St. Andrew Apostle Advisory Board
Meeting minutes
Thursday, March 6, 2008
St. Andrew Apostle Advisory Board
Meeting called to order at 7:12 PM.
Members Present: Tara Roche, Curtis McKay, Tim Breen, Father Mike, Andrew Price, Kathy Kilty, John Vittone, Nori Limarzi, Angie Morgan, Karen Lancaster – SAPA rep.
Members not present: Mary Ahearn, Peggy Mazzola, Dot Primrose, Robin Tomaselli, Mary Tull, Angela Solomon, and Dustin Watson
Recorders: Nori Limarzi and Angie Morgan
Opening Prayer was Led by Fr. Mike.
The February minutes were sent to members for review. Any additions, deletions or any other problems please email them on to Angie. Once the minutes are approved they will be sent to Marie for posting to the website.
Angie gave a Power Point regarding tuition increase to the SB. The thought was that this presentation would also be given to the parents to provide them with some crucial background knowledge to help them understand the tuition and associated cost to actually run the school. Kathy Kilty will give this presentation at the upcoming SAPA meeting. John Vittone will present the new tuition rates. It is very important that parents be educated about the inner workings of a school in order to see the big picture behind the tuition increase.
Additions that will be added to presentation before presenting it to the Parents at the SAPA meeting should include:
Teacher salaries and benefits (the aggregate total of all the teachers and aides)
There was a new Archdiocesan scale in 2006-07 for teacher salaries. This did account for some of the increase 2 years ago. However parents need to realize that these salaries are still less than 85% of their counterparts in Montgomery County schools
Compliment SAPA on funds they raised (approx. $70,000) in the school year of 2007-08.
It is important to also highlight the benefits of St. Andrew Apostle School such as aides, specialty teachers, Day Care and a full time Assistant Principal. There was some talk of comparing the tuition to the cost of private schools in the area.
Things to consider that were brought up by board members
There are some parishioners that give nothing during the weekly offering and what are the repercussions for the lack of donating to the parish? Fr. Mike explained that there is no way legally to use parish contribution amounts to adjust in-parish tuition rates.
Should multiple children get the discount? This year the amount of the increase is equal for all. The increase is a straight dollar amount per child. This means that the discount for multiple children is becoming less steep every year. The discount has been consistently decreasing over the years.
The cost of the After Care Program at St. Andrew’s is significantly lower therefore makes a big picture difference in the numbers when compared to some other Archdiocesan schools in the area. The tuition increase is 7% for 1 student, in parish; this translates into $500 dollars per child.
Increase in the tuition for Resurrection parish members to be an intermediate tuition between in and out of parish. It was pointed out that Resurrection contributes a significant amount of money per child to St. Andrew and this will account for the difference in tuition fees.
School Board Report: Angie Morgan
Diversity Committee update: We are still attempting to contact the parent from Good Counsel.
SAPA Report: Karen Lancaster
Baja Fresh Night on April 22 – 10% of your bill will be given back to St. Andrews if you mention St.A’s when ordering; this will occur at the Wheaton/Silver Spring locations.
Storage Unit to be placed behind school for SAPA storage
Kids Stuff rather than Entertainment books as the Fall fundraiser
Sally Foster Chair is set for next year
SAPA positions open for next year. It has been advertised in Thursday notes.
Alumni Committee Report: Tara Roche
(See Handout)
Development Committee Report: Curtis McKay
The committee met by conference call regarding their support for the Fall Golf Tournament as the major push for Committee. The Parish Center was discussed as the long-term plan.
Marketing Committee: Nori Limarzi
Collecting testimonials from Students to keep on file for use in marketing materials. In the brochure there are some comments presently, but have a “bank” of quotes to pull from when needed.
PKS Fund: Nori Limarzi
As of Feb. Faculty meeting: no requests will be honored if they are past due date. We need to keep in mind the balance of fund and begin to top off individual teachers at their $1000.00 limits
Closing Prayer was led by Angie Morgan
Meeting Adjourned at 8:58 PM.