Scott County Catholic Schools (SCCS) Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
November 24th, 2025 — 5:30 PM
Assumption High School Board Room
Attendees: Andy Craig, Rosie Salazar, Carol Foster, Linda Duffy, Beth Tinsman, Mike Byrne, Rosie Barton, Tammy Askeland-Nagle, Jim Hannon
Absent: Rob Edel, Fr. Jason Crossen
Guests: Mark Miller (Bray Architects), Chad Steimle, Logan Ahnquist, Martha Korneisel, Cindy Schulenberg
Prayer
The meeting began with a prayer at 5:31 PM.
Approval of Minutes
Minutes from the October board meeting were approved.
Introduction and discussion with Bray Architects – Mark Miller
Their team includes specialists such as an educational planner, communications and engagement support, interior designer and quality control.
Will work alongside IMEG for engineering support services.
The Grant School project is in early planning stages.
City requirements: A storm shelter must be constructed before the building can be used as a school. Current zoning allows temporary events but not full-time educational use.
Building assessment highlights: Good overall condition. Roof warranty expires in 1 year but should last 5-10 years past. Asbestos report is still being reviewed.
Next steps: Confirm core planning team (CPT) members, schedule construction manager RFQ, plan building scans and walkthroughs, begin zoning discussions with the city. Think on a name if it is to be changed.
Reports
Mission/Governance
N/A
Education
Most teachers have finished up with LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) training. Work being done on standard based grading.
Finance
ESA tuition funds for fall received ($1M+), with the spring portal opening in December. Parents have until the end of January to approve spring tuition.
Most students are using the ESA, except for Illinois students and new students coming in after the start of the school year. The STO could help with those students’ costs.
Honkamp, PC will be at the December 19th finance meeting.
New Bluebird bus was delivered and inspected.
Assumption charges 3K rent to SCCS for their office space. Integrated into the budget in case SCCS needs to find a new office space.
Tuition rates need to be set before the first high school registration event on January 22nd. Finance Committee will discuss tuition in December and bring a proposal to the board. Goal is to keep parish-subsidized tuition at or below the ESA amount; non-subsidized rates for high school and grade school are above ESA. Maintaining a general ESA alignment is important. Salary costs are a major factor (85% of budget). Teacher’s base salary is rising, aiming for 90% of starting public school wages.
Human Resources
Few open positions remain. SJA admin assistant was just hired.
Logan is working on preliminary numbers for the 26-27 school year salaries.
Communication/Marketing
SJA website hopes to launch on December 1st.
Cindy is still actively trying to gain access to the SCCS social media accounts.
Facilities
Enrollment – Preschool numbers are low this year. Anticipated growth at the high school, while talk of the kindergarten classes decreasing. Overall, some grades have space and others are full.
Consideration of Grant School’s future as a middle school, overflow space, or permanent home for All Saints. Flexibility in future use is important. All options remain open. (There will be an assessment of All Saints to determine the exact condition of the building).
Technology
Tech coordinators met and discussed charges for device repairs, AI implementation in education and focusing on consistency across the schools.
Other
Lourdes was located within the Bettendorf School District, while SJA is within the Pleasant Valley School District boundaries. As a result, Bettendorf did not distribute the allocated funds to us for the 2025–2026 school year. However, Pleasant Valley had carryover funds of $122,293 available, which were allocated to us to support the first year of the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program (SWVPP) at SJA.
Linda met with the Senate Majority Leader and Speaker of the House and discussed drafting legislation to use STO money to cover this year’s preschool funds.
Unfinished Business
N/A
New Business
N/A
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 6:55 PM.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held in the AHS Board Room at 5:30 PM on Monday, December 22, 2025.
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Cindy Schulenberg, SCCS Executive Assistant