It appears that another three Catholic schools are merging into one, and it also seems that there has been no urgent need stated to do so. I hear that things are heating up at two Parishes that will be losing their schools. I guess the first thing to be kept in mind that this is a very complicated thing. If a parish spends more than 50% of its total income to subsidize a school, then there is probably some need to do something. I know that one of the Parishes involved spends about 39% of its total income on the school, but many other parishes spend more and they are keeping their schools going.
I can definitely understand the feelings of some pastors. Parish schools can be a real pain in the neck from staffing to dealing with irate parents who do not do much to support the school, to those parents whom the pastors themselves have to call to get them to pay their tuition, even though they have sufficient means to do so. With everything else they have to deal with, some might feel the schools as an albatross around around their neck. The difficulty sometimes is that the pastors do not end up hearing from the real supporters of the school until it is too late and he thinks the school is all about dealing with malcontents.
Another nail in the parish school coffin is that sometimes the grade schools (and even some high schools) do a less than satisfactory job of teaching the faith. They can be wonderful in teaching social outreach and care for the poor, but some are very weak in passing on a Catholic tradition of prayer, teaching and devotion. This religious aspect is the main reason Catholic schools ought to exist. I also know of some Cathlic school religion teachers who feel they are the “Maytag repairmen,” in that no one wants to have a conference with the religion teacher, but only with Math, Science and reading teachers. As many priests have said in the past, the job of a Catholic school is to get children to heaven, not Harvard. Some parents are not sending their kids for a religious education, but because the public school system is irretrievably broken.
With all that said, I go back to my title- are regional schools parsh killers? I think that when mergers occur that are not absolutely necessary, they very well could be. One of the big reasons is cost, and we have to be good stewards of the Church’s goods. While that is true, there are some points to be kept in mind. Two parishes will have large empty buildings that they will have to heat and clean and insure and protect against vandalism. How much will the parishes have to spend on unused real estate? Both parishes have built significant additions in the last 10 years or so. The gyms will probably get used, but not much else. The danger is that some charter schools are looking to take over empty Catholic schools, and that could present a majoy financial nightmare, especially considering how “fly by night” some of these charter schools are. Also, the parishes are still going to subsidize their students tuition, so they will pay part of the students tution to send them to another school, while they have to provide upkeep on their own empty one. I would want to ask how that can be seen as prudential stewardship?
I have a fear that the biggest way they are going to cut costs is to not rehire teachers who have many years invested in teaching in Catholics schools. After all, who would you hire, someone with 30 years experience who makes maybe 40,000 a year, or a younger teacher whom they may only have to pay 25,000-30,000? I do not know how accurate the numbers are, but all things being equal, I am afraid that some of the most faithful teachers who have sacrificed higher paying jobs because they believed in Catholic education will be left in the cold. I know many say that this won’t happen, but you don’t need three sets of faculty to run one school, and the one remaining school may try to protect their own teachers as well. Maybe the Catholic teachers in the Archdiocese ought to consider joining a Union to keep this from happening.
I hope and pray it will not happen, but with this change, if I were a betting man, Little Flower, Assumption and St. Margaret Mary may be reduced to Sunday Mass parishes, with one Mass at each parish in the next decade. The next Archbishop will have to look at the Parish situations, and there will probably be mergers and closings or parishes that people never thought would close. I do not believe that the pastors are trying to kill their parishes by this school merger. I think they believe they will be facing a big problem in a few years and want to get out in front of it and see if they can keep the parishes alive. They probably see themselves in a no win situation as well. Collections are going down, how can they support a parish and a school?
Maybe this will serve as a wakeup call for parents and future parents of Catholic students to start thinking of ways to really promote their schools as well as evangelize their friends who may have turned away from their faith to come back and reclaim their heritage, before they face what I now face when I go home.
My home parish was in Middletown and there was a school with it that consolidated in 1974, splitting the school into k-5 and 6-8. S. Mary’s parish was closed and then the East campus of John XXIII was moved to the campus of the old Fenwick High school. The land with the Church, school and rectory was sold, the buildings excpet the convent were razed and the site will become the Middletown senior citizens center. When I drive my niece or nephew in Middletown, all I can do is point to the land where there USED to be a Catholic Church and school that was the lifeblood of many catholics in Middletown. Having to do this is produces an empty feeling that I would not wish on my worst enemy. But soon, you may have to do the same. Here is the place where the Church and school I attended USED TO BE. Now it is only a memory.
