SFB Minutes

APRIL 29 MEETING

2009-04-30T16:48:00.000-07:00

Attended by LaChon Richardson, Cindy Philapil, Peggy Daley, Richard Conway, Elizabeth Ristaino, Monique Perez-Jones, Carmen Lopez, Lisa Twaronite, Lynda Tashek

First topic: BUDGET.

Peggy goes over copies of the financial statement -- she still hasn't received budget from school.
Summary: PARENTS' CLUB HAS MET ITS GOAL for the 2008-2009 school year.

LaChon: Is there money for NEW CHAIRS, for the upper grades, since the old ones are cracking? Elizabeth says she'll send a Web site with a good selection of reasonably-priced chairs.

Lynda: SCRIP is still going well, but we need to get more parents enrolled in eScrip.
-- When you enroll your Safeway card in scrip, the actual card number is needed,
not just your phone number.
-- EScrip enrollment requires an email address.
-- It's important to register credit cards and debit cards, so that the school can get
money every time you use them.

LaChon: The TUITION RAFFLE is the only fundraising event left this year. The winner will receive either free tuition for one student (if the winner has a child enrolling) OR $4,500 cash (if the winner has no children enrolling). The prize for the student who sells the most tickets will be a Nintendo DS-i.

PARENT HOURS -- If parents don't meet their requirement, they will be charged full tuition as "non-participating" families.

BOARD NOMINATIONS for next year -- Rich, Monique and Carmen agree to stay on.

CENTER PLATE brought in enough money, despite glitches, to make it worth continuing in 2009-2010. Next year's schedule will include a few night games.

2009-2010 (tentative) CALENDAR OF EVENTS:

Welcome Back Dinner/Family BBQ ---- Sept. 18
Parents' Meeting ----------------------- Sept. 24
Movie Night (fall) ----------------------- Oct. 2
Winetasting (fall) ----------------------- Nov. 6
Christmas Faire ------------------------ first weekend in December, as usual
Zydeco Dance (parish) ------------------ last weekend in January, as usual
Parents' Meeting ----------------------- Feb 11
Movie Night (spring) ------------------- Feb. 12 or 19
Crab Feed (with parish) ---------------- March
Winetasting (spring) -------------------- sometime before Easter break
Parents' Meeting ----------------------- April 22

Cindy says Movie Night is a bit difficult to set up because of a lack of equipment. Elizabeth notes that BOX TOPS made about $300, and proposes Box Tops proceeds be used to by a NEW PROJECTOR.

FUNDRAISING IDEAS for next year:

PANCAKE BREAKFAST/LUNCH after family mass --- Board agrees to ask Tom to schedule family masses farther in advance, to make planning such events possible.

Elizabeth says that St. John's used to have a CASINO NIGHT at which the parents did training and got certified to be dealers -- which would greatly reduce costs of using professional dealers, and could make such an event feasible.

CHAMPAGNE BINGO!

Lisa is returning to Tokyo in a few weeks and will greatly miss St. Finn Barr -- she is sorry she won't be around for Champagne Bingo, which sounds like a winning idea. [Thanks, everyone!]

FEBRUARY 11 MEETING

2009-02-15T08:15:00.000-08:00

Attended by LaChon Richardson, Cindy Philapil, Elizabeth Ristaino, Carmen Lopez, Lisa Twaronite, Karen O'Reilly and Annette Caneda

Main topic of the meeting: PARENT HOURS.

Elizabeth: Room parents need to get in touch with families in their classes who still need to fulfill the hours requirement. An email on this was sent in January.

Karen O'Reilly suggested WAYS TO HELP:

The school library can always use a hand – or parents can pull pages from workbooks for teachers. And Tom would like to organize a group to paint the Little House.

Tom also had an idea for a MENS CLUB, for school dads to volunteer,and feel more involved in the school community.

The CRAB FEED flier went home in student envelopes. The event needs volunteer SERVERS. The banner is ready and will be hung tomorrow.

There is also a need for SILENT AUCTION ITEMS and RAFFLE ITEMS.

All donated food items MUST HAVE RECEIPT, or no donation credit can be given

The next all-school PARENT'S MEETING will be held on February 24 at 6:30. Dinner (salad and lasagna?) will be served. [NOTE: Meeting was later POSTPONED UNTIL MARCH.]
Karen volunteers to open the kindergarten room for CHILDCARE, but only for parents who really have no other options and nowhere else to leave their kids.

Cindy: BOWLING made a profit of $474.

MOVIE NIGHT rescheduled for April 3.

Karen: Progress is being made on the ALUMNAE DATA BASE.

