Diocese of Covington - Education at PO Box 15550, Covington, KY 41015-0550 US - October 23, 2008

Members Present: Ms. Kim Halbauer, Sr. Judith Niewahner, S.N.D., Rev. Thomas Robbins, Mr. Dennis Scanlon, Mr. Paul Scheper, Ms. Ann Ulbricht.

Staff: Dr. Lawrence Bowman, Mr. Isaak A. Isaak

Excused Absences: Rev. Mr. James Bayne, Mr. Peter Laterza, Mr. John Lonneman, Mr. Michael Ward

Dr. Bowman led the opening prayer. Mr. Harry Luebbers, principal of Sts. Peter and Paul School (SPPS), welcomed everyone. Ms. Halbauer thanked Sts. Peter and Paul for hosting the meeting and for its hospitality. In attendance were members of the Board of Education: Cyndi Bezold; Theresa Bezold; Carla Martin; Mark Pfefferman, board president; Norma Rebholz, board member and school secretary; and Jenna Verst.

Mr. Luebbers reported that the school was started in 1857. It is located in the southernmost part of Campbell County. The Double AA Highway and water lines are contributing to the possibilities of growth. The school tries to be as up-to-date as possible in technology. Some equipment is donated. There is a student technology committee, and a group of parents in the technology field who assist. These people work tirelessly to keep the technology up and running. This helps keep costs down. The school is adding three more smart boards. Another goal SPPS is striving for is to be more efficient in inclusive education; Catholic schools need to do their best in this area. For the last five years SPPS has had a relationship with Springer School in Cincinnati; all of the school’s reading teachers have been trained periodically at Springer in the multi-sensory approach to reading. Parents with students diagnosed as learning disabled prefer to keep their students at SPPS. The school is doing everything it can to provide an excellent inclusive education program. The school has a part-time reading resource teacher. The part-time librarian is also working as a part-time reading resource teacher. With the assistance of Citizens Bank of Northern Kentucky, the school has established Cardinal Bank (The cardinal is the school mascot). It first started as a project of B.E.S.T. (Business and Education Success Teams) about twelve years ago. The Cardinal Bank has made enough in profits to donate several thousand dollars to the school. The school’s four-year pre-school program has a three-star rating and therefore receives a couple of thousand dollars each year from the state. SPPS has excellent students, parent involvement, PTC, and very creative teachers. There are many volunteers for example, the school nurse. The cost of educating a child is approximately $3400. In-parish tuition is $3400; no matter how many more additional children, the "family assessment" is $4900. Out-of-parish tuition is $4000. Because of budget issues, the on-site public school speech-language pathologist service to the school has been discontinued. SPPS has contracted for services from a speech pathologist and receives partial reimbursement through the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The school district has also ended the on-site assignment of the Title I reading teacher for the disadvantaged. At the start of this school year, one of the public school bus routes to SPPS was discontinued. This causes an inconvenience for parents; there are safety issues (roads are winding); and it could limit enrollment. Thanks to the time and help of many people and the generosity of the diocese, a bus has been purchased to continue this service. Enrollment is 184. The board is designing a brochure that it hopes will attract students. There will be some advertising, including in Northern Pendleton County. For the first time this year there will be an open house.

Sr. Lynn Stenken, Director of Religious Education at Sts. Peter and Paul parish, reported that it had approximately 270 families. About thirty students are in the parish religious education program, run by six catechists. Most catechists are working on certification. There are about twelve high school students who come every other week for the religious education program called Faithful Lives, run by a team of four people. On Sunday mornings at the first reading, pre-school children leave the Mass and join Sister for the rest of the time for the Celebrate the Good News program; volunteers assist. The adult education program includes book discussions, Scripture-based programs, lecture series. The vacation Bible school is very popular. This year there were 125 children and twenty teenage volunteers and adult volunteers. In school this year there is a focus on the various types of prayer; Sister visits classrooms, teaching the various ways of praying. Children at the school take the National Catholic Educational Association’s (NCEA) Assessment of Catechesis Religious Education (ACRE). Mr. Luebbers asked her to study the results for strengths and weaknesses. There is a wonderful working relationship with Mr. Luebbers. Mr. Bowman noted that all schools are to take the ACRE test and then, if a proposal is approve by the Presbyteral Council, possibly make good use of the results.

