1. A New Model for a More Productive Home & School Partnership
Combining Best of H.S.A. & S.A.B. for SJB

2. Why change?
Old Design – The structure of our Home School Association thrived in the era of stay- at-home parents and a large parent-volunteer force in the school. The large volunteer force no longer exists.
Confusing  Missions –  Parents are confused about the missions of the boards. Which one should lead the way in communicating our message? Which one leads on budget? Which one holds the forum to listen to parent concerns? Which one takes the lead on helping to determine the future needs of the school?
Shortage of H.S.A. Volunteers – It has been a challenge for the H.S.A. committee coordinator to find parents to coordinate food & drink for Back to School Night, parent- teacher conferences, teacher appreciation week, and post-concert receptions. It has been a challenge to find parents to serve on many H.S.A. committees.
Shortage of Candidates and Duplicate Responsibilities – It is increasingly difficult to attract candidates for the H.S.A. and S.A.B. (School Advisory Board). Many H.S.A. nominees are current SAB members, and parents cannot serve both. The pool of willing and able parent leaders has shrunk. Also, no one wants to run and lose a race for office in front of his or her child's school community.
Terms Too Short to Understand Budget – The two-year terms are too short for H.S.A. budget committee members to put their knowledge to good use. H.S.A. elections rules are restrictive and seem to be aimed at preventing parents from gaining too much power on a school board. In reality, we should loosen restrictions to let our willing  parent volunteers serve in different ways.

3. Why Should We Update Our Structure?
ADW Catholic Schools are developing a Strategic Plan, which sets a different model for Catholic Schools for the future. It will call for more involvement of each school's S.A.B. in the development of the school budget. 
Currently, the SJB S.A.B. is involved in creating the SJB strategic plan. Last year, the S.A.B. studied the need for a pre-school. This year, the S.A.B. is studying school and facility needs. It makes sense to link these missions with major fundraising decisions. 
There are a variety of different models of parent support organizations in many different Catholic schools. We know this from speaking with S.A.B. and H.S.A.  representatives of many Catholic schools at an ADW Conference last spring. 
The key question is this one: Which model would best serve our school and our community?

4. In other words, if we could start from scratch, how would we make it look?
Ideally, we'd have one organization with parent volunteers on longer terms.
There would be open meetings with opportunities for parents to attend and speak on school issues.
The board would study and help determine School Needs, the direction of Fundraising Resources (the  fundraising Budget) and the Overall Message to the community to maximize our support.
We would prioritize our requests for volunteers -- to bring supply & demand in line.
The structure of the board would allow for a Finance Committee and Policy Development Committee. 

5. A New S.A.B. Model Pastor Principal 1. President (2-yr term)
2. President-Elect (2-yr term, takes over as president in 2nd yr)
2. Treasurer and Vice Treasurer (appointed by principal/pastor) 
3. Development and Fundraising Committee Chair (3-yr term) 
4. Development and Fundraising Committee  (3-yr term)  
5. Development and Fundraising Committee (3-yr term) 
6. Publicity & Communication Chair (3-yr term) 
7. Publicity & Communication (3-yr term) 
8. Publicity & Communication (3-yr term)
9. Ambassadors Chair (2-yr term)
10. Ambassadors  (2-yr term)
11.  Enrichment Chair (2-yr term) 
12. Enrichment  (2-yr term)

6. How Will It Work? Determine School Needs & Resources
Appointments & Elections
The Development and Fundraising Committee determines the needs and resources of the school. It replaces the H.S.A. budget committee in determining where the fundraising money goes.
The three members of the Development and Fundraising Committee work with the president and principal on an annual fundraising proposal, which is presented to the full SAB Committee – and voted on -- at the November meeting. 
The plan represents the priorities of both the school and the parents, and it is important that all stakeholders -- parents and parishioners -- know how the money raised will be divided and spent.
The D&F Committee gathers information in the spring for its presentation in the fall. The D&F chair receives support from the other two members of the panel. One chairs a Facilities Needs Subcommittee, which develops a 5- year Facilities plan in consultation with the principal and pastor. The other member chairs a School Needs Subcommittee, which meets in April and May with the school curriculum committee and school technology committee to determine a 5-year plan of future curriculum and technology needs of the school. 
The D&F Chair sets the committee's course with the goal of having a fundraising goal and plan, as well as a spending plan, by the November meeting. The course is detailed more specifically on page 10.
The principal, in consultation with the president, appoints parents to the following one-year posts:
Fundraising Director – performs same role as current FR Chair
Gala Chair and/or Co-Chairs – performs same role as current chair
In the first two weeks of January, all school parents are asked to respond to an address if they are interested in serving on the School Advisory Board in any role. In the last week of January, nomination forms for the School Advisory Board are sent to all parents. The returned forms and s are checked by Enrichment Committee members. The two Enrichment Committee members  serve a dual role as a mid-year Elections Committee. The members independently confirm that the parents nominated are interested in serving on the SAB board.
Elections Committee members consult with the principal and the SAB president before they bring a full slate of SAB candidates before the SAB in the February meeting. The SAB may vote to send the entire ticket of candidates to the parents for a vote. If there are contested candidacies, the SAB may send the contested elections to the parents for a vote.