DECEMBER 10 MEETING

2008-12-14T10:54:00.000-08:00

Attended by Peggy Daley, Cindy Philapil, LaChon Richardson (and Shayla), Linda Taschek, Elizabeth Ristaino, Lisa Twaronite Sone, Annette Caneda

LaChon: Tom couldn't make it tonight, but he gave me a few things to report on. Right now, we have 216 students. There are 36 KINDERGARTEN APPLICATIONS on file now, and there are some siblings that haven't turned in applications yet, so it should be a full class. Kindergarten testing is this weekend.

The WASC team did a pre-visit today, and toured the school and met the teachers. Tom and the teachers have been working on the booklet -- the 'big binder,' which they did a really good job on. The team will be back in January.

The WINE TASTING was a success, and made about $1,000.. Annette is coming from Alameda but will talk about it when she gets here. [Annette's report attached at the bottom of the minutes.]

The CHRISTMAS FAIRE was also a success. Albertina said she cleared $10,000, net.

Cindy and LaChon: CENTERPLATE this year so far has been far below last year's rate, and maybe earned about $6,000. We cancelled one game on them, and they cancelled one on us. One time we had 36 people signed up, and they said they were going to give us a portable stand for only 7 people, so we called it off. There's a new coordinator this year, and more organizations are participating. Last year our effort paid off, but this year it's not, so far. It will be up to the board next year to determine if we want to continue.

Peggy: The TREASURER'S REPORT has been emailed to board members and will be linked on the Web site. I still haven't seen a school financial statement since last December. LaChon: Is there a way you can show last year next to this year? Peggy: Yes. [Note: PDF files do not reproduce well in blog format, but the full report will be posted on the main school Web site.]

[Annette arrives.] WINE GLASSES: Sixteen leftover wine glasses were sold at the Christmas Faire for $4 apiece, though that really should have been $5. Glasses will be available year-round at $5 apiece, and this will be put on the Web site.
Overall, there was about a 60% drop in wine sales, but silent auction sales were sharply up, cutting out the middle man.

SALES IDEAS: Custom canvas bags, for groceries? School calendar?

Linda: SCRIP has made about $4,600 so far. We are working down our inventory, but I bought some to have for the Christmas Faire.

LaChon: Because we came in short on Centerplate, we might not reach our FUNDRAISING GOAL of $55,000. Peggy: We had budgeted to give only $40,000 to the school, so we will meet that, especially if we include the fundraising 'seed money' that was attached to tuition payments and not handed to the board yet.

The TEACHERS' LUNCH, catered by Alice Guidry, was a huge success, with ham, mashed potatoes, carrots, macaroni and cheese and peach cobbler.

LaChon and Cindy: Instead of required parent hours for fundraisers, should we consider moving to a FLAT PLEDGE?

[Official minutes end here, as official minute-taker left to pick up her kids, but discussion afterward reportedly centered on the number of fundraisers, and the call for more information about finances from the Sports Program, which is now run by the parish.]

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ADDENDUM -- WINETASTING REPORT FROM ANNETTE

Here are the results of the wine tasting fundraiser. Thank you all for making this happen. We made a net profit of $1159!
We had a 25% increase in attendance, even with the general admission fee.The wine sales dropped by 30%, but notice that the auction increased by 36%. Alan’s Wine Cellar attributes the poor wine sales to the economy; I would add that it’s the same selection offered as last year. Also, more people attending meant opening more bottles of wine, which is expensed to us. Overall, buying moved from the wine bottles to the auction, trinkets, and wine bar. On a marketing note, we also saw new faces in the community, which is important for all our fundraising events -- this is what lets people know who we are and why they might want to be a part of it.

INCOME
Total gross cash sales=$1561
Silent auction $607 (a 36% increase from the last auction)
Admission $420
Trinkets $20
Wine Bar $75
Cash donations $92
Wine sales $347 (net)

EXPENSES
Total expenses=$402
Liquor license, table linen, veggie purchase, wine bar=$192 approximately
84 wine glasses=$210 approximately

OCTOBER 8 MEETING

2008-10-13T17:17:00.000-07:00

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.
-------------------

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.)

SEPTEMBER 3 MEETING

2008-09-04T06:48:00.000-07:00

Attended by Tom Dooher, Peggy Daley, LaChon Richardson, Cindy Philapil, Richard Conway, Elizabeth Ristaino, Monique Perez-Jones, Linda Tashek and Lisa Twaronite Sone.

LaChon: We are going to try to keep all meetings to an hour or less, and try to do all we can by email.

Tom: We have two NEW TEACHERS this year, Kim Orbick, who is our new music teacher from Rhythm and Moves, and will do a spring program and help with the Christmas Faire. Patsy D'Argenio is our new 6th grade teacher and 6th, 7th and 8th grade social studies teacher.

I think our ENROLLMENT is 215-217. I need to go over the list. I already have 9 applications for kindergarten for next year, and this year's 2008-2009 kindergarten looks like a big sibling class.

