Interstate Bank the MasterCard statements were not completely received until November 14th. Therefore expenses and payables are understated by about $30,000 – $35,000.

    STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION – MONTH ENDED 10/31/2016

    Cash on hand is about $2,572,000 which is down about $119,000 from last year. Current assets are about $4,357,000 which is up about $210,000 from last year. Tuition, parish and bus receivables reduced in the current month by payments received. A/R BACET consists of October credit card expenses. Other A/R is mainly due from Scrip for last year’s profit. Tuition receivable is $280,000 higher than previous year. This is mainly due to more families participating in payment plans this year.

    Current liabilities are about $3,903,000 which is up $269,000 from last year. Accounts payable reduced in the current period however there are some October bills that have not been entered. Therefore this number is expected to increase.

    STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES – MONTH ENDED 10/31/2016

    Revenue before special projects is about $2,077,000 which is up about $31,000 from this time last year.  Tuition and registration fee revenue is about $22,000 under budget. Advertising sales revenue has met its annual budgeted amount. School Fundraising (Jog-A-thon) is under budget by about $10,700.

    Expenses before special projects are about $2,082,000 which is up about $12,000 from last year.  Admin/education supplies expense and technology expense are over budget by $13,900 and $6,547, respectively. Plant operations/supplies expense and transportation are under budget by $9,030 and $14,290, respectively.

    Net income year-to-date is $(363,980) which is down about $327,804 from last year.

    (327,804)

    + 360,000 Add back BCCHS Boiler & IPads project

    32,196       Adjusted Net Income Change from Oct 31, 2016 to Oct 31, 2015

    CASH FLOWS – MONTH ENDED 10/31/2016

    Tuition revenue, registration fees and interest income received for the year is approximately $2.75 million. Cash paid for Dorothy Porter, Mayfair Special project and Gergen Trust for the year is nearly $370,000.

    The cash flow from iPad repairs and the rental property for the year is currently negative.

    • Meeting: The committee is working on the budget for next year with a focus on the new St. Francis building. The committee’s previous meeting also included discussions of next year’s tuition and the cash management policy. The cash management policy was approved by the business committee during their last meeting on November 15, 2016. They are still working on building up BCS’s cash reserve.  The audit is finished and a draft will be received from the auditor.

    Marketing / Enrollment Report:

    • Signs: The revenue report for advertising and sign sales was presented to the Board.  A gift is given to the advertisers and this year they will receive it during the Christmas season.  The Board discussed the possibility of sign advertising in the St. Francis School gym.
    • Miscellaneous: Kathy went to the Billings Gazette advertising luncheon.  The business cards have been created and will be out soon.  There will be a new BCS logo.  Exit and entrance surveys will be sent out by email.  The registration form is being modified.  Registration opens the 3rd week in January.  Information is going out on Facebook about the new school.  The new website will be launched in January.
    • Best Practices:  BCS can learn from other schools how to increase enrollment as a result of building a new school.
    • Announcements: BCS Newsletter will be short with relevant content.  The All School Thanksgiving Mass will be Tuesday, November 22 at 9:30 am.  The next All System Mass will be Friday, February 3rd at 9:30 am.  Copies of the 2015-2016 high school annual were distributed.

    Catholic Culture Committee:

    The official CCC meeting was not held because there were only a few in attendances.  There was some discussion about PIR Day and how the teachers enjoy the interaction with the Priest’s panel.  The hope is to designate someone in each school to field religious questions.

    Central’s New Boiler Demonstration:  Shel gave the Board a demonstration on how the new boiler is controlled by computer.

    President’s Report:

    • Principal’s Meeting Minutes: Shaun will send the principal’s meeting minutes to the Board.  Shaun met with 2 of the school faculties and will meet with the others soon.  There will be meetings with the staff throughout the year to provide them with accurate information helping to prevent misinformation going out to the public.
    • The principals will meet every Tuesday at 9:00 am and Thursday at 1:00 pm.  It is a major project to get ready for transition to the new building.  Registration is in February and there are a lot of decisions to be made.  There will be several meetings with parents to keep them informed and get input from them.
    • The teachers may want to change the subject and/or grade level they currently teach and some will be deciding if they are planning to teach at St. Francis next year.  The teacher’s certifications have been listed and there may be opportunities to offer classes that are not available currently.
    • Service / Professional Organizations: Shaun has booked some speaking opportunities and is looking for more.
    • Discussions About St. Francis School: Any questions or concerns about the new building please let Shaun or Jan know.  The concerns are different per grade level.  Pick-up and drop-off areas and technique, the bus routes will be changing, and different age children being dropped off at the same time are some of the things that have been mentioned.  There will be multiple sessions to allow people the opportunity to learn what is happening and be able to state their concerns.  Some of their concerns may not be on the list and should be considered.  There will be several sessions at different locations and times so everyone has an opportunity to attend.

    December 21st Board Meeting: There is a Board meeting scheduled for December 21st.  That is the day school gets out for Christmas break and there is a BCS Staff Christmas party planned from 4:00 pm to 6:00 or 7:00 pm that day.

    Vote: Bucky made a motion to cancel the School Board meeting on December 21st.  Leo seconded the motion.  Motion approved unanimously.

    Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 5:23 pm.

    Respectfully Submitted:  Shaun Harrington, Billings Catholic Schools President