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Official Minutes of Holy Angels Parish Council Meeting
March 19, 2009
Parish Rectory, 7:30 PM 

In Attendance:  Fr. Jerry Brittain, Fr. Rick Wendell, Paula Beine, David Beine, Earl VanderWielen, Mike Nowack, Dan Hanrahan, Don Felix, Carol Bork-Bednarek, Tim Briscoe, Colleen Mas.

Guests:  Jack Daniels, Harry German, Pete Rettler, Chuck O’Meara, Jerry Faith, John Volkert, Pat Bollen.

Absent:  Frank Stangl, Sandy Lang 

Opening Prayer / Scripture Reflection / Personal Prayer:  Led by Carol Bork-Bednarek. 

Budget 2009-2010:  Jack Daniels presented an overview of the most recent budget formulations for next year.  Changes of note included staff salary freezes, non-replacement of a retiring teacher, decrease in librarian position time, and decrease in collections via envelopes.  Other Finance Committee members in attendance expressed concern with the resulting 5% increase in tuition, noting current unemployment levels in West Bend and accessibility of Catholic education.  The possibility of a 0% increase in tuition prompted the question of what dollar amount would be necessary to cover such rate freeze.  Council and Committee will seek further details before continuing this discussion next month. 

January and February Meeting Minutes:  Minor changes were requested.  Council approved by consensus. 

Council Member Nominations and Elections:  Council terms are expiring for Earl VanderWielen, Dan Hanrahan, and Sandy Lang.  Earl, Tim Briscoe and Mike Nowack agreed to constitute the nomination coordination sub-committee.  The schedule for the process will include nomination weekend (4/25-4/26), candidate biographies published 5/16-5/17, and selection 5/23-5/24. 

Hiring Practices:  Archdiocesan recommendations and guidelines for hiring practices are available via the Archdiocesan website.  Dave Lodes, Superintendent for the Office of Schools, advised Paula Beine that while the parish develops its own specific guidelines, the diocese recommends that school staff candidates should have proper certification, be practicing Catholics, and be interviewed by committee.  Furthermore, nepotism should be avoided.  Council will further review the Archdiocesan Standard Hiring Procedures over the next few meetings. 

Internal Tuition Collection Procedures:  Council revisited the Ad Hoc Committee’s document.  Dan Hanrahan will present the document to the School Committee to request review of recommendations and development of a final plan for the Council’s approval. 

Donation announcement:  Council discussed an announcement of gratitude for a donation to the parish which was received in July.  Fr. Jerry will include this announcement in his Pastor’s Corner in the bulletin. 

Faith in our Future:  Council discussed how to route disbursements from the Faith in Our Future Campaign.  Council agreed to send the full stewardship amounts when possible, and then move on to other designated uses per the Campaign case statement.  Incoming funds will be held for quarterly disbursements. 

Committee Reports: 

All liaisons are asked to submit to PC Secretary a roster of their respective committees.

Human Concerns – Meeting next week.  Committee may need to restructure chair persons to abide by Council bylaws.  Elizabeth Ministry will hold a morning for pregnant women on May 2^nd.

School – Committee questioned whether the Task Force looking into partnership with St. Mary School is actually a “directive” from the Archdiocese.  This prompted further Council discussion of Task Force progress.  Wellness Committee will examine healthy lunches as first initiative; second will be physical activity of students.  Committee changed wording of movie policy, whereby any movie other than a G-rated will require a note to parents.  A bullying survey of all students was conducted during the school day; parents will be contacted.  HAS has new news show airing once a month on local access cable.

Finance – Response to the Audit Report is due to the Archdiocese by March 30^th.  David Beine will draft a letter to address each procedural item.  The Football Fever raffle is governed by state statutes which require identical tickets and a random drawing, rather than unique tickets.  However, no misappropriation of funds was discovered, despite parishioners’ expressed concerns.  David will also draft an announcement to the parish to be published in the bulletin to alleviate concerns and clarify misconceptions, to be reviewed by Council next meeting.  Collections from envelopes are down $75,000.

Festival – Earl will request an update.  Earl will also forward an expressed concern regarding HA pictures on the “Now” website. 

Future agenda items: 

            Task Force Update
            School Committee Bylaws
            Hiring Practices 

Closing Prayer:  Led by Fr. Rick.

Adjourned:  10:07 pm 

Respectfully submitted by Colleen Mas.