I'm working with Anita to finish the '09-'10 budget for this year. I've got 14 GRANTS outstanding for things around the school, and most of them won't get decided until November. We got $70,000 in tuition assistance for the Alliance schools, which will be distributed according to need. And all Alliance schools got brand new math books.

Last year's graduating class always comes back, and they make a beeline to Lilia's room and tell her, MATH is so easy in high school. They say math was harder in 7th and 8th grade.

The Crayon Box wanted to use the Little House for their PRESCHOOL. We got clearance to convert its status from non-profit to for-profit, but they thought the kindergarten classroom was also part of the deal. We couldn't do that. I talked to Father about letting us have the convent again, and he [didn't agree with this]. The plan is on hiatus for now.

Social studies BOOKS will cost $12-13,000, and will be the next subject to be upgraded.

Parents' club DUES were collected by the school from each family ($25 per student) and they're being held by the school account. Peggy asks, can we get that money to use as seed money for our fundraisers?

[Introduction of new board members]

Tom: The ROOF is in good shape, and I'll take Richard up to look at it next week.

Cindy: We need more volunteers for the upcoming 8th grade CENTERPLATE on Sunday, and we need more people willing to serve as leaders .

LaChon: Here’s the SCHEDULE of events.

Back to School BBQ Night, Sep. 19th, from 6:00-9:00. Chicken, spaghetti, roll and salad -- $10 for adults, $4 for students, and we'll get it catered.

The next parents' general meeting will be Sept. 25. The Parish Festival will be Oct. 18-19, and the winetasting is scheduled for Nov. 7 [offer to Annette to run?]. Nov. 21 will be sports spaghetti night, and the Christmas Faire will be Dec 5-8. Zydeco will be Jan. 31. February 12 will be second parents' general meeting. Sports will have chili dog night on Feb. 13. Crab Feed will be March 7. Sports will have bingo night March 28, and the last parents' general meeting will be April 23. There might be pancake breakfasts, depending on the Knights of Columbus' schedule. We will be doing another tuition raffle in April.

Bowling -- January 11th? Lisa agrees to book the bowling alley. Movie night - Feb. 6?

Monique: Sees CANDY for Easter?

BOARD MEETINGS set for second Wednesday of each month, at 6:30.

DRAMA PROPOSAL -- The Wizard of Oz, to be done in May, 3-day performance. A director has all the costumes and is willing to direct the auditions, rehearsals and performance and be paid out of the box office. Tom: Let's find out how many parents are interested in this.

Peggy: It would be nice if the 7th and 8th grade kids helped out more with things like making scenery for shows, and also if room parents came to the board meetings and let everyone know what their classes are doing. They used to do this.

Cindy: We need a better system for keeping track of parent hours.

Richard: This room needs new chairs.

MAY 13 MEETING

2008-05-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

Attended by Tom Dooher, Roberto Carrasquilla, Cindy Philapil, Monique Perez-Jones, Lisa Twaronite, LaChon Richardson, Lynda Tashek

(1) SPORTS WEB SITE
Roberto: Check out SFBsports.org . A parent put it together.

(2) NEW TVs
Tom: These are the TVs. We're looking into buying new DVD players, too.

(3) SPRING CONCERT
Tom: Our all-school concert will be held Thursday, May 22.

(4) EXPENSES/PROGRAMS
Tom: There will be a 5% tuition raise, or about $20/month.
Our kindergarten is FULL, with calls still coming in, and there are 10 students coming in the middle grades, so we probably have a net gain. I am interviewing two Spanish teachers to teach K-5, five days a week, for 40 minutes.

(5) PRE-K
Tom: The Crayon Box wants to rent the Little House, which has already passed the fire inspection and could be up and running by September or October. They are for-profit -- not non-profit -- but they can take up to 45 students, and would give tuition consideration and first admission consideration to SFB kids. They would pay rent to the parish. Alice Guidry said the rent would go into a fund for the school, maybe for building maintenance.

(6) MOVIE NIGHT
Roberto: We printed flyers, and the kids will vote on the movie. We also invited the incoming kindergarten class. Maybe we could buy some bean bag chairs for the kids to sit on, and store them for next time?

(7) FUNDRAISING/PARENTS
LaChon: The Center Plate dates for next year are set. The raffle has brought in $1600 so far, and room parents need to remind families to send in their tickets.
We sent out the letter requesting nominations for next year's parents' board. Back to school night has been sent for Aug 28, at 6:30.

The teacher appreciation lunch will be next Friday. There will be no classes that day, because of the WASC work day. It will be catered by Alice Guidry.

APRIL 9 MEETING

2008-04-15T10:05:00.000-07:00

Attended by Tom Dooher, Roberto Carrasquilla, Channelle Wells, Peggy Daley, Cindy Philapil, Lisa Twaronite, Angel Fontanilla, Monique Perez-Jones, LaChon Richardson

(1) ENROLLMENT/BUDGET
Tom: Enrollment is about flat. Current enrollment is 218, and we are budgeted for 213.
I would like to raise tuition about 9% to cover big jump in administrative costs and medical costs. The teachers' medical costs went up about 27%. They got a 3.5% raise, whereas the average in the Bay Area was 4.25%.

