Presentation
[PowerPoint]Presentation [PDF]
Questions and Answers
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St. Louis Parish School Presentation
Summary Sheet
Oct. 17, 19, 2010
Presentation
[PowerPoint]
Presentation
[PDF]
Questions and
Answers
With the planned return to parish control in the 2011-2012 school year, St. Louis School will continue to provide a Catholic education serving 3-4 year olds in pre-school, Full and Half Day Kindergarten ( 3 classes ), and Grades 1-6 (2 classes at each grade level). St. Louis School is an integral part of a path of Catholic education which includes grades 7-8 at Siena Catholic Academy (at St. Thomas More ), McQuaid, Mercy, Aquinas, and Bishop Kearny High Schools.
St. Louis School is a great school! The school is working very well but some changes are needed in the manner of support. It is worth our efforts to ensure that it is a sustainable enterprise and is here to stay!
What can we do to ensure the continued success of St. Louis School?
1. Believe in the future of the school. A sustainable school for our children depends on the financial support of our parish and surrounding community. It also depends on a continued and even growing enrollment. The support of our school parents is key to maintaining enrollment.
2. Affirm that the parish should continue to support the school at the current $350,000 annual level and meet additional needs as they arise.
3. Advocate for our school in the community. This will help both the financial and enrollment side. There is also the issue of support from surrounding parishes. We need their long term support to share the financial burden of the school.
4. Celebrate and enjoy the blessings that the school brings to our community.
5. Look for ways that St. Louis School can be a blessing to your own family. Encourage your own children and grandchildren to consider becoming a part of St. Louis School.
6. Consider your own ability to contribute to the school effort. As control of the school passes from the diocese to our parish we will have increased need for volunteers to serve on committees and in other roles.
The success of this project to reintegrate St. Louis School with the parish depends upon the continued support of the parish members and school parents. We believe that we will be able to provide a sustainable, quality, Catholic education for our children. Take some time to reflect on your own feelings about this project. Presentation materials may be reviewed at StLouisChurch.org. We have listed the members of the Catholic School Steering Committee. Also, the parish council members are listed on the parish website. Please speak with them about your desire to support this effort or to ask additional questions!
CATHOLC SCHOOL STEERING COMMITTEE
Name
Phone
William Quinn
383-4043
quinn5335@yahoo.com
Michael Moore
385-9153
mikemoore@ieee.org
James Schnell
267-7295
jschnell@mmb-co.com
Fran Barr
381-2041
ffbarr3@yahoo.com
Seana Mancini
seanamancini@yahoo.com
Brian DeJoy
383-1358
bdeioy@rochester.rr.com
Cynthia Mollenkopf
249-0093
cmollenk@rochester.rr.com
John Bellini
586-5200
jbellini@dor.org
Fr. Kevin Murphy
586-5675
kmurphy@stlouischurch.org
Return of St. Louis
School to Parish Responsibility
Q & A
The continuing process of the Return of St. Louis School to Parish Responsibility:
Following two open meetings during which the Catholic School Committee outlined the progress so far and some of the issues still needing resolution, a variety of questions were asked by those participating. This is a summary of those issues that the Committee can offer some guidance for. We invite your comments and suggestions which can be sent to any of the members of the Committee.
The return of the school to St. Louis parish raises a concern about the role of the Diocese and the Catholic School Office in the running of the school. What will the relationship be?
When the school is returned to the parish, scheduled for July 1, 2011, St. Louis School will be run as an independent school with its own autonomy and direction. The Diocese and the School Office will provide some basic support in the areas of educational and legal matters and will provide us with Human Resource support. The day to day running of the school will be managed by our Principal with the guidance of a governing body which is yet to be established. The responsibility for the school will be that of the Pastor of St. Louis Church. St. Louis Church will have fiscal responsibility for the school also.
How will the school be funded?
This has been one of the major issues before the Committee. The Diocese has established some guidelines for the return of the school and one of those was that the funding from the Diocesan Subsidy that other parishes paid into would not be transferred to St. Louis school. This means that beyond parent tuition the major source of income would be the subsidy from St. Louis and no other parish. This is an issue that our committee continues to struggle with and is attempting to negotiate with the Diocese. It has not been resolved yet. We will have a plan in place for 2011-12 that will assure a balanced budget.
Has there been consultation with St. Rita’s and St. Joseph’s?
We continue informal communication with these two parishes as well as with others in Monroe County. We are all dealing with this major shift in ministry and look more to the future to determine ways that we might share resources and provide a collaborative approach to our common mission. We will work with each other on such matters as setting tuition and evaluating salaries of staff.
Can the subsidy from St. Louis Church be raised? Presently that subsidy is 35% of the weekend collections.
There will be an on-going need to examine and strengthen all sources of income: tuition, weekend collections, school fund raisers, special appeals. While the parish could consider increasing its percentage to the school, the 2010-11 parish budget is a deficit budget. We also have to be sure that other ministries of the parish are funded with the needed resources.
What is the Committee’s attitude about the School becoming more connected with the parish?
The CSC is enthusiastic about the possibilities that this can offer both the parish and the school. We feel that with more local control, the school and its ministries will be linked more directly with the parish and its ministries. It will take some time for this re-connection to happen and to be a smooth fit, but we are excited about working on it. Even for sending parishes, we see this affecting the school families and their relationship to their home parishes
What has to happen to really make this plan a success?
As we said at the 2 meetings, if this plan is to be a success, it will mean that all our parishioners and our school families, both from St. Louis and from other sending parishes, must work to increase enrollment while retaining those presently in the school; realize that tuition has to be increased over time; and assist to make the Endowment Campaign of $1.5 million a success. A lot of work from a lot of people!
How will we deal with the financial needs that some families may have going forward?
There will always be families from our Catholic parishes who will experience hardship from unemployment, illness or other circumstances. As a school community we must work to provide financial aide for people in need. It is why we have added a significant amount to this line item in the budget. We want to work with all those who choose a Catholic School education to assist them in realizing their desire. We also feel that St. Louis in Kenya should be supported as part of our school mission. Our hope is that we will find a way to reach out to children from the City of Rochester who would benefit from an education here.
What is our present enrollment for 2010-11?
We have seen a very slight increase in enrollment this past year. We added 6 students to our school community---not a large growth, but the only Catholic school in Monroe County where growth happened. We feel that as we approach this next year we will be in a better position to increase awareness and to reach out to new families. We have hired Dixon-Schwabl to guide us in marketing and recruiting new families. We are planning for 10-20 new students for this next year.
How much will tuition be for 2011-12?
We knew you were going to ask that! That is still an unanswered question. Our plan is to receive the approval both of the Parish Council and the Finance Council of the parish by January 1, 2011. We will invite families to another open meeting soon after that with an answer to that question as well as an outline of steps needing action by all involved.
We invite you to view the slides that were presented at the two open meetings on Oct. 17 and 19.