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Nov. 30, 2006
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Changes considered for Racine schools; merger possible |
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Task force offers recommendations to Archbishop Dolan |
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RACINE — When Catholic school students in Racine pack their belongings next spring to begin their summer vacations, some of them may also bid farewell to their schools.
By September, Racine’s eight Catholic schools might merge to form a five-system campus. If approved, all 11 churches — Cristo Rey, Sacred Heart, St. Edward, St. John Nepomuk, St. Joseph, St. Lucy, St. Paul, St. Patrick, St. Richard, St. Rita and St. Sebastian — would form one collective education ministry.
The suggested merging is rooted in recommendations from the 42-member Racine Catholic schools task force, a professional group seeking to find an alternative to the current one-parish, one-school example. That model is on shaky ground at some parishes due to declining enrollment and increasing operational costs.
If the 11 parishes adopt the plan and it receives approval from Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, three of the existing schools — St. John Nepomuk, St. Richard, and St. Sebastian — would not be used in the first year of the transition. Future use of the three schools is uncertain, but possibilities include diocesan office space, day care or adult education.
Each school within the five system campus, St. Edward, Sacred Heart, St. Lucy, St. Rita and St. Joseph, would be led by a principal and feature an enhanced Catholic education program in grades K-eight.
While transition on any level can be difficult and harrowing, officials from the Racine Catholic schools task force are attempting to make any changes as uncomplicated as possible.
“Transition is never easy and we have to get the approval for the main model before we can answer questions to the moms who are wondering where their kids will be going to school,” said Michael Sucharda, task force chairman.
“We are still in the middle of the process, and this will mean a change for everyone — not just for the kids who have to move. We believe in the program and want to do whatever we can to get people through it.”
Unique to the plan is a concept that would place ownership and financial responsibility of the current eight schools with each of the 11 Racine parishes.
Under the plan, and with all 11 parishes participating, the parishes would provide each child of parish members a $1,079 voucher to the system to offset the cost of a Catholic education and support of that ministry.
With complete participation, tuition would be uniform at $2,200 per student, with a 25 percent discount for a second child, a 35 percent discount for a third child and a 45 percent discount for the fourth child.
“Students would go to named campuses rather than calling them by their current names to disassociate them from the parish,” Sucharda explained. “We want to create something to energize the whole Catholic community in Racine.”
The parishes have until Dec. 7 to decide whether they are interested in the model.
“Members of the task force are meeting with each of the parish councils to review the concept,” said Sucharda. “Once we have input from each parish, we will take the results and forward them to the archbishop.”
If accepted, a 501c3 nonprofit corporation would be formed to govern the new system with a board of directors consisting of each of the pastors and a pastor designate. The board would be created in mid-January to continue developing the system.
A team consisting of an executive director, financial manager, development director, curriculum coordinator and secretary, would lead the system.
Included in the education program would be a campus minister to serve all five sites, and a curriculum development director overseeing all five locations.
Each campus would offer specialists in learning, foreign language, computer technology, guidance counseling, and music.
If the plan is adopted, current school administrators and staff could apply for positions with the new school system. The Archdiocese of Milwaukee would assist the board of directors through this process. As the new entity is created, school employees would be informed as to the open positions and the application process. The archdiocese would ensure help for all school employees with job placement, either inside or outside of the new system.
Under the plan, students would need to register for the new system. All existing school families, as well as the public, would receive notification on upcoming registration and application procedures in time to make a decision about the 2007-2008 school year.
The two independent Racine Catholic schools, San Juan Diego Middle School and St. Catherine High School, would be invited to become affiliate members in the first year of the system. The boards of directors for the system and each of the two schools would have to develop further plans on collaborative efforts under the new structure.
Although Sucharda has received a favorable response on the formation of the single education entity, issues such as busing, registration and student placement are at the forefront of concerns.
“While most of us agree on the concept, we can’t decide on all of those things right now; we can’t dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s until we agree on the model and then we can move ahead in January or February,” he said. “And obviously, if you are a kid or a parent in the school that is transitioning, you are not going to be happy, and understandably moms might be upset over wondering where their little kids will go and how it will be in classrooms of 25 kids instead of 10 kids. It will be different.”
Task Force communications chairperson, Laura Sumner-Coon, agreed, adding that there were still many unanswered questions as well as some legitimate concerns.
“But we are trying to say that all will be figured out in ample time, but we need to enact the policy-making body who will make all the policy decisions,” she said. “People need to be patient while we set up a structure, and we can’t set that up until the parish councils have agreed on the plan.”
Sucharda said that the schools that are not transitioning should not be regarded in a “survival of the fittest” mentality, but rather as a unified effort to improve Catholic education in the Racine area.
“We are really interested in building a better mousetrap,” he said. “And we feel we can build something to energize outside funds, make it more marketable and attractive if we have a model that we can recommend. We would like to have an enhanced magnet school model. If you look at Prairie School in Racine, tuition is $8,000 in the early grades. We feel we can be competitive in a magnet school model and at a significantly less cost with full parish support.” |
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