Diocese of Covington - Education at PO Box 15550, Covington, KY 41015-0550 US - May 28, 2009

Members Present: Rev. Mr. James Bayne, Ms. Kim Halbauer, Mr. Peter Laterza, Mr. John Lonneman,Sr. Judith Niewahner, S.N.D., Mr. Dennis Scanlon,Mr. Paul Scheper, Ms. Ann Ulbricht

Staff: Dr. Lawrence Bowman

Excused Absences: Rev. Thomas Robbins, Mr. Michael Ward

Dr. Bowman led the opening prayer. Sr. Judith thanked Mr. Jeff Finke, principal of Holy Trinity, for the tour of the facilities.

In the April 30, 2009, minutes, it was noted in regard to the Free and Reduced-Price Meals In-Service on page 2: paragraph 2, Ms. Dreyer's name misspelled; line 11, Seven (not Two) schools are on the breakfast program; two (not seven) have a milk (not kindergarten) program; paragraph 3, line 2, reduced-price meals (@$0.40) (not @$0.47); line 4, Ms. Dreyer (not Dryer); line 5 Ms. Dreyer (not Dryer). It was moved (Mr. Scanlon—Mr. Lonneman) to accept the minutes of the April 30, 2009, meeting as corrected. All in favor.

Mr. Finke reported on Holy Trinity School; he had distributed his written report to members. The budget has been tightened. He was proud that again this year one family entered the Church at the Easter Vigil. To Mr. Lonneman’s questions, he replied that staffing was carefully studied; enrollment appears that it will be about the same; perhaps a little lower. Dr. Bowman noted that the junior high building was located in Newport; the elementary in Bellevue. When Mr. Scanlon asked Mr. Finke what the diocesan board could most help him with, Mr. Finke responded that there were two things: money and students. There are not many Catholic students in the area. Costs to maintain the buildings and pay the staff are high. Mr. Scanlon drew attention to number 3 at the bottom of Mr. Finke's written report: "Families are coming forward to do additional fundraisers for the school." Mr. Scanlon felt that was a good sign of their taking ownership. Mr. Finke said the school had a very good group of families.

Sr. Judith Niewahner, S.N.D., director of the Holy Trinity Child Development Center (HTCDC) reported on HTCDC, which began in 1997) for infants through pre-kindergarten children. Forty-two children are enrolled. Two of the children in pre-K will be moving on to Holy Trinity. There is a waiting list for the program. Parents have had to be turned away. Charges are $150 a week for an infant; $135 for pre-schooler; $75 for after school. To Mr. Scheper's question, Sister answered that the program is year-round except for the after-school program. There are eleven full-time staff and 2 part-time. Most have child development certificates. Sister has her degree. The school is at stage three of the STARS for Kids program (started by Governor Patton). The school benefits in a number of ways from the program. Money is received, for example, for materials. Teacher education is paid with tobacco settlement monies, either at Gateway Community College or another educational facility. HTCDC does not go to stage 4 of STARS because of the high payment required. To Mr. Scanlon's question, Sister replied that there is no room for the program to expand; the state requires that facilities be on the ground level. At present they are land-locked by the Historical District of Washington Street and by the homes on Ninth Street. If the homes on Ninth Street ever came down, there might be a possibility of expansion. To Mr. Lonneman's questions, she responded that twenty-five percent of families are on assistance. The facility is open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. To Ms. Ulbricht’s question, Sister Judith responded that parishioners are given higher consideration when applying for enrollment than non-parishioners.

Dr. Bowman noted that at Boston College this summer ACUE will be featured at the Selected Programs for Improving Catholic Education (SPICE) of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA).

Sr. Rita Brink, O.S.B., executive director of the Alliance for Catholic Urban Education (ACUE), reported that the organization is completing its first year under one board, transitioning in July 1, 2008 from six local boards to one board. There are twelve voting members. Nine come from supporting parishes. The by-laws say that no more than three may come from non-schools or non-school communities. Ex-officio (non-voting) members are Reverend Thomas Barnes, the pastoral administrator, and Sr. Rita, the executive director. In order to position itself for its task, the ACUE board participated in two in-service sessions. The first session focused mainly on: being an effective board, being an active member of a board, consensus building. The second session focused on: developing a statement of hope for the ACUE consortium (where it wants to be in five years, ten years); identifying goals; naming the next steps needed to work toward goals. The goals are: full enrollment, academic excellence, financial stability, Catholic values. A new tool developed by the Department of Catholic Schools regarding Catholic values will help each principal identify efforts now in place and plan to enhance and further these efforts.

