The Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Tuguegarao Archdiocesan School System (TASS), chaired by Archbishop Ricardo L. Baccay, D.D. met with the Senior Leadership Team or SLT of St. Joseph College of Baggao, Inc. (SJCBI) on February 14, 2022, immediately after the solemn blessing of the Msgr. Felicisimo Herrera Administration building. Fr. Gerard Ariston P. Perez, the college president of SJCBI, warmly welcomed the members of the BOT. In his welcome remarks, Fr. Perez expressed the desire of the SLT to be journeying with the TASS-member schools in its delivery of quality, transformative and holistic education in the spirit of synodality called for by Pope Francis. He further highlighted the need for the TASS to be working closely together, sharing resources, and collaborating on common programs so that our Archdiocesan educational institutions will not only survive but flourish during pandemic times.
After the welcome remarks, the different members of the SLT reported on the accomplishments, challenges encountered and the current needs of the school to meet the demands of a growing school population following the domains set by the Philippine Catholic School Standards or PCSS. Fr. Dave Remudaro reported on Catholic Identity and Mission, Ma’am Marissa Palomares on Leadership and Governance, Dr. Roy Tumaneng on Learner Development, Dean Albert Calixto on Learning Environment, and Ma’am Ofelia Arnedo on Operational Vitality. The report on Research and Community Engagement, which is a separate domain in the upcoming PCSS for Higher Education was included under the Learning Environment Domain.
The Archbishop and the other members of the BOT, namely Fr. Adalbert Barut, TASS Superintendent, Fr. Samuel Baculi, President of the Lyceum of Tuao, and Fr. Jake Ordillos, the Board Secretary gave their comments after the reports were presented. Archbishop Baccay and the other BOT members noted the various developments and improvements made in the last four years, not only with the facilities and buildings that were constructed but they were most especially delighted by the improvement of the quality of education being delivered by the school as evidenced by the approval of the PACUCOA of SJCBI’s application for level-one accreditation. The SLT submitted three proposals for the TASS-BOT’s study and approval, namely, 1. the proposed new course offerings, 2. the updated standardized salary scheme, and 3. the proposed construction of an 8-classroom building at the College campus. These proposals will be taken up in the next BOT meeting.
The meeting ended with the closing remarks of the Archbishop congratulating the SLT for a job well done and challenging them to continue the mission of evangelizing God’s people, especially the youth in the area.