(2) NEW PROGRAMS
Tom: I want to expand our Spanish program, because parents want it. Annie [current part-time Spanish teacher] doesn't want to teach Spanish, she wants to be a resource person. I offered her the expanded Spanish job and she decided she doesn't want to take it. So I am looking to contract for 5 days/week, K-5, with IES. They provide their own materials and credentialed teachers.

New teachers - for the 6th grade, we will probably be hiring Vierika, our current part-time science teacher. Ms. Argenal is leaving, so the other teachers will have to teach Social Studies. If we rearranged their schedules, the teachers can do it. We're still working on it.

Vicky Bruce [currently in charge of afterschool care] wants an aide's job.

I want to extend Homework Club to 5:30.

(3) SURVEY RESPONSE
Tom: I got 92 responses to the WASC survey.

(4) BOARD RETREAT
Tom: I would like to do a formal retreat next year for parent board training.

(5) NEW DETENTION POLICY
Tom: Our detention policy didn't work, so I disbanded it this year.
I would like to start Saturday detentions, and charge $25 per student, with the money to go toward whoever monitors the kids that day. The teachers love this idea and all eight of them said they would do this.

(6) SPRING CONCERT
Tom: The date proposed is May 27th.

(7) CONCRETE WORK
Tom: The Guidrys removed old trees and planters and paved the area in the schoolyard, because it was a hazard.

(8) TARDYS
Tom: Our tardys are off the charts. What to do? It's not the kids' fault most of the time -- it's the parents who are getting the kids to school late.

(9) MOVIE NIGHT
Roberto: I talked to Dave Schwabe, and tried to get him to provide screen and projector. He's not sure yet if it will work or not. It will be free, but we will send refreshments. It will start at 7:00, and we're putting together a preliminary list of movies, and we can have the kids vote on which one they want to see.
Cindy: The school has a screen which is stored in the hall, and I can provide the projector.

MARCH 11 MEETING

2008-03-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

Attended by Channelle Wells, Peggy Daley, LaChon Richardson, Roberto Carrasquilla, Cindy Philapil, Lisa Twaronite, Monique Perez-Jones, Tom Dooher, Lynda Tashek

(1) SCHOOL BAND
Peggy: St. Finn Barr's band will be in the 4-school band that will march in the St. Patrick's Day parade Saturday.

(2) ENROLLMENT
Tom: We have closed next year's kindergarten class, with 35 children paid and registered, and two more on the waiting list.

There are two coming in to next year's second grade, and a smattering of kids in the middle grades. We will be graduating 31 this year, so we break even. We have 216 for next year but will budget for 210.

Bernadette Banks and Amber Weeks went out to boys and girls clubs in area and gave contacts for our school, and will speak to seven of them, and to YMCA afterschool programs.

(3) NEXT YEAR'S EXPENSES
Tom: The registration fee is $325, $25 of which is seed money for the parents' club.
The tuition rise of about 3% will match the teacher's cost-of-living raises.
I want to bring our Spanish program to 5 days a week for K-5.

(4) HIGH SCHOOL ACCEPTANCE
Tom: Two families didn't apply to Catholic high schools -- one is moving to the East Bay, and one will go to SOTA -- and 87% are going to their first choice.

(5) SCHOOL IMPROVEMENTS
Tom: Good news -- we received the money for nine 32-inch Sharp flat screen TVs.
Our request for new windows is still under consideration, and is going to the full committee at their March 27 meeting.
A roofing company came out and said our roof is good for 10 more years, but they recommended some routine maintenance that will cost about $3,000.
The standing water on the roof over the library is gone after we had the drain cleaned out, and cut out 2 feet of copper pipe.
Our budget will hopefully be approved before Easter, and next year's discussion will be getting new computers.

(6) AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM EXPANSION
Tom: I wrote a grant for Title V after-school enrichment. Our Homework Club is now from 3:00-4:00 but it might go from 3:00-5:00 next year.

(7) FUNDRAISING
LaChon: The final numbers for crab feed are in, and after expenses, we cleared $10,000, so it was about $5,000 each for the church and the school.

The dates for the tuition raffle are going to be April 15th through June 3rd, with each family required to sell $100, and $4,000 cash or one year of tuition as the top prize. We also want to have a prize for the top ticket seller -- maybe a Wii?

The student council's spellathon will go through March 31st.

(8) MOVIE NIGHT
LaChon: We still need a date in May for our "just-for-fun" movie night. May 10th is Sports Night, so maybe the 2nd, 16th or 23rd?

(9) DIRECTORY
Peggy: All the information for the school directory is compiled, but due to software problems, we are having trouble printing the file.

