School Unification Minutes

View minutes from June 16, 2010
View minutes from May 19, 2010
View minutes from May 4, 2010
View minutes from April 13, 2010
View minutes from March 23, 2010
View minutes from February 25, 2010
View minutes from January 28, 2010
View minutes from January 14, 2009

School Unification Meeting Minutes – June 16th, 2010

Attending: Father Tony Oelrich, Father Ron Weyrens, Joe Ackerman, Erin Hatlestad, Jeff Bemboom, Karla Fleming, Michelle Voit, Ann Cofell, Paul Daniel, Jill Weber, Bob Hengel, Bob Zawacki and Linda Kaiser

Missing: Troy Poetz

Next Meeting: Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 6:30am at St. Katharine Drexel School – St. Cloud Campus

Prayer

Meeting was held in Executive Session. Issues discussed were updates from individual committees and discussion of Principal’s job description and responsibilities. Additionally, a time line was established to keep on top of all items that need addressing in the upcoming months.

Meeting was adjourned.

Submitted by: Michelle Voit
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School Unification Meeting Minutes – May 19th, 2010

Attending: Father Tony Oelrich, Father Ron Weyrens, Joe Ackerman, Erin Hatlestad, Jeff Bemboom, Karla Fleming, Michelle Voit, Ann Cofell, Paul Daniel, Troy Poetz, Jill Weber and Bob Hengel

Missing: Bob Zawacki and Linda Kaiser

Next Meeting: Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 6:30am at St. Katharine Drexel School – St. Cloud Campus

Prayer

Open Forum – no one in attendance.

Transportation –No updates

Finance –Committee met and looked at corporate bylaws – still a work in progress.

Parish subsidy – Fr. Tony pointed out that the parishes are willing to pay every penny they can, but still need to respect budgets.

Communication – May newsletter is in progress and will be distributed before the end of the school year. The newsletter will continue over the summer.

Erin is currently working with Bridge Light – a website company. The new school website should be up and running by July 1st.

Logo – Tim Mortensen from Agency 128, a local design firm, presented the committee with a few options. The logo was decided on. The letterhead for stationary, envelopes, etc. still needs some discussion, so the Communications committee will work on that. (It was later decided to involve the entire Unification Committee via e-mail).

Administration – Erin reported that the PAA representatives from both schools have met and are getting bids on t-shirts/uniforms for the upcoming fall seasons. The teams will be combined as St. Katharine Drexel School in the fall. Bids are being obtained from Image Builders, GameDay Athletics and Centennial Sports.

The students will be brought together again on Friday for a mass and fun day at St. Mary’s/St. Augustine’s.

Next year Erin will name lead teachers for each campus to help with any issues that come up when Erin is not physically at that school.

School Governing Structure – At this point, the pastors and business administrators are leaning toward incorporation. This would include:
• Corporate Board – which consists of the Bishop, the Vicar General, both pastors and 1 trustee from each parish
• Board of Directors – which consists of 7-11 total members, with each parish having representation
• Committee – these would be added as need be for specific tasks (for example, fundraising)

An “agreement” document will cover this for the first year. School Advisory Councils will be eliminated. Many of these members will be asked to serve on other committees.

Transition- Some ideas have been suggested to celebrate the transition to one school. One idea is a Sacred Heart School All-School Reunion. Another idea is a tribute to the legacy schools that will be housed in the St. Katharine Drexel School. The Legacy Committee will be headed by Joe Ackerman and Erin Hatlestad.

Executive Session

Meeting was adjourned.

The motion was made by Fr. Tony Oelrich and seconded by Erin Hatlestad to approve the minutes of the May 19th meeting.

Submitted by: Michelle Voit

School Unification Meeting Minutes – May 4th, 2010
Attending: Father Tony Oelrich, Father Ron Weyrens, Joe Ackerman, Erin Hatlestad, Jeff Bemboom, Karla Fleming, Michelle Voit, Ann Cofell, Paul Daniel, Linda Kaiser, Troy Poetz and Jill Weber

Missing: Bob Hengel and Bob Zawacki

Next Meeting: Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 6:30am at St. Augustine’s/St. Mary’s School

Prayer

Jill Weber was introduced as the newest member of the committee. Biography available on website.

