Approved Minutes of the St. John Brebeuf School Board Meeting
Of April 7, 2008

John Fenn called the school board meeting to order at 7:33 p.m. Father May said the opening prayer.  Roll call was taken.  In attendance were Sandy Bartley, Jerry Carsello, Jerry Cichon, John Fenn, Mark Gittings, Jean Mall, Father May, Diane Svachula and Margaret Whitman. Also in attendance were Sheila Ryan and Joanne Spata. Sandy Bartley made a motion to approve the March minutes and Jean Mall seconded the motion.

Faculty Report:

• Seventh grade teachers Miss Siwiec and Mrs.Bargamian were in attendance.
• The 7th grade Pre-Algebra class finished a unit on Geometry about 3 weeks ago. Miss Siwiec passed out samples of a project the class had to do, which was illustrate Geometry in nature.
• Mrs. Bargamian teaches Reading and Science. The children are reading The Giver.
• The 7th graders have a field trip on 4/29; they will see the play The Giver.
• Four students have qualified to go to State for the Science Fair which is May 3rd. The banquet is May 2nd. Miss Siwiec is going to go along to be a judge. Mrs. Bargamian will work at the information table.
• Eighth grade is working on the respiratory system.  They had to make anti-smoking posters.
• Mrs. Bargamian brought mints for the School Board members which she used for a Science experiment regarding energy.
• John Fenn brought up that he thinks the Volleyball tournaments should be set up separate from the Science Fair Regional.

Principal’s Report (written report distributed):

• Registration Enrollment – We have 447 registered and we budgeted for 460.
• Third quarter report cards were sent home today.  We hold report cards if tuition is not current, state required dental forms are not handed in and if the Fundraising Fee has not been paid.  All of the families have paid the fundraising fee however some report cards were held for tuition and dental forms.
• I have completed and submitted the necessary paperwork for the Health and Safety Grant from the State of Illinois.  The grant is based on our best three months average daily attendance in the 06-07 school year.  This attendance number was 418 and the dollar amount is around $30 per student which would be about $12,540.
• There is a balance of $118, 862.00 in the Gala account.
• Mrs. Stachura let me know that she will not be returning to SJB next year.  She is taking a position at Northside Catholic Academy as their Director of Curriculum and Instruction.  At this point, I have set up interviews with three people who are interested in the position.
• Upcoming Events: The school will be practicing our emergency plan for tornados tomorrow, April 8th, in order to be prepared for the storm season ahead of us.
• The teachers will attend an Inservice Day on April 18th.  Dr. Joe Whelan will conduct a workshop entitled: “Strategies to Ensure that All Student Can Learn.”
• The 5th grade will have its Invention Convention on April 17th, the Civil War Fair is on the 22nd, the students will see a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar on the 25th made possible by P/SA funds and the 8th grade will be visiting Springfield on April 29th.
• The April Family Mass will be on the 27th.  Sr. Carol Ann will also be celebrating her 50th anniversary as a Franciscan Sister at the Mass.  There will be a reception following.
• We have hired a teacher for Spanish next year.  She will be at St. Cornelius School on Monday and Tuesday each week and here on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  This will be a full time position between the two schools.  If the schedule works out, we plan to have two class periods a week for 6th, 7th and 8th grade and one period a week for 1st through 5th grade.  We may add Kindergarten after the year gets going and we see how the schedule is working.
• The 6th, 7th and 8th grades will have one class period in the Computer Lab with Miss Bubis next year instead of two.  This, along with other times when the lab isn’t being used, will leave open times when the classroom teachers can take their students to the lab to work.  Miss Bubis can be a resource person if needed during that time or take care of other technology issues in the building.  
• We are going to need some additional time in the school day in order to accommodate the time for Spanish.  In order to do this we are going to add 10 minutes to the end of each school day for next year. 

Pastor's Report :

• Holy Week and Easter went very well.  We had very good crowds at all the services.  We did well on our collections.
• This Saturday is Jesus Day for the 2nd graders at 1:30.
• First Communion is 5/10.
• Gladd First Communion is 4/19.
• April 20th is Confirmation at 3:00.  The interviews for Confirmation with the staff take place this Wednesday and Thursday.
• Priesthood Ordination is on 5/17. It will be held at St. Juliana’s.
• Andy Beierwaltes will be ordained a Deacon on 5/25.
• Father Tom’s 25th Anniversary of Ordination is on 6/1.

Treasurer's Report :

• No Report.

President's Report:

• John passed out the latest bid on the windows.
• John is going to call regarding the small separation between the gym doors.

P/SA Report:

• Teachers Wish List is done. 
• The Dutch Mill Bulbs was successful.  It brought in $800 to the P/SA.
• The General Meeting is on 4/30. It is the first time the meeting will include children.  There will be a presentation by Dr. Cool & Pride.  They deliver a message about socialization, bullying, etc.  It involves parents and children.
• If children and parents come to the General Meeting they will get a Fun Fair ticket for $5.00.
• The Fish Frys were enjoyed by all.

Athletic Association Report:

• The gym doors are in.
• Volleyball play-offs start tomorrow.  We are hosing them.  We have one 6th grade boys team and 2 sixth grade girls’ teams, 2 seventh and 1 eighth grade team are all in the play-offs.
• Registration for Track and Softball went out.

Business Manager Report:

• We have ordered the new sign.  It should be operative as of June 1st.
• We are going to have new steps and a handicap accessible ramp put in by the Rectory.
• Our parking lot will have to have some potholes repaired.
• Calendar meeting will be very soon.
• Father May’s mass has been changed to June 1st at 3:00.

Grants Report:

• Bob has put in for another grant and we are waiting for money from Wal-Mart.

Alumni Report:

• No Report

Legislative Report:

• No Report.

Maintenance Report:

• No Report.

Marketing Committee:

• No Report.

Teacher's Fund Report:

• Sandy reported for Jean.  Hot Dog Day’s profit was $1,106.40. Taco Bell Day is May 7th.

Technology Report:

• No Report – Technology has a meeting tomorrow.

Budget Report:

• No Report – John brought up that we need to write letters to the Pastors from OLR, St. Isaac Jogues and St. Martha’s to let them know that the difference between parishioner and non-parishioners has to be paid by those churches.

New Business:

• An Election Committee needs to be set up and run the election. Diane will run the election and Jean will help her.

Audience Participation:

• Katherine Gittings read a letter to the Board regarding a request for lockers for Grades 5 through 8.

• The Board said they will take it under consideration next year. They will put it on the Agenda next year.

Adjournment:

• The meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m. Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Mark Gittings and was seconded by Jerry Cichon. The next scheduled School Board meeting will be on Monday, May 5, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in the Parish Ministry Building, room C21.