(10) FINANCIALS
Peggy: We are taking out the contribution for First Communion and 8th grade graduation out of the budget.

(11) FURNITURE
LaChon: We are still looking for furniture for the conference room that used to be Sister Maureen's office.

(12) GIFT
Bereavement gift for Ms. Sahagan after the loss of her father? Yes.

(13) PRESCHOOL
Tom: Rather than a preschool, we are considering the idea of doing a pre-K program, which has fewer regulations because the students are 4 years and older. We are looking at the pre-K program at St. Hilary's in Marin.

FEBRUARY 12 MEETING

2008-02-18T15:26:00.000-08:00

Attended by Peggy Daley, LaChon Richardson, Angel Fontanilla, Roberto Carrasquilla, Cindy Philapil, Lisa Twaronite Sone

(1) FUNDRAISING
Still to come: Crab Feed and Tuition Raffle. Should we do another fundraiser? Um...maybe not.
Social event -- a movie night for kids? Maybe.

(2) GIFT FOR MS. P.'S LATE MOTHER? Yes.

(3) PURPOSE OF PARENTS CLUB
Peggy makes the point that the purpose of the parents club is not just to raise funds for the school's operating budget, and says she's working on a budget that allows for regular items such as bereavement gifts, directories, etc.

(4) FURNITURE
The office vacated by the Mission Alliance's Sister Maureen will be turned into a conference room using Centerplate tip money (about $800) for furniture. Also, new furniture will be bought for the teacher's lounge to make it more comfortable.

(5) CRAB FEED
LaChon and Cindy say a banner will be made for the crab feed, and we're adding the option of a $5 kids' plate. Last year, 165 people came, and hopefully even more will come this year.

(6) COOKIE DOUGH FUNDRAISER POSTPONEMENT
The 7th grade's annual cookie dough sale to raise funds for the 8th grade retreat was postponed from February (so it wouldn't conflict with the crab feed) until further notice. March would conflict with the sports committee's candy sale, and April would conflict with the tuition raffle.

JANUARY 17 MEETING

2008-01-20T15:55:00.000-08:00

Attended by LaChon Richardson, Cindy Philapil, Monique Perez-Jones, Channelle Wells, Peggy Daley, Lisa Twaronite Sone, Lynda Taschek [Tom Dooher at confirmation rehearsal]

(1) CENTERPLATE

Cindy: We earned $4,876.60 for working Dec. 23, with 30 volunteers. We also got a $750 bonus for working all the games, as well as an extra 2% for working the season opener. So we got $16,464.34 for 8 games (compared to $10,680 last year), which does not including non-participation buyouts or tips (tips last year were about $695).

(2) FUNDRAISERS

So far the Parents Club has made about $32,000 through December – we’re more than halfway to our funding goal, but we only have a few scheduled fundraisers through the end of the year. Ideas for future fundraisers: Candy sale? Roberto nominated in absentia to lead candy sales and/or come up with another fundraiser idea. Channelle proposes a Chuck E Cheese school fundraiser?

Kids’ talent show, at which we could charge admission? Musical/drama event? Something fun for the kids to do? A bake sale for Valentines Day and/or Easter? Movie night in the church hall with popcorn?

DECEMBER 12 MEETING

2007-12-18T08:22:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER 12 MEETING

Attended by Peggy Daley, LaChon Richardson (and Shayla), Monique Perez-Jones, Channelle Wells, Cindy Philapil, Lisa Twaronite Sone and Tom Dooher

(1) TOM:

As of today, we have 30 applications for kindergarten in the office, and a new teacher took over for Mr. Donahoe three days a week, after he left because of a pretty serious heart problem. We also have an Americorp volunteer, Allen Wong, who is free – he’s going into the military at the end of the school year.

Peggy asks, what about the heat? My son got his desk moved closer to the heater and was so happy.

Tom: There was a problem with the timer on Monday and Antonio was out at an appointment but finally came back to relight the pilot light so it’s all fixed now. The heat goes on at 7:30 and off at 11:00.

LaChon asks, are kids allowed to wear jackets in class if they’re cold?

Tom: Yes, they are. But they shouldn’t be cold because our boiler is 46 years old, but is in great shape according to the last inspection.
Cindy asks, what’s the status of grants?

Tom: We applied for $705,000 for new windows, and it’s going to the full board in January, and they will send someone out to inspect the site. We got a lot of the money for new TVs and new DVRs, with disbursement expected in February. We applied to the Herbst Foundation for painting the outside, and to the Gellert Foundation for tuition. We got our share of Mission Alliance funds, about $33,000 from the Archdiocese, which it earns from income on some its properties and distributes to schools. Our portion went right into savings for pensions. All alliance schools got about the same amount, plus or minus a thousand dollars or so, except for Epiphany because it’s about twice the size of the others.