Open Forum – no one in attendance. It was discussed whether meeting should be closed to the public, due to sensitive issues coming up. After discussion, it was decided to keep the meetings open, as they currently are, with the closed executive session an option if needed.

NCEA – Erin reported that we are moving forward with the five best practices that were discussed at the last meeting. Erin is in regular communication with the Consultant for the Catholic School Development Program.

Transportation –Joe Ackerman reported that he has spoken with Kim Eisenschenk, District 47 Business Manager, and the decision District 47 made to do a study for us using the existing student population, to determine an estimated cost to transport Sauk Rapids students to the current St. Aug’s/St. Mary’s campus was over-ruled and now we are starting over with ideas. Joe had spoken with Tami Spanier and their rates are much lower. Erin suggested we move forward and look into more local companies.

Other discussion included:
• two start/end times not real feasible
• possible reduced fees for after school programs
• purchase a bus?
• offering breakfast

Transportation remains a major issue and the discussion will be continued.

Finance – Bob Zawacki and Joe Ackerman met and started the process to combine the budgets for the 2011-2012 school year. This is an ongoing process and they will continue to meet and work on those numbers to get a potential proposed budget.

Regarding the establishment of a corporation, Tom Mathews, a St. Aug’s parishioner and Tom Janson, a legal consultanat, continue to provide guidance. Right now, the three parishes are leaning toward creating a corporation for the newly combined school.

Goal is that July 1, 2011 the new corporation will be in place.

Salary and benefits scale will need to be consolidated and the Articles of Incorporation are being looked into.

Administration – Erin Hatlestad, Troy Poetz and Paul Daniel met regarding the advisory council. This is temporarily on hold while it is decided if we will be incorporated and have a corporate board instead. Paul Daniel recommended that if there is still a joint advisory board, it be comprised of 3 members representing St. Augustine’s, 3 members representing Sacred Heart, and 1 member representing St. Mary’s. He recommended this be in place by July 1st, 2010. The pastors will consider this information and discussion will continue at the next meeting.

Marketing –The first newsletter was published and was very positively received. Erin will put another one together this month, to distribute before the end of the school year.

Principal – Calendar was presented. St. Katharine Drexel School St. Cloud Campus and Sauk Rapids Campus both have very similar start and end dates. Calendars are very similar.

Students from both campuses will be coming together at the St. Aug’s/St. Mary’s site later this month. Adults will be invited for the mass.

May 27th is May Fest.

PAA and Knowledge Bowl will be combining for next year.

Erin also shared the results of the survey. Many of the concerns are the same for both campuses. Results will be addressed briefly in each newsletter.

Tuition – Fr. Ron presented 4 possible scenarios:
• Set tuition – parish subsidy automatically given
• Set tuition – parish subsidy is a scholarship for those who apply
• Pure stewardship – service + stewardship to parish
• Faith-Based Covenant – parents are told the cost and invest what they can

St. Aug’s/St. Mary’s currently uses a set tuition and Sacred Heart uses the Faith Based Covenant. Coincidentally both schools average about $2200/student. After a lengthy discussion, it was decided that the tuition model for the 2011-2012 school year will be the Faith-Based Covenant.

Executive Session

Meeting was adjourned.

Minutes approved by Jeff Bemboom and seconded by Jill Weber.

Submitted by: Michelle Voit
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School Unification Meeting Minutes – April 13, 2010
Attending: Father Tony Oelrich, Father Ron Weyrens, Joe Ackerman, Bob
Zawacki, Erin Hatlestad, Jeff Bemboom, Karla Fleming, Michelle Voit, Ann Cofell, Paul Daniel and Linda Kaiser

Absent: Bob Hengel, Troy Poetz and Michelle Sauer

Next Meeting: Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 6:00pm at Sacred Heart Church

Prayer

Open Forum – no one chose to speak.

Transportation – Bob Zawacki reported that he and Joe Ackerman spoke with Kim Eisenschenk, District 47 Business Manager and Greg Vandal, current District 47 Superintendent. This fall District 47 will do a study for us using the existing student population, to determine an estimated cost to transport Sauk Rapids students to the current St. Aug’s/St. Mary’s campus.