Next steps for the ACUE board are listed below. ACUE funding needs to be stabilized through reaching capacity enrollment, establishing an endowment, and hiring a development director. ACUE schools need to be marketed and promoted: targeting parents, students, parishes, community; marketing excellent Catholic schools; developing a consistent marketing program (unifying schools and message); marketing the achievements of students. ACUE policies and practices of its schools need to be reviewed to see what is helping and hindering unity, operations, and outcomes. The governance committee is working on this item. The six ACUE schools will be more cohesive, balancing separate identities of the six schools with a unified approach. Sister is working on this item with the six principals; she meets with them twice a month. To Mr. Scheper's question, she responded that she meets with the eleven pastors once a month.

As of February 1, 2009, ACUE contracted with two professional development consultants. Between the two professionals, ACUE has contracted for the equivalent of four full days per week through January 2010. The women have multiple years of experience with the St. Elizabeth Hospital Development department, one fourteen years, the other eleven. The consultants set up the computer program Raisers Edge for ACUE for donations, etc.; it has a data base and fields to generate various reports. To Mr. Scheper’s question, Sr. Rita replied that the data base was set up on ACUE's computers. To Mr. Scanlon's questions, Sister replied that one of the women has a background in grant writing and is making some progress; she will also be checking into endowments. The ACUE principals watch test results closely; almost all ACUE students achieve at a level higher than expected. Deacon Bayne liked the grant writing effort and the Adopt-a-Student program. The development professionals have been instrumental in helping to organize the Fund for Urban School Excellence (FUSE). The first meeting of the FUSE board was May 19, 2009. The next meeting will be in mid to late August. FUSE's aim is to establish a ten million dollar endowment fund. The development professionals are also preparing for a diocesan and community-wide appeal in the fall of 2009. To Dr. Bowman's question, Sister replied that ACUE has been coordinating with the Stewardship Office. To Ms. Ulbricht's question, Sister answered that other schools have asked to talk with her; other dioceses have recommended not expanding the consortium until its finances are in order. Pastors and principals are concerned about finances. To Mr. Lonneman, Sister answered that the budget is about 3.5 million dollars, about 85% in staffing. $250,000 has been cut. About half of the needed budget comes from tuition; about half comes from fund raising. All the parishes struggle to make their payment. Sister Rita meets about three times a year with the ACUE high schools (located in the same geographic area); but they are not involved in the ACUE fund raising; they have development directors.

When Sister meets with the ACUE principals twice a month, one of the main topics is academic excellence. Academic excellence is one of ACUE's goals. Two years ago the ACUE schools began piloting a reading program (Superkids) in kindergarten. This year the same program was piloted in grade 1. In 2009-2010 it will be in grade 2. Reading, grammar, and writing skills are integrated into one program. The National Council of Math Teachers has identified three focal points for each grade level. ACUE works with math teachers to track the three focal points identified for their grade level. In addition, in 2007-2008 Simple Solutions for grammar and writing was piloted in grade three. In 2008-2009 ACUE used the program in grades two through five. Also in 2008-2009, ACUE piloted Simple Solutions math in grade three. Next year both programs will be used in grades two through five.

Dr. Bowman reported that Fr. Robbins and Rev. Mr. Bayne will not be returning to the board for another term. At the meeting there was a cake in honor of Fr. Robbins and Rev. Mr. Bayne.

Dr. Bowman reported that "Thanks to Parents Week" went well with a variety of local activities. Four Father Deye Scholarships are to be awarded this year to one student each at Holy Trinity Junior High; St. Augustine School, Covington; Blessed Sacrament School; and Holy Family School. When Dr. Bowman announced that he would be retiring as diocesan Superintendent of Schools, effective July 1, 2009, Ms. Halbauer and the other board members thanked him for his years of service and wished him well. It was moved (Mr. Scheper—Mr. Laterza) to recognize Dr. Bowman for his work as Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Covington. All in favor.

It was moved (Mr. Scanlon—Mr. Laterza) to adjourn the meeting which ended at 8:35 p.m.

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