Initial draft of Catholic schools planning report unveiled

By Jared Olar

An 18-month long-range planning study of the Diocese of Peoria’s Catholic school system entered its final phase last Saturday with the presentation of the initial draft of a long-range plan.

The purpose of the study, according to Brother William Dygert, CSC, diocesan superintendent of schools, is to identify what the diocese’s schools must do in the next five to 10 years to ensure continued strength and viability.

About 240 school principals, teachers, school staff, pastors and education commission members gathered for a four-hour consultative meeting that started at 10 a.m. at the Spalding Pastoral Center in Peoria.

Welcoming the educators to the meeting, Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, invoked the guidance and protection of St. Joseph, saying, “Let us, as we continue to work to improve our school system, continue to ask his help.”

The diocese’s Catholic school community must keep in mind that “our Catholic schools are engines of evangelization,” the bishop said. “We have to get better at telling that story.”

“Let us be open to change. Let us be creative,” said Bishop Jenky. “If the basic approach of any one of us is, ‘Let them change, not me,’ or, ‘Leave it alone, it’s doing fine,’ that won’t work.”

Bishop Jenky encouraged the educators to share their feedback and thoughts on the draft of the plan.

“The plan was not brought down from Mount Sinai by Moses. It is open to suggestions for improvement,” he said.

Now in its 14th month, the diocese’s planning initiative, with a theme of “Renewing Our Mission: Planning for Our Future,” is being conducted by Meitler Consultants Inc.

The draft of the plan, which includes specific recommendations for each of the diocese’s seven high schools and 42 elementary schools, was presented by two of Meitler’s senior consultants, Sister Mary Anne Heenan and Sister Kathleen Carr of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

“We believe there needs to be far more collaboration and communication among schools in a region,” said Sister Mary Anne. That is especially true of grade schools and the high school they feed into, she said.

Most diocesan schools are healthy and should carry on the positive initiatives they have implemented. Some, however, face challenges from declining enrollment and rising costs that will require difficult choices to be made in the near future, the Sisters said.
The components of the long-range plan were discussed during the meeting’s morning session. School-specific recommendations were reviewed in the afternoon session.

The plan presents a general vision of diocesan schools as distinctly Catholic, academically excellent and financially sound.

Other components of the plan address in greater detail the issues of Catholic identity, academic excellence, school structure and governance, leadership and staff development, finances, school facility needs, enrollment and marketing, future growth, and the timeline for implementing the plan.

Key components of the draft of the long-range plan include:

• Catholic schools should be recognized and valued throughout the diocese as an important ministry with a valuable contribution to make to the church’s future

• Catholic identity is to be strengthened and protected through a Christ-centered curriculum and preference in hiring given to active Catholics in good standing with the church

• Schools should be geographically accessible to the greatest number of students, but with criteria for rural schools different from those for urban schools

• Boards of limited jurisdiction, modeled after the one now in place at Peoria Notre Dame High School, are to be put in place at all diocesan high schools and regional elementary schools

• The Diocesan Education Commission is to be re-established

• A diocese-wide coordinated effort is to be implemented to increase enrollment, including a program to actively recruit Hispanic children by working with the diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry to help schools identify leaders in the Hispanic community

• All schools are to transition to a cost-based/need-based tuition model within five years, with the shift taking place region-by-region rather than school-by-school

• Schools are to strengthen their local development efforts, and all schools should run an annual fund appeal

“Implementing all of this requires a willingness to change,” said Sister Mary Anne. “You can’t stand still when everything around you is changing.”

After the presentation of the plan, meeting participants were instructed to convene meetings of their school and parish leadership so feedback can be gathered.

The meetings will review the draft plan and recommendations to determine if the leadership is in agreement, agrees in concept but with certain modifications, or does not agree and wishes to offer alternative recommendations. Feedback forms are to be submitted electronically by March 10.

The long-range planning task force will consider any revisions to the draft plan and feedback on April 23, and the following day the bishop and the planning steering committee will do the same. Afterward Meitler will prepare a final draft by the month of May.

The entire draft report with maps showing pupil enrollment is available at www.meitler.com (client access code “peoria”). The report without the maps may be viewed at the Web site of the Diocese of Peoria at www.cdop.org/pages/EdSchoolsLongRange.aspx