Finance –Joe Ackerman reported that the budgets are still being worked on for the 2010-2011 school year. Because this is so dependent on enrollment, it is difficult to get it finalized prior to having final enrollment numbers. The goal is to meld budgets to see what the budget will look like for the 2011-2012 school year.
Joe also reported that he, Bob Zawacki, Fr. Ron and Fr. Tony met with local attorney Tom Matthews regarding the option of creating a corporation for the merged school. Tom is recommending the creation of a corporation at this time. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is an example of an area school that is incorporated.. This is a matter that needs some more discussion and no decisions will be rushed into.

Administration – Erin Hatlestad reported that the joint School Advisory Council is meeting immediately following this meeting for the first time. A unified School Advisory Council will be in place by July 1st, 2010.
Additionally, cafeteria staffs are meeting on Friday, April 16 to discuss menus for the 2010-2011 school year. They would like to have a unified menu for the coming school year.
A joint Home and School meeting will be held in May.
There will be 1-2 additional activities to bring the current students from each school together throughout the remaining school year.
Name – Fr. Tony introduced the new name for the unified school:
St. Katharine Drexel Catholic School.
Additionally, he and Fr. Ron gave a short biography of St. Katharine Drexel.

The meeting then was moved to the Executive Session

Meeting was adjourned.

Bob Zawacki moved to approve the minutes. Ann Cofell seconded the motion.

Submitted by: Michelle Voit
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School Unification Meeting Minutes – March 23, 2010
Attending: Father Tony Oelrich, Father Ron Weyrens, Joe Ackerman, Bob
Zawacki, Erin Hatlestad, Jeff Bemboom, Karla Fleming, Bob Hengel, Michelle Voit, Ann Cofell, Michelle Sauer, Troy Poetz, Paul Daniel and Linda Kaiser

Next Meeting: Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 5:30pm at Sacred Heart Church

Prayer

Transportation – Bob Zawacki spoke with Kim Eisenschenk, District 47 Business Manager. She knows of no time limit for children riding the bus, nor is she aware of any bussing changes for the 2010-2011 school year. Additionally, the bill in legislation regarding bussing for non-public schools has made no progress. This issue will continue to be looked at, although because we are still over a year away from one campus, it is difficult to have any concrete information.

Calendar – Erin reported that both District 742 and District 47 have approved a calendar for next school year. The calendars are very similar, with the differences between the two being 742’s spring break week and then 3 additional days. The area Catholic schools are having their principal’s meeting Thursday, March 25th – calendars will be discussed then. Erin and Pat Lindeman will continue to work on developing one calendar for the 2010-2011 school year.

Finance – Joe Ackerman reported that he, Erin and Bob Zawacki met on March 4th regarding budgets. For the 2010-2011 school year there will be 2 separate budgets – one for each campus.

Tom Janson, a local attorney, will look at the teacher’s contracts from each campus to begin the process of combining these documents.

Parish subsidy for the school is also being explored. Currently both parishes are looking at a subsidy based on parish income rather than student enrollment.

Joe also reported that Sharon Bichler, principal at Saints Peter, Paul and Michael, shared documents regarding the legal set-up of their school. SPPM is not a corporation, but a separate entity. A meeting will be set up with Tom Mathews, a local attorney, regarding the advantages and disadvantages of setting up a corporation.

Administration – Erin reported that the joint School Advisory Council will meet on Tuesday, April 13th at 7pm for the first time. Erin has met with many of the different areas to get a feel of similarities and differences within each. She will meet with Food Service next, as both campuses would like to be on the same menu for the 2010-2011 school year.

Regarding curriculum, the standards on both campuses are very similar – the delivery different. Erin is working with both staffs on a plan for budgeting for textbooks for a unified curriculum. These efforts will continue as we move into next fall.

Enrollment for Sacred Heart for the 2010-2011 school year is 150 students (down 20 from the current year). However, as of now, only 4 families have not enrolled specifically because of the merger.

Committee Name – Fr. Tony moved that we keep the School Unification Committee name. This was seconded by Michelle Sauer and approved by all.

Mission – Committee looked over the revised Mission Statement provided by Troy Poetz. Troy will make minor changes. A final revised copy of the Mission Statement is attached.

