St. John Lutheran School Board Minutes

October 2nd, 2007

Visitor Comments

• No visitor’s comments

Approval of Minutes

• Motion to approve September minutes. M/S/C

PTF

• Written report presented.
• Car wash raised approximately $4,200 to be used for signage at the school.
• Scrips Program – Based upon purchasing gift cards from various vendors, and a certain percentage goes back to the school.
• PTF contributed $4,600 towards new monitors for the computer lab.
• October 23rd is the next PTF meeting.

• There are many carry over items that the committee is currently working on.
• St. John will have an informational kiosk at Market Place mall by the play area.
• The committee would like to work on having a school specific marquee sign. Mark mentioned that PTF would most likely have to help raise funds for a marquee sign.
• Mark mentioned that Judah has hired a consulting firm to do a market study to determine how the community felt about Judah. This would allow them a good basis for determining a marketing direction.

• Written report presented.
• Current total enrollment for school is 216 students, which is still down from last year’s enrollment of 231.
• 8th graders and chaperones are currently on the Gettysburg trip and doing fine. Final adjustment showed the cost to be $1,340 less than anticipated.
• Report Card – Ralph and the teachers have been reviewing the report card to establish some consistency between grades.
• Vision and Hearing – Parents will now have to give consent prior to screening. They are also changing their fee structure, so this fee will not be included next year on the fee sheet.

• Finance Issues
  • Tuition payment schedule – Ralph is trying to establish a good payment schedule. He is thinking that a 12 months schedule may not be the best idea. A possible plan would be the deposit on April and first payment on May 1.
  • Credit Card Payments – The finance board would like to get a good gauge on how parents really feel about the need for providing credit card / debit card payments. The finance board would like to have a survey conducted to gauge the parental interest. Could a survey be conducted via the internet? Ralph will have a survey sent to parents to determine the level of interest in various forms of payment.

New Business

• Board policy to approve
  • Attendance policy has a hole that should be filled with regards to missing time during the school day.
  • Motion made to accept the proposed attendance policy as presented, and the policy will be retro-active. M/S/C
  • Accreditation – Ralph feels that we need to determine the future direction with regards to accreditation. The question is “Do we stay with NLSA accreditation?” Ralph feels that we need to start taking proactive steps soon. The topic will be discussed again in November. Everyone agrees that the school needs to remain accredited, but what accreditation is the question.
  • Signage – American Dowell worked up some proposals. The sign would state “St. John Lutheran School? With a cross, and the quoted cost was $2,914.
  • Motion made that the school board recommends procuring the signage stating “St. John Lutheran School” with a cross. The quoted cost of the sign is $2,914, and this cost would be covered by PTF funds. M/S/C
  • Budget – Ralph presented a preliminary budget analysis and worksheet. Mark Pelafos talked about beefing up the budget for marketing and student recruitment. Currently this line items is $1,500, and that will barely cover basic expenses for marketing.

Adjourn to Executive Session

• No motions passed in executive session.