7. Publicity & Marketing
The Publicity and Ambassadors Chairs work with the principal and pastor to form the Publicity and Marketing Committee.
The Publicity panel creates a monthly newsletter to report to parents how students have benefitted from the money the parents raised for the school. The newsletter should include reports on what's been happening in the classrooms as well as in-school and out-of-school achievements of SJB students. 
Articles in newsletter are sent to Parish Times and to parishioners through the Parish Bulletin. The newsletter is sent electronically to our parents and our alumni as we develop an SJB alumni network.
The Publicity Committee works with the Principal and with the Ambassadors Chair on marketing the school. The Publicity Committee works with the Auction & Gala and Fundraising Chairs on marketing the Auction & Gala.
Publicity Committee members keep website page updated with minutes of meetings and oversee communication of room parents.

8. How To Meet Our Need for Volunteers
Grades receive hospitality assignments:
5th and 6th grades – Back to School Night Coordination 
7th and 8th grades– Parent Teacher Conference Coordination 
3rd and 4th grades – Teacher Appreciation Coordination and Lunch
K, 1st and 2nd grades – Open House Reception
Enrichment Chair -- coordinates after-school activities, cultural arts programs, Great Books Program, International Night and Career Day
Ambassador Chair – coordinates Open House and new family recruitment, Buddy Families, new family orientation.

9. By-Laws for the New School Advisory Board
Issues to Resolve
What to do with current office holders? 
What about elections?
One option is to invite S.A.B and H.S.A. members to a meeting and to come to an agreement of an interim board for one year while we schedule elections starting in January of 2018.
By-Laws for the New School Advisory Board
The ADW has provided a template for SAB by-laws, which gives the new board a starting point. The SAB by-laws should provide a framework for the operation of the SAB, but it is not necessary for the by-laws to specify the interests of the SAB. 
The SAB should have its own general plan and should be guided by the school's mission, strategic plan, and the leadership of the pastor and principal. The by-laws, based on the ADW School Advisory Board Manual, will provide additional guidance.
Our general plan will include a commitment to open monthly meetings with the first 15 minutes of each meeting set aside for parents to express concerns or ask questions.
Meetings are the third Wednesday of each month and take place in the school Library.
If we have a School Board committee scheduled to meet at 6:30, the board would meet at 7:30. If not, the board meeting would start at 7:00 pm.
School Board meetings would, in many ways, resemble current H.S.A. meetings. But School Board Committee meetings might look more like current S.A.B. meetings or H.S.A. budget committee meetings.

10. An Outline of the Role of the Development & Finance Committee
The Development and Fundraising Committee  determines the needs and resources of the school. It replaces the H.S.A. budget committee in determining where the fundraising money goes. To make those decisions, the D&F Committee must examine school needs. ​
The three members of the Development and Fundraising Committee work with the president and principal on an annual fundraising proposal, which is presented to the full SAB Committee – and voted on -- at the November meeting. That meeting is also attended by the Fundraising Director, Treasurer, and Gala Chairs. ​
The D&F Committee conducts its work to determine school needs over the spring and fall. The D&F Chair sets the committee's course with the goal of having a fundraising goal and plan, as well as a spending plan, by the November meeting.​
The D&F chair receives support from the other members of the panel. ​
The second D&F member chairs a School Needs Subcommittee, which meets in April and May with the school curriculum committee and school technology committee to determine future curriculum and technology needs of the school. The School Needs Subcommittee creates a rolling 5-year School Needs Plan.​
The third D&F member chairs a Facilities Needs Subcommittee, which develops a 5-year Facilities plan in consultation with the principal and pastor. The Facilities Needs Subcommittee chair is the committee's liaison to the Parish Finance Council and Athletic Ministry.​
It is each D&F Committee member's responsibility to reach out to the appropriate contacts to develop a list of school resources and a timeline and cost estimate of future needs. The School Needs Report and the Facilities Needs Report are each updated and presented to the D&F Committee Chair in May. The D&F Committee chair presents the reports to the full School Advisory Board at the May meeting.​
One hour before the October School Advisory Board meeting, the D&F Committee holds an open meeting to listen to the ideas of any interested parent or parishioner on school and facilities needs. Between the October meeting and the November meeting, the D&F Committee meets with the principal and School Advisory Board President on a draft fundraising  and spending plan. The principal, SAB president, and D&F chair may include others in their consultations, as well. For example, they may want to discuss the fundraising potential of school enrichment programs with the Enrichment Chair.​
It is important that all SAB members attend the meeting in November when the final Development and Fundraising proposal goes before the full School Advisory Board. It is important that the members understand that the plan represents the priorities of both the school and the parents, and it is important that all stakeholders (parents and parishioners) know that all money raised will be divided and spent according to the plan. ​