Marketing – Karla Fleming reported that the feedback given by the group regarding the first draft of the survey and the elimination of the time frame was very helpful. The purpose of the survey was reviewed (to gain knowledge on how parents are feeling and to move forward with helpful ideas – not intended to field complaints). The Marketing Committee then met Tuesday evening and the revised survey will be sent home with students this week.

It was decided that a school name must be decided upon. A call for additional submissions will be put in the three parish bulletins with a deadline of April 9th. A request for name submissions is also found on the survey.

Executive Session – It was decided that as decisions are made and confidentiality becomes more essential, this group will need to go into a closed executive session at times. Additionally, future meetings will start with an open forum. There will be a two minute time limit per person, and the open forum will last 10 minutes.

School Advisory/Board – Paul Daniel reported on some suggestions for the make-up of the new school advisory council. He recommended 8 people (4 from St. Augustine’s/St. Mary’s Cathedral and 4 from Sacred Heart). Additionally, specific by-laws need to be established. He will assist Erin, Troy Poetz, and a member of Sacred Heart’s Advisory Council in creating those by-laws and will bring them to the next meeting.

Tuition – Father Ron explained the three main tuition philosophies
• Set tuition – specific cost set and paid
• Covenant – specific cost set – parents need to figure out how to cover it and apply for aid for what they cannot cover
• Faith-Based – (variation of “fair share”) at registration parents are given the per pupil cost. Through prayerful discernment, recognizing how God has blessed them and considering their financial situation, they make an investment in their child’s education.

Fr. Tony also explained “no tuition” where the cost is completely parish covered, and parents are stewards to the parish.

These philosophies should be thought over and will be discussed at the next meeting.

Meeting was adjourned.

Bob Zawacki moved to approve the minutes. Ann Cofell seconded the motion.

Submitted by: Michelle Voit
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School Unification Meeting Minutes – February 25th, 2010

Attending: Father Tony Oelrich, Father Ron Weyrens, Joe Ackerman, Bob
Zawacki, Erin Hatlestad, Jeff Bemboom, Karla Fleming, Bob Hengel, Michelle Voit, Ann Cofell, Michelle Sauer, Troy Poetz, Paul Daniel and Linda Kaiser

Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 6:30am at St. Augustine’s / St. Mary’s School

Prayer

Minutes –The minutes were looked over. New approval system worked well – will continue to be used.

Transportation – Joe Ackerman, Bob Hengel and Bob Zawacki met a couple of times since the last committee meeting. The results of the bussing survey are as follows:

Currently at St. Mary’s/St. Aug’s : 13 students ride the bus in the morning
15 ride the bus in the afternoon
(on average)
Currently at Sacred Heart - 48 students ride the bus in the morning
63 ride the bus in the afternoon
(on average)

The big issue right now is the current bill in K-12 Education Finance Committee regarding all non-public transportation (Bill H.F.2910). This could impact bussing for all non-public students for the 2010-2011 school year.

A dual school day (with two start/end times) is a possibility and discussions with bus companies are ongoing. A question was raised on time limits regarding bus rides, and that is something that needs to be looked into. Joe, Bob and Bob will continue to work on transportation and another report will be given at the next meeting.

Calendar – Erin reported that District 742’s calendar is not set yet, as it is tied to current contract negotiations. District 47 has set their calendar for 2010-2011. Erin will continue to monitor this area.

Finance – Bob Hengel reported that he has been exploring the legal aspects of the merged school, including transportation and the structure. Tom Matthews, a local attorney is working with Joe Ackerman and will volunteer time to work with the finance subcommittee to look at some of the legal issues. Not all merged schools have a legal set-up/organization, so it is something that needs to be looked at and considered.

Regarding wages and benefits – Benefits are a common package through the diocese. The salary matrixes between the two schools are similar and it will be feasible to combine those matrixes.