Tom continues, I met with Erin about the preschool and she’s finished her paperwork. And we’ve written two grants for furniture and improvements to the room, and a kindergarten parent brought over a contractor for an estimate on the toilet area upgrades.

(2) CENTERPLATE

Cindy says that due to cancellations, we lost out on second booth -- 23 confirmed, so they signed us up for 2 booths, but only 16 people showed up. Centerplate has earned $7,652 dollars so far, not counting the $300 charge for those families who didn’t participate.

Tom says, I’m going to pursue the $300 really hard and attach it to their tuition.

(3) FINANCES

Peggy distributes charts – charts cannot be easily reproduced on this Web site, as I’ve found out in the past. Anyone interested in seeing the figures can contact me, or Peggy herself.

(4) FUNDRAISERS

Crab feed in March, tuition raffle in the spring – other ideas?
Tom: another winetasting?

(5) TEACHERS' CHRISTMAS

Teachers to get bonuses (discussion of amount off-record, by request) and Christmas lunch.

NOVEMBER 13 MEETING

2007-11-30T18:51:00.000-08:00

Attended by Tom Dooher; board co-chairs Cindy Philapil and LaChon Richardson, Peggy Daley, Lisa Twaronite Sone, Channelle Wells, Roberto Carrasquilla and Rosie Perieff -- and room parents: Carmen Murphy Lopez, Monique (first grade) & Erin Lofthouse (6th grade)

(1) WINETASTING: Peggy says the parents club general account has not brought in much this month, but the Christmas Faire is ahead, and the winetasting was well-attended and successful. It made about $930, but glasses and linens were about $300, so perhaps the school spent too much renting the wine glasses and could cut the amount by one-half next time, to 10 linens and 300 glasses. But it brought in about 33% more than last year's winetasting, with 34 orders vs. 23. Monique Perez-Jones suggested that we sell SFB wine glasses at the next one.

Tom says everyone's wine orders are ready to be picked up in his office.

Several attendees suggested another winetasting in the spring, perhaps with with Roberto's wine connections? But some people expressed concerns that this might be too many. Conclusion: worth thinking about -- check calendar availability for possible date.

(2) SCRIP: Lynda not attending, but she sent an email update.

(3) ENROLLMENT: Tom says there are already 8 kindergarten tours and 27 applications for 2008-2009.

(4) PRESCHOOL: Tom says he will have a meeting with Erin, the preschool project coordinator, on Monday, and that she has finished her early childhood education coursework with the state, and is now getting estimates for converting the kindergarten space into a preschool space. This requires moving a non-load-bearing wall and upgrading the restrooms. Tom says he has found some preschool funding sources for infrastructure improvements and furnishings, and says, "We'll be working toward a specific opening date by the end of this school year."

(5) CENTERPLATE: Roberto has drafted a letter to those parents who haven't done their Centerplate duty yet.

Erin says many people still feel tied to doing their specific grade on its specific date, and don't realize they can do other dates. Cindy is frustrated that people still don't know they can do any date, after all she and LaChon have done to make this clear and get the word out. Roberto suggests getting volunteers to offer babysitting to parents who might need it to do Centerplate, but no one else is enthusiastic about this idea. Room parents need to remind the people in their grades to do Centerplate, talk to Tom about alternatives, or risk paying the $300 fine.

(6) FUNDRAISER FOR BREEANNA LINDNER

An initial meeting to discuss the idea of having a bowling fundraiser to support Breeanna and her family through her treatment will be held Thursday at 7:00 in the classroom of 8th grade teacher, Mr. DiNubila, who has offered to organize it. Tom says, "Keep me in the loop," and says all funds collected should go through the school rather than having people make checks out directly to the family.

(7) SHIRTS:
Monique wishes we had SFB T-shirts to wear around and spread the word locally that our school is here. Tom will get her the price list for polo shirts, because he just ordered some for the teachers.

(8) SPORTS: Rosie reports some conflicts with CYO, because their gym rentals have gone up $95/hour from $35 (Rec and Park charges $75). CYO charged SFB $725 in forfeit fees but waived some of it, and the rest of the charges will be passed on to the families whose children's absences caused the game forfeits.

OCTOBER 10 MEETING

2007-10-11T19:07:00.000-07:00

Attended by: Tom Dooher; board co-chairs Cindy Philapil and LaChon Richardson, Peggy Daley, Monique Perez-Jones, Lisa Twaronite Sone, Channelle Wells, Roberto Carrasquilla, Lynda Tashek and Rosie Perieff

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INTRO --
Tom begins the meeting with a prayer, and then Roberto, who is attending his first board meeting, asks, what is the main purpose of the parent board?

