Superintendent tells why schools may close

There's never a good time to announce the closing of a Catholic school, but it was a bitter irony for Sister Jane Herb, IHM, school superintendent for the Albany Diocese, to announce the closure of two schools in Schenectady during the annual celebration of Catholic Schools Week.

Sister Jane noted that St. Anthony's and St. Paul's Schools have "done great things," and hopes they use this week to celebrate their accomplishments, even as they anticipate closing at the end of the school year.

The closures were the result of more than a year of study by the Schenectady Initiative, a committee of pastors and principals formed to plan the future of Catholic education in the struggling city.

In addition, Schenectady's three remaining Catholic schools -- St. Helen's, St. Luke's and St. John the Evangelist -- will lose their sixth grades in June. Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School, which begins at sixth grade and runs through high school, is expected to absorb those students.

Planning for future

When the Schenectady Initiative first began meeting in fall 2002, said Sister Jane, the focus was on strengthening schools, not closing them. Schenectady was chosen to look at reorganizing its schools because its population decline was the greatest of any city in the Albany Diocese.

But even as the committee worked on marketing, and debated what programs Schenectady's schools needed to offer and how many students needed to be served, reality set in: Last fall, enrollment dropped again.

It was then, said Sister Jane, that the group began to look at each school's buildings, knowing that not all the schools could remain viable.

Viability

"Viability" is a term often used in explaining why a church or school must be closed. The superintendent gave several examples of what makes a school viable:

* first and foremost, a "quality academic program in a faith-filled environment," including good teachers and enrollment, which usually equate to financial stability. Sister Jane noted that all five of Schenectady's schools have quality programs, so that aspect wasn't an issue;

* teachers who are paid according to the diocesan salary scale -- not currently the case in all the Catholic schools in Schenectady; and

* support from parishes, since Catholic schools are a ministry of the Church. Sister Jane noted that while St. Anthony's and St. Paul's Schools are supported by their parishes, the Diocese wants to begin looking at Schenectady's Catholic schools as regional, rather than associated with specific parishes.

"Students come from all over the place -- within the parish, outside, from different faith traditions," she explained.

'Greater good'

Though the committee had to make difficult decisions, Sister Jane was pleased that the pastors and principals had "a real openness as to what's best for Catholic education in Schenectady."

When the time came to close schools, she said, "they were able to say, `What's for the greater good?'"

Deciding which schools to close was a lengthy process. Location-wise, Sister Jane said that "any three could have been chosen and you would have challenges."

Options

The superintendent created four scenarios of various combinations of schools, looking at the size of the facilities, cafeterias, gyms, space for art programs, technology and numbers of students. "If we can have two sections of each grade level, that enhances the program," she noted.

The committee also wanted to allow not just for the current number of students to be absorbed by the remaining schools, but for possible growth, as well.

In the end, for example, St. Luke's was chosen to stay open over St. Anthony's or St. Paul's because it is larger, having 15 classrooms, and has enough gym and cafeteria space.

Sixth grades no more

Closing the three sixth grades at St. Helen's, St. Luke's and St. John the Evangelist was another issue.

A study had shown that Schenectady's Catholic schools were losing students as they transitioned from fifth to sixth grade, and one reason was that there was no real middle-school -- that is, sixth- through eighth-grade -- program. Public schools there have such programs.

"Sixth grade, in elementary school, is pretty much a self-contained classroom," Sister Jane explained. But in the higher grades, one teacher doesn't have to teach every subject, and access to things like science labs and more team sports is available.

The committee realized that Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School could accommodate students from the other sixth grades and make available the distinct middle-school program they lacked.

More to study

Since Schenectady is facing a major transition, Sister Jane said that an advisory group is being established to look at issues like tuition. The group will be chaired by Deborah Damm O'Brien, former chair of the diocesan School Board.

The superintendent would like to create a community tuition structure so the three Catholic schools that are left won't be in competition with each other for students. She also hopes to maintain the current policy of tuition assistance based on financial need.

Sister Jane admitted that some families are concerned about the future of Catholic education as a whole in the Albany Diocese, wondering if the school they transfer their children to will close, as well.

But if families don't continue to choose Catholic schools for their children, she said, "it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. We need people to remain committed to Catholic education."

Though this is a "challenging time" for the Catholic schools of the Diocese, she added, "our schools continue to provide an excellent education, and the faith and values offered are much-needed today. Catholic education is not going to look like it did 100 or even 20 years ago; we need to change to fit the times."

Now that the announcement of the Schenectady changes has been made, all that's left is a final decision from Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, expected next month. The diocesan School Board will also look at the committee's proposal at its Feb. 10 meeting.

To ease the transition of students and families from St. Anthony's and St. Paul's, the remaining schools will not accept new students until the transfer students have had a chance to enroll. Other activities, including a "buddy system" for old and new students, and a gathering for incoming families, are also in the works.

(1/29/04)