27 New York Catholic schools at risk of closure [CWN]

[CWN_News]

Two years after the Archdiocese of New York shuttered 20 Catholic schools, an additional 27 schools ? including 26 of the archdiocese’s 159 elementary schools ? have been deemed “at risk” …

More…

 

[robwar]

that is too bad. The article doesn’t say but are they consolidating schools? I would image so.
I think that Catholic schools are in a crossroads of sorts. My two oldest have gone through and are in HS now. My daughter in a charter school. It seems like from my experience that Catholic schools were horrible in helping special needs kids at least in the elementary level. The high school has been much better. I think it is do to the greater expense of HS and the interest to help those that do send children to HS. Also I think that for HS, there are alot of single sex schools which have pluses and minuses and if some of the schools closing are single sex, then maybe they need to look at becoming co-ed. My experience with Charter schools in the elementary has been much better. Charter schools are free, offer a more discipline environment, innovative and willing to work with special need children. The down turn in the economy will not help and if someone has a choice between spending thousands of dollars or free education, they will probably choose the free. There is too much competition out there. Catholic schools need to get back to educating all children not just the super dupers that make them look good., get back to being innovative in the curriculum, end the nepotism that runs amuck in too many schools and reach out to the community at large. Running Catholic schools like it was the 60’s, 70’s or 80’s is not going to cut it anymore.
that’s my two cents for what it is worth

 

[rfournier103]

I think if Catholic schools were more affordable, there wouldn’t be so many closures. Of course, how do you keep costs down? Quite the conundrum…

 

[robwar]

I think if Catholic schools were more affordable, there wouldn’t be so many closures. Of course, how do you keep costs down? Quite the conundrum…

I know, I’ve seen it where once a school starts to have financial troubles, they raise the rates and then it is a slippery slope to closure because more people leave and it spirals downward.
Too often, schools are tied to one parish for the support. To keep schools open, it needs to be a consolidated effort, where more than one parish supports or sends support to the school. The regional schools with more than one parish supporting it seem to do better because there is a broader base.

 

[benjammin]

I know, I’ve seen it where once a school starts to have financial troubles, they raise the rates and then it is a slippery slope to closure because more people leave and it spirals downward.
Too often, schools are tied to one parish for the support. To keep schools open, it needs to be a consolidated effort, where more than one parish supports or sends support to the school. The regional schools with more than one parish supporting it seem to do better because there is a broader base.

This is something my diocese has done for years. Here in Lincoln (and in some other parishes in the other diocese’s in Nebraska), we don’t support schools on an individual parish basis, but have groups of parishes pull together to fund a school, and it keeps costs down. I think this is the way to go, otherwise, you end up with school raising tuition and losing members unless you have a large pool of wealthy families

 

[OriginalJS]

From what little I’ve seen, the successful Catholic schools are often in wealthy suburbs where parents can afford hefty tuition and expenses; also substantial percentages of the student body are often non-Catholics whose parents seek a private school education.

 

[robwar]

From what little I’ve seen, the successful Catholic schools are often in wealthy suburbs where parents can afford hefty tuition and expenses; also substantial percentages of the student body are often non-Catholics whose parents seek a private school education.

I am not so sure about a substantial percentage being non-Catholic but the characterization that Catholic Schools cater to the wealthy and are found in wealthier areas is a sad statement because originally many of the saints that started schools throughout history were starting schools to reach out to the poor and disadvantage and give a proper education. Catholic schools have gotten away from that. I think the new poor that Catholic schools should be reaching out to are students with special needs. Based on our horrible experience with our daughter, the elementary level schools seems more interested in it’s top students not helping those that need it. For Catholic schools to survive hard economic times, they need to return to their roots, become the innovators in education not just follow what public schools do and use ( Charter schools do outdo Catholic in this area) and care and help all that seek a Catholic education not just the top dog students. Otherwise, like you pointed out, Catholic schools just become another private expensive school that cater to the rich and famous and there are only so many of those in bad economic times.