(Cindy says, fundraising! )

Tom replies that the parents club was originally brought together to (1) pay for certain parts of the school (aides, yard duty, textbooks, etc.) not covered by operational funds, etc., and raise seed money for various events; and (2) gather the community together for unity, not just fundraising, by providing personnel to work festivals, collaborate between the parish and the school communities to make it one big community. More recently, with lower enrollment, funds go into operating budget. The "magic number" of students, after which tuition will cover operating expenses, is 225, with 207 enrolled now.

Roberto asks, can the school accountant attend some parent board meeting? Tom says, (in so many words), perhaps, and discusses the school's financial structure and the role of the accountant, Anita who is "pushing as hard as she can for transparency." Tom says the school is "just wrapping up Archdiocese audit and did okay." He notes that when he first came to the school, "there were something like eight bank accounts," and now there are just three: scrip, parents' club and the school checking account. The Archdiocese would prefer to get rid of the parents' club account and have all the checks come through the school; Archdiocese regulations say each account should be under $10,000, except for the school account, which can contain two months' operating budget. School and parish accounts and funds are completely separate. Funds made from Centerplate go directly to the school's account -- the board will be informed, in the future, exactly how much was made at each game.

Peggy hands out copies of the parents' club balance sheet -- (reproduced in its entirety below).

FUNDRAISERS

(1) Lachon says BBQ NIGHT was a success, and turned a profit of $700, when its goal was simply to break even because it was a social event, not a fundraising event per se. (Tom mentions that about 87% of school families were represented at Back to School Night.)

(2) Cindy says the room parents were given the responsibility of recruiting participants from each class for CENTERPLATE. The previous weekend, there were five last-minute no-shows out of 29 parents who had initially agreed to participate -- how to deal with this? Suggested: send the no-shows an those who didn't sign up the bill for the $300 fine/gift and ask for either payment or immediate rescheduling of another game.
Roberto says there should always be two team leaders per game: one who has done it before, and one who is being trained.

(3) WINETASTING: Friday, Nov. 2
Peggy says fliers are going out in family envelopes and Juliet will put it into church bulletin, and that room parents need to drum up attendees in their classes. Daycare will be offered in the kindergarten room; food, linens, etc. and entertainment are being arranged.

(4) PARISH FESTIVAL: upcoming weekend

(5) SCRIP:
Lynda says scrip has made about $4,000 so far this year. ESCRIP makes about $500/month. Now that Albertson's has been bought by Lucky's, their scrip system requires parents put down students' names to register for their club cards, and some parents might be reluctant to share this information. Suggestion: put scrip order form into the church bulletin, so parishoners can participate, too.

PRINCIPAL LETTER
Now available online, but perhaps it should be emailed so that people read it? Also, discussion of how best to put record of parent hours online, and how this could be recorded efficiently when students and parents have different last names.

STUDENT MAGAZINE:
Lisa explains the idea of reviving the school's student magazine in blog format, similar to the format used for the parents' board minutes.

SPORTS:
Rosie reports that the CYO secretary has just resigned, so scheduling is chaotic, and CYO wants prepayment ahead of sports seasons from now on -- payment in advance for gym time, etc. The parish now pays $12,000-$14,000 for gym time every year, which works out to $40 for each gym session St Emydius and $45 for other gyms. The payment plan is now being negotiated, and hopefully CYO won't lose any teams because of financial hardship for some schools.

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Parents' Club BALANCE SHEET (cash basis) as of Oct. 9, 2007

ASSETS
Current Assets
Checking/Savings
Bank of America Checking------------------6,496.14
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Total Checking/Savings----------------------6,496.14
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Total Current Assets-------------------------6,496.14
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TOTAL ASSETS-------------------------------6,496.14
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LIABILITIES & EQUITY
Equity
Retained Earnings-------------------------8,999.95
Net income----------------------------- (-)2,503.81
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Total Equity--------------------------------6,496.14
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TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY-----------6,496.14
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Parents' Club PROFIT & LOSS (cash basis) July 1 through Oct. 9, 2007

Ordinary Income/Expense
Income
Back to School BBQ Income---------------1,140.00
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Total Income--------------------------------1,140.00

Expense
Back to School BBQ Expense----------------447.35
Christmas Faire Expense-------------------3,000.00
Event Refreshments---------------------------121.46
Gifts
Bereavement------------------------------------75.00
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Total Gifts----------------------------------------75.00
Total Expense--------------------------------3,643.81
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Net Ordinary Income---------------------(-)2,503.81
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Net Income-------------------------------(-)2,503.81
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AUGUST 8 MEETING

2007-08-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

Attended by: Tom Dooher; board co-chairs Cindy Philapil and LaChon Richardson; Peggy Daley (finance), Charlie Castillo (enrollment); Monique Perez-Jones (auditor); Lisa Twaronite Sone (secretary); Channelle Wells (volunteers)
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INTRO -- Tom-led prayer; self-introductions (which included information that a grant for which Charlie applied will get the school $10,000 to install new flat screen TVs in classrooms)
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DISCUSSION OF PRINCIPAL'S AGENDA

1) BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT -- SEPTEMBER 6th, 6:30 PM

A) Parents will be asked NOT to bring children this year, since in past years kids have been so disruptive that it's been difficult to hear in the hall.

