The New York Archdiocese has
announced that 26 of the 159 regional, parish and archdiocesan
elementary schools are at risk of closing next June.
In addition, St. Agnes Boys High School in Manhattan also is at risk of closing at the end of the current school year.
The Nov. 26 announcement of "at risk" schools comes two years after the
archdiocese closed 20 schools as part of a reconfiguration plan.
A decision about the future of Catholic schools on New York's Staten
Island has been postponed until January while the region continues to
struggle with the effects of Hurricane Sandy. Archdiocesan officials are
meeting with local pastors, principals, administrators and elected
officials for in-depth discussions on how to best serve the needs of
school families.
In a Nov. 28 posting on his blog, New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan
described the announcement of school closings as "very somber news."
"I dread this! I'd rather be opening new schools, not closing some," he said in his blog, "The Gospel in the Digital Age."
Children, teachers, parents and parishes love their schools and "fight
hard to make them work! Some have just settled into these schools after
the previous closing of others," he added. "This is very sad."
But the cardinal explained that "these tough decisions were long in
coming, after over a year of study, discussion, consultation and debate
by priests, parents and experts close to the scene."
He also noted that this second wave of closings "should be it." Although
he said he couldn't promise that more schools wouldn't close, he said
he did not envision a future announcement of dozens of closings.
In examining the future of Catholic education three years ago,
archdiocesan officials approached the task with the traditional method
of assessing how to effectively "make a good product even better" and
put into place a number of academically oriented strategies, said
Timothy J. McNiff, superintendent of schools in the archdiocese.
"We were confronted though with the unfortunate reality that there were
very significant deficits the schools collectively were producing at the
time," he said.
After a first round of closures in 2010-2011, officials realized that by
themselves those closures would not satisfy all the deficits. "But we
wanted to take a more deliberate approach," McNiff said, "and first
change governance and leadership by inviting more laypeople to join
pastors and we wanted to explore how can we bring in additional revenue
into the system on a consistent basis."
The superintendent acknowledges the number of at-risk schools is high.
"It is a big number," he said. At the same time, he said, the number is
"distributed among the entire archdiocese, which is a very big
archdiocese."
"But that doesn't ease the pain and angst for families and children" who will be displaced, he said.
To ease the transition, placement counselors will work with principals
and displaced families "to help shepherd them to another Catholic school
for next year."
The number of students on the combined rosters of the 26 at-risk
elementary schools is 5,053 out of 50,045 currently enrolled in Catholic
elementary schools in the archdiocese.
St. Agnes Boys High currently has 217 students out of a total of 24,830
pupils currently enrolled in Catholic schools across the archdiocese.
In the next step of the process, pastors and principals of the at-risk
elementary schools will be invited to meet with members of the local
board or reconfiguration committee in their region to discuss the
combination of factors that led to their school being pinpointed and to
review next steps.
Pastors and principals will be given the opportunity to share insights
that may be relevant in the review or appeal process. The final
decisions by local boards and reconfiguration committees, in
consultation with the archdiocese, will be made in January.
In the interim, McNiff suggested that "the best thing a parent can do is
just continue to mentor their children by explaining what is happening,
the rationale for it," giving them confidence that their school is
going to continue to be the same school that they've enjoyed for the
remainder of the school year.
The announcement of the at-risk schools follows the completion of
preliminary evaluations of the current status and long-term viability of
the regionalized elementary schools in their respective regions by
local boards for three pilot regions and ad hoc reconfiguration
committees for six nonpilot regions, comprised of laity and clergy in
parishes across the archdiocese.
The emphasis placed on the local decision-making process was outlined in
"Pathways to Excellence," the strategic plan for Catholic schools
published in 2010 and developed to assure a vibrant future for Catholic
education in the archdiocese. Under that plan, most parish elementary
schools will align into geographic regions governed by boards.
Regional boards and reconfiguration committees in every county in the
archdiocese began their analysis of each school region this fall. The
review incorporates all relevant data, including enrollment, financial,
academic and local demographics, and ensures their decisions will result
in financially healthy schools.
"What makes it so difficult -- we've said this before, but it bears
repeating -- we're not closing failing schools," McNiff said. "Not when
you look at test scores, graduation rates, attendance, safe
environments. This is all about a lack of funds to keep schools open."