Marketing – Karla Fleming and Jeff Bemboom reported that they felt before any marketing could go forward, the fears and concerns of the current parents at both schools need to be addressed. This belief is supported by the letter Jeff Bemboom forwarded to all Committee members after last meeting. It was decided that a parent survey asking for constructive concerns, feedback, ideas and solutions would be an effective way to address this issue.
• Jeff and Karla will put together a larger committee (Survey Committee) with parent names given by Erin Hatlestad and Troy Poetz
• That committee will meet and put together a sample survey addressing such issues as – constructive concerns, ideas, solutions, possible school name suggestions, best way to get information to parents and to answer parent questions, etc.
• The sample survey will be sent out to the Merger Committee members to look at and respond to before the survey is sent to parents
• This will be done as soon as possible (next few weeks) to keep parents on top of situation

Communication – covered by survey idea

Administration – Erin reported that she is making strides to bring staff together and help them to get to know one another. This is an ongoing effort.

Registration – Numbers look okay at both schools for next year. Still in progress.

Mission – Committee looked over Mission Statement provided by Troy Poetz. It was decided that the first paragraph was actually the Mission Statement and the rest of the document was the school philosophy. Small wording changes were made and a copy of the revised Mission Statement and School Philosophy is attached to these minutes.

School Advisory/Board – It was reported that both school advisory councils are struggling regarding what their role is at this time/what they should be working on. After discussion, it was decided that these two councils should be merged as soon as possible. Erin and Troy will work on getting both groups together. The make-up of the new school board will be on the agenda for next time. Paul Daniel has experience with this from a past merger and will work with the School Advisory boards as needed.

School Name – The results of the student survey for school names:
Sacred Saints
Followers of Jesus Catholic School
Holy Angels
Holy Trinity
Amazing Grace
Flowing River School
Guardian Angel
St. Ambrose

Naming the merged school is an ongoing issue and will be included in the survey Karla and Jeff put together.

Tuition – because each current school is keeping their same tuition model for 2010-2011 school year, this is not pressing and will be discussed at the next meeting.

Meeting was adjourned.

Jeff Bemboom moved the approval of minutes sent out. The motion to approve the minutes was seconded by Paul Daniel. Minutes were approved with some changes suggested by Bob Zawacki.

Submitted by: Michelle Voit

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School Unification Meeting Minutes – January 28th, 2010

Attending: Father Tony Oelrich, Father Ron Weyrens, Joe Ackerman, Bob
Zawacki, Erin Hatlestad, Pat Lindeman, Jeff Bemboom, Karla Fleming, Bob Hengel, Michelle Voit, Ann Cofell, Michelle Sauer, Troy Poetz

Missing: Paul Daniel

Next Meeting: Thursday, February 25th, 2010 8:00pm at Sacred Heart School

Prayer

Minutes – A new policy will be used. Michelle Voit will type up the minutes and send them to Father Ron. Father Ron will send out to the entire committee and keep track of who has and hasn’t responded. Committee members will have 48 hours to approve minutes once Father Ron sends them out. If no response is received, that is assumption of approval. The minutes will then be posted on the parish and school websites.

Transportation – Joe and Bob Z. had 3 meetings regarding bussing since last meeting (one with Bruce Larson-MTN Bus Service, two with Tami Spanier-Spanier Bus). Tami Spanier visited with Scott Dahlin – District 742 before her second meeting with Joe and Bob Z.

Joe and Bob provided members with a detailed hand-out of information on the transportation issues. Issues seem to be involved with start/end times tying in to public schools to help bus transfers work (especially in the afternoon) and right now Sauk Rapids students do not ride the bus with the middle school or high school students. It was pointed out that this is NOT a normal set-up in the state of Minnesota, but obviously Sacred Heart parents really like it and would prefer to keep it that way. Before any decisions can be made, we will need to see the specific numbers on how many students ride busses.

Clearly, this issue is a priority and needs to be investigated further. A sub-committee will be formed, headed by Bob Z. and Joe. They will find others (including educators) to help them with this area.

Calendar – Pat and Erin are currently waiting on District 742’s calendar for 2010-2011. District 47’s is close, but not finalized either. Erin and Pat indicated that Cathedral High School needs to be involved in the calendar as well, but they, too, are waiting on District 742. Currently, Sacred Heart and St. Aug’s/St. Mary’s calendars are VERY similar – so merging to one calendar should not be too difficult.

Mission – copies of the current mission statements for both Sacred Heart and St. Aug’s/St. Mary’s were provided to all the committee members. After brief discussion, Troy Peotz volunteered to work on combining the statements. This is a priority issue, as parents will need to see this. Troy will bring a combined statement to the next meeting.