B) Set-up tables for volunteer sign-up, just like last year -- this worked well.

C) Coffee and snacks? Yes.

D) Speakers -- keep it brief: Tom, Father Jose, introduce board members and new families, give stats about school, Center Plate, parent hours -- and then let parents go visit classrooms, since Back to School Night is primarily to meet the teachers.

(Side discussion about whether the fridge magnet with the fundraising events was a good idea or not -- conclusion: maybe -- worth thinking about.)

2) ROOM PARENT ROLES

A) Room parents should take some of the burden off the parent board by delegating jobs; setting up ad hoc committees to help with responsibilities; keep grade level informed of school events; mobilize parents when events need volunteers.

B) Room parents should remind parents of their 30-hour volunteer requirement. The school can't "charge" for hours, but parents can donate goods -- donations of $10,00 worth of products to a school event are equal to one hour of volunteer time, up to a total of ten hours toward the requirement.

C) Room parents responsible for their grade's Center Plate (which will hopefully raise $20,000-$22,000 for the school this year). Families should get three phone calls -- to sign them up, to remind them, and then to remind them again and ask if they need a ride. Parents who can't do it must find a substitute -- no family can be entirely excused from Center Plate requirement without going through Tom.

D) Some kind of information night for new families? Conclusion: good idea.

E) Room parents responsible for monthly class newsletter; Tom's weekly newsletter will likely be issued online this year, and not as a paper handout in the weekly envelope; room parents need to keep track of emails and contact info for all families.

F) At least one room parent from each grade required to attend monthly board meetings.

G) All fundraisers initiated by a particular class need to be approved by Tom.

H) New process for submitting parent hours --
Only event chairs submit hours, so parents no longer need to submit their own hours – they sign in at the events. Hours given for chaperoning field trips, hot lunch help, etc.

(Side discussion on whether/how many hours should be given for attendance of mandatory parent meetings? Conclusion: one hour at most. All expressed the need for a comprehensive list of what kind of participation can count toward the requirement and what can’t -- Tom says, "We want to encourage parents to be creative with filling their hours, but anything off the grid needs to go through me.")

3) FUNDRAISING ISSUES

A) Tom asks, can every family donate one ream of copy paper? It costs something like $3.99 and would really help keep down paper costs.

B) Stats -- 223 students registered, paid, and expected to show up on 8/22, and the school budget is based on only 210. Last year, Tom asked parent board to raise $50,000 and it raised $51,000: this year's goal is $60,000.

C) Dates for fundraising events -- list of preliminary dates passed out for discussion.

i) Mandatory all-parent meeting on 9/27 would be too close to Back to School Night, so next all-parent meeting tentatively set for 10/25; 9/27 tentatively set as informational night for new parents instead.

ii) Suggested attempt to reschedule wine-tasting event before Christmas (though not conflicting with Christmas Faire, which is the major seasonal fundraiser), so people can buy wine for holiday consumption/gifts; some October dates suggested, pending church hall availability.

iii) Parish festival – Tom would like each class to staff a booth, to increase school's presence at the event.
(Side discussion of suggestion for "Dunk-the-Principal" booth -- Tom said he did this for an hour at St. Dunstan's and it was "popular," but he does not seem eager to repeat this experience.)

D) Discussion on whether finances/cash generated by events should run through Peggy Daley only --- conclusion was to discuss further in smaller meeting later with people directly involved, to determine what would be most efficient.

E) Second draft of Fundraising Status Report passed out to board.

4) ENROLLMENT

A) Tom says he has enrollment committee lined up -- about a dozen people -- to get word out about SFB's presence, recruit middle school students, market ideas for school, etc. Each enrollment committee member would be responsible for pulling in at least two families for a tour. Erin Murphy, new preschool director, is also working on enrollment.

5) WASC
Tom says he will inform board of role and duties for WASC process

6) SCHOOL MASS -- SEPTEMBER 9, 10:00 am
Blessing of faculty, room parents and board members.

7) SMART TUITION LAUNCH
Tom said the company had some problems with a new system it installed, which causes some trouble for parents as well as the school, but said, "We should have all the bugs worked out by the end of the month."

8) SCRIP
Tom wonders, why isn’t scrip more profitable? Lynda Taschek unable to attend this meeting, but Peggy Daley, who was in charge of scrip for three years, says scrip numbers are roughly consistent with what they were in the past, even though escrip is taking higher fee off the top and some merchants have reduced percentages of what they give.

9) BOARD MEETINGS set for evening of second Tuesday each month.

10) FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL RECEPTION? Yes.

11) MEMORIAL CARD FOR MRS. OREILLY'S LATE FATHER? Yes.