It was moved (Mr. Scanlon—Fr. Robbins) to accept the minutes of the September 25, 2008, meeting. All in favor.

Dr. Bowman introduced the new assistant superintendent, Michael Clines. Mr. Clines reported that he has been spending much time in the public relations and marketing of Catholic schools. School open-houses have been advertised in The Messenger. He has helped schools with brochures. A thirty-second advertisement for Catholic schools has been developed. In November on Insight Cable, it will be aired 250 times; most of the high school open houses are in the fall. In January another 250 advertisements will be aired at the time of elementary school open houses. Considerations that have been reviewed are what ages watch which stations and the fact that the most watched stations have the highest advertising costs. Mr. Clines will be helping with the review of high school districting and re-connecting with the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, for example in the Education Alliance. He is concerned with professional development and tries to select very pertinent topics from professional journals to be sent to elementary and high school principals, and chairpersons of departments. Dr. Bowman underscored that much of Mr. Clines’s time will be spent on high school districting, marketing, enrollment. Dr. Bowman noted that Mr. Clines will be facilitating future meetings of the districting review committee. ELECTION OF OFFICERS Ms. Halbauer was elected chairperson; Sr. Judith, vice-chairperson; Mr. Scanlon, third member of the executive committee. COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP Ms. Halbauer suggested that an e-mail be sent out to board members, asking whether they want to stay on their present committee or to change. There were no objections. RETREAT To Dr. Bowman’s question, Mr. Scanlon responded that he felt the retreat was valuable. Dr. Bowman suggested that at the retreat the board might want to consider progress on the Synod policies to have a document that would help determine the cost of operating a school and to review the Catholic identity of schools, including the forming of a mission statement. The 2006 Synod recommended a review of these topics; Bishop Foys accepted the recommendations. Mr. Scanlon asked if it was possible to get an update on the marketing of Catholic Schools; Sr. Rita Brink was a good source of information in this regard. Ms. Halbauer agreed with Mr. Scanlon. Dr. Bowman said that Sr. Rita might agree to be facilitator at the retreat and that Wednesday, December 3 or Thursday, December 4, might be a good date. BOONE COUNTY TASK FORCE FINAL REPORT Dr. Bowman reported that the Boone County Task Force has had its last meeting. It met for over a year. Immaculate Heart of Mary is filled. St. Timothy is growing. The final report is to be given to Bishop Foys in a week or so for his response. DISTRICTING REVIEW Dr. Bowman reported that the High School Districting Review Committee has met once. It is composed of three pastors, three high school principals, and three diocesan board members. Districting boundaries were drawn in 1982. One high school cannot recruit in another high school’s district. About eight diocesan policies oversee and regulate districting. SYNOD POLICIES IMPLEMENTATION Dr. Bowman reported that two synod policies would be implemented in 2008-2009: standardized financial reporting and Catholic identity. Another two policies would probably be reviewed in 2009-2010: using ACRE scores to improve religious education and standardizing extracurricular activities and sports events on Sundays, holydays, and days of Holy Week. SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS REPORT Dr. Bowman reported that St. Timothy has a pre-school and is planning to have a kindergarten. Fiscal courts and busing issues in the three Northern Kentucky counties continue to be monitored. These issues are monitored at the state level by the Catholic Conference of Kentucky (CCK) and the Kentucky League for Educational Alternatives (KLEA). The convention of the Ohio Catholic Education Association (OCEA) will be held in Cincinnati next fall, Thursday, October 8, and Friday, October 9, 2009. Dr. Bowman will attend the winter meeting of the executive committee of the National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA) as representative of the Kentucky Non Public Schools Commission (KNPSC) and as treasurer of the national council. MEETING DATES—ADJOURNMENT The executive committee will meet on Friday, November 21; the next regular meeting is on Thursday, December 11, at St. Timothy. It was moved (Mr. Scheper—Mr. Scanlon) to adjourn the meeting which ended at 8:50 p.m.

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