OCTOBER 8 MEETING

Attended by LaChon Richardson, Cindy Philapil, Joanna Hernandez, Karen O'Reilly, Richard Conway, Peggy Daley, Elizabeth Ristaino, CarmenLopez, Monique Perez-Jones, Annette Caneda, Lisa Twaronite Sone, Tom Dooher ---- and special guests Sister Maureen Hilliard, executive director of the Alliance of Mission District Catholic Schools (AMDCS),and Julie Clemmons, advancement director for Alliance.

Main agenda: SISTER MAUREEN'S UPDATE ON THE ALLIANCE, three and a half years into the process

BACKGROUND on the Alliance -- introduction of a pamphlet written by the bishops, which says "We call on the entire Catholic community..."(...including new concepts of alternative governance models and the marketing of our Catholic schools), and that the burden of supporting our Catholic schools can no longer be placed exclusively on the individual parishes that have schools and on parents who pay tuition.
The AMDCS was created to address conditions such as the downturn in the economy, changing demographics, increasing student/parish cultural and ethnic diversity, and changing participation in parish/school life. It adapted the Washington, DC Center City Consortium model, in which operation/financial responsibility was shifted from parish school to a consortium.

Out of the 13 schools in the MISSION CLUSTER, six volunteered to join,and the remaining schools are called to join, as AMDCS can accommodate them and according to their needs. GOALS of the Alliance include curriculum advancement and a higher level of student achievement, tuition endowment and tuition assistance, and deferred school maintenance and facility upgrades.

The TUITION RANGE for the Alliance schools is $3,800 to $5,413 for fully participating families, and $4,820 to $6,298 for other families. The actual cost per pupil is $7,200. At the schools, 68% qualify for free/reduced lunches, which means income no higher than $39,600 for a family of four. The tipping point on affording Catholic education is if tuition goes above 8% of a family's income -- 972 families got tuition assistance in 2007-2008.

JULIE CLEMMONS, who has been advancement director since January, has set up a grant submission calendar, launched a Web site in April 2008, a master calendar of school-based activities so school administrators can make sure fundraisers don't overlap, held an Open Discussion meeting in April 2008 to discuss fundraisers and development, and is working on a fundraising database, with systems, policies and procedures.

Sister Maureen, says, the Alliance just hired a BUSINESS MANAGER a month ago. We have a common chart of accounts, but we don't have common interpretation.
So far, the Alliance has succeeded in outsourcing tuition collection, and group purchasing of math textbooks led to 42% savings because 8 schools did it together, compared to what they would have paid had they bought them individually.
The business manager's initial tasks include exploration of an AMDCS-wide finance model and tuition policy -- is there a more effective way for us to handle our finances in a collaborative manner?

The Alliance COMMITTEE FOR MAJOR GIFTS "should be a committee of very prominent,affluent, well-connected people in San Francisco."

We have a NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND coordinator for the Alliance schools,who has doubled the qualifying list of students for the Alliance.

LaChon asks, how does the Alliance determine WHICH SCHOOLS GET MONEY?

Sister Maureen replies, the interesting thing is that there is a strong sense, even among the Alliance schools, that some of us are more in need than others. The schools really want us to find a formula that reflects the Acts of the Apostles, according to the need of the school.

Julie: We are working on a FACILITIES MASTER PLAN site, to see what the needs of the campuses are, for the Alliance to prioritize according to safety, etc.

Over a million dollars has come into the schools for tuition assistance, and it goes to the schools.
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FUNDRAISING UPDATE from Annette Caneda:

Deborah Harkins and I do the WEB SITE, so email me with all requests for updates, digital images, etc. -- but photos need to go through Tom for approval.

The SFB WINETASTING will be Nov. 7. We'll charge $5 admission but that will include a complimentary wine glass.

(Minutes end here -- minute taker had to leave at 7:30 to pick up her kids.)