Issues – Father Ron grouped the issues identified – members agreed with groupings, but noted that changes may need to be made as time goes on.

Groups:

Marketing	Finance	Communication/Community
prayer	prayer	prayer
registration	budget	listening sessions
marketing	transportation	public relations
recruiting	wages/benefits	communication
development	facility	rumors
fundraising	subsidy	grieving/farewell to building
endowment		blending cultures

Unification Committee Administration
prayer policies prayer
mission/vision CEM curriculum
governance St. Francis Xavier technology
CHS/J23 St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Kindergarten 2010-11
parish identity/support public school districts before/after school
faith formation/worship language/message programs
history staffing SJU/CSB/SCSU
Newman legal hot lunch
tuition models name preschool program
calendar 2 bldgs/ 1 principal
1 bldg/ 1 principal

Sub-Committees were set up as follows:
Marketing – Jeff Bemboom and Karla Fleming
Finance - Bob Zawacki, Bob Hengel and Joe Ackerman
Communication – Troy Poetz, Michelle Sauer, Michelle Voit
Administration – Erin Hatlestad and Pat Lindeman

Erin and Pat will continue working together on the calendar and also will involve the students in the naming process for the new unified school.

Next time: reports on calendar, mission statement, transportation, naming, and each group will apply items to the timeline.

Bob Zawacki made the motion for Ann Cofell to be the chairperson for the group. Jeff Bemboom seconded the motion. Ann accepted.

Troy Poetz moved that these minutes be approved. Ann Cofell seconded the motion.

Submitted by: Michelle Voit
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School Unification Meeting Minutes – January 14th, 2010

Next Meeting: Thursday, January 28th, 2010 7:00pm at Sacred Heart School

Prayer

Introductions – a short bio of each committee member will be created to share with parishioners

Selection of Chairperson and Secretary: Michelle Voit volunteered to take notes during meetings and write up the minutes to be approved by the committee members. Only approved minutes will be published. Erin Hatlestad offered to serve as chairperson and conduct the meetings.

Discussion of the mission of the Merger Committee:
Mission reads as follows, “The Committee is to provide leadership throughout the school merger time by being a center of communication for parishioners, discerning issues connected to merger, identifying the means of addressing those issues and coordinating the personal and material resources through which those issues are to be resolved. The committee is consultative to the pastors, who will be accountable for those decisions.”
• members agreed with this statement and stressed the importance of communication with parish members throughout the merger process
• approved minutes of all meetings will be made public as soon as possible following the meetings.

Issues were identified that need to be addressed in the merger:
(these are not listed in any order of importance)

• transportation	• legal issues/structure	• budget/tuition
• hot lunch	• registration	• Kindergarten next year
• curriculum	• after school programs	• staffing/wages/HR
• communication/PR	• calendar	• rumors
• policies	• technology	• school mission
• CHS/J23 involvement	• governing	• CEM (Linda Kaiser will help)
• prayer	• language	• name
• grieving/farewell to building	• facility issues/space	• blending cultures
• endowment/subsidy	• preschool program	• marketing/recruiting
• 2 buildings/1 principal	• development	• parish identity/support
• fundraising	• listening sessions – parents

With these issues in mind, it was decided that registration and transportation were the most pressing to deal with immediately.

With regards to registration, it was decided that due to time constraints, the 2010-2011 school year will be approached as:
• 1 system with two separate campuses
• Both Sacred Heart and St. Augustine’s/St. Mary’s will be listed on registration forms
• each parish will continue to sponsor the tuition model used before the merger
• Students (incoming or existing) may register to attend either campus for the 2010-2011 school year and adhere to the tuition model their home parish is currently using

The goal for the 2011-2012 school year is 1 building, 1 budget.

Before the next meeting:
• Bob Zawacki and Joe Ackerman will consult with bus companies to discuss options and ideas to make the transportation issue feasible for Sacred Heart students that will need bussing to the merged school. This is a priority and will be discussed more in depth at the next meeting.
• Erin Hatlestad and Pat Lindeman will work on calendar issues for 2010-2011 school year and proceed with registration and open house planning.
• Other Committee Members will look over list of issues and bring ideas for additional committees to the next meeting.

Submitted by: Michelle Voit