 

[_Abyssinia]

Vouchers would help reinvigorate these schools but you have a democrat politician majority in NY and they are not friendly to vouchers. They have helped Catholic schools in other states

 

[JimG]

Catholic schools ought to be supported not just by parents, but by every parishioner. Everyone benefits from educated Catholic students.

In addition, if the government wants to support schools, (which was not originally a governmental function), it ought to do it by providing funding at the student level. Let parents of students, not any governmental unit, decide which school a student should attend. The free market can’t work where there is a monopoly.

 

[Dale_M]

Too often, schools are tied to one parish for the support. To keep schools open, it needs to be a consolidated effort, where more than one parish supports or sends support to the school. The regional schools with more than one parish supporting it seem to do better because there is a broader base.

That regional approach seems to be what the Archdiocese of New York has adopted as part of its recent (2010) Pathways to Excellence program.

What is Regionalization?

Pathways to Excellence is our strategic plan designed to ensure a vibrant, sustainable Catholic elementary school system in the Archdiocese of New York, both now and in the future. Regionalization, which will take place over three years, is the next phase of Pathways to Excellence, following the reconfiguration process.

Regionalization involves the coming together of parish elementary schools into geographic regions. Every parish will be responsible for, contribute to, and have a voice in Catholic education in the archdiocese. Given the importance of Catholic education to the community and to the Church, the laity will be called on to have an expanded leadership role in school governance with pastors.

An essential component of regionalization is reinvestment, which includes reallocating current resources back into Catholic education while identifying and securing additional funding. The goal is a system of strong, accessible, affordable Catholic schools, owned by every parish, supported by every Catholic, available to every child.

adnyeducation.org/media/pdfs/regionalization1.pdf

To implement this program, the regional groups were required to evaluate the schools in their area for a number of factors:

Local Regional Boards and Reconfiguration Committees in every county in the archdiocese began their careful analysis of each school region this fall. This review includes all relevant data, including enrollment, financial, academic and local demographics, and ensures their decisions will result in financially healthy schools. The long-term goal of regionalization is to maintain sustainable, excellent local school options for families wishing a Catholic education.

Based on this review, the Boards and Reconfiguration Committees have determined that 26 out of 159 regionalized, parish and archdiocesan elementary schools are at-risk of closure in June 2013. The number of students at these elementary schools is 5,053 out of 50,045 currently enrolled in Catholic elementary schools in the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island, and Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Sullivan, Orange, Dutchess and Ulster counties. Enrollment data is as of October 1, 2012.

archny.org/news-events/news-press-releases/index.cfm?i=27343

I am not sure how important this statistic is, but it might be worth noting that 16% of the elementary schools in the archdiocese are faced with closure, but those schools represent only 10% of elementary students in the archdiocese’s school system.

 

[_Abyssinia]

New York’s Catholic Schools Get New Lease on Life

ncregister.com/daily-news/new-yorks-catholic-schools-get-new-lease-on-life

 

[Dale_M]

New York’s Catholic Schools Get New Lease on Life

Here are some key quotes from the article:

The archdiocese announced in January the closure of 22 elementary schools and two secondary schools by June 2013 in order to cover the school system’s $24-million deficit. The final closures, however, signal the end of a phase in the archdiocese’s Pathways to Excellence plan and the beginning of the plan’s final phase to sustain the archdiocese’s school system and enhance its Catholic identity.

McNiff said the New York Archdiocese intends to raise $20 million in new revenue to invest in its remaining schools by instituting a brand-new parish tax and allocating the proceeds of sold Church property to fund an income-generating endowment.

He said every single region will also pull its own weight to build its finances and enroll more students. Under the regionalization plan, each region will have its own superintendent’s office with a marketing specialist, instructional specialist and financing experts

The hope is that the regional school districts will attract donors who are reluctant to donate straight-up to the archdiocese.

 

[Filii_Dei]

I hope this plan pulls through. There aren’t many Church properties that they can keep selling to raise funds.