IV. B. Department of Catholic Schools
Findings and Background
1. The Department has a well-developed Administrative Handbook - Policies and Guidelines for parish schools. However, the Department is not always able to ensure that policy be implemented.
2. The Department has direct management responsibility for 22 high schools, supervisory responsibility for 216 parish elementary schools and 6 parish high schools and serves as a resource to 22 private high schools and nine private elementary schools.
3. As the principals' job becomes larger and more complex, they increasingly need assistance from the Department of Catholic Schools' staff. The pastors and principals who attended April, 2003 workshops strongly affirmed observations 3 and 4.
4. In addition to the President and two Superintendents, in 2002-03 the Department had only 13 professional staff persons and 8 support staff. Compared to the Offices of Catholic Schools in other large archdioceses, the Department in Los Angeles is thinly staffed.
5. Each regional supervisor, in addition to supervising a large number of schools, also has responsibility for two or more significant archdiocesan-wide programs.
6. Some special programs are being reasonably covered well by archdiocesan staff. Other special programs are not well covered because the current staff is not large enough to provide the service: i.e., early childhood programs, school technology, financial resource development, marketing, local school council development, etc. For example, 52 parish preschools have been identified, but they are largely unsupervised by the Archdiocese.
Objectives and Strategies
1. The Department of Catholic Schools will have influence commensurate with its responsibilities.
Strategies:1.1 In the previous section it was said, "Policies of the Council will become policy that all archdiocesan and parish schools are to follow." Implementation of this recommendation will give the Department the influence needed to ensure that policies and procedures are implemented across the system of schools. Oversight by the Department is especially important in the areas of principal selection and supervision, finances, and Catholicity.
1.2 Because leadership is so critical to the success of individual schools, archdiocesan policy will give sufficient responsibility to the Department, in cooperation with the local pastor and school council, to determine the process for selection, supervision and evaluation of principals in parish schools.
2. The President of Catholic Schools will have influence commensurate with his/her responsibilities.
Strategies:2.1 The President will consult and/or get approval from the Archdiocesan School Council on important policy issues.
2.2 The President will coordinate with the Chancellor and Moderator of the Curia.
3. The Department of Catholic Schools will be adequately staffed to implement the Strategic Plan for Catholic Schools and to ensure that the Catholic school system in Los Angeles is healthy and growing.
Strategies:3.1 The following special programs in the Department will be staffed with a qualified full-time or part-time person:
| Full-time Equivalent | Program |
| 1.0 | Establish and train local school councils |
| 1.0 | Help school councils and principals establish development programs (in coordination with the Catholic Education Foundation) |
| 1.0 | Technology |
| .5 | Preschool supervision |
If full-time staff is not an option, contracted, long-term consulting services should be provided. In addition, the two vacant supervisor positions that have not been filled should be hired. Legal counsel must also be available on retainer as needed.
3.2 Three-year funding for the 3.5 positions will be sought from local foundations or through the Catholic Education Foundation. Foundations will be challenged to consider the question: Is it better to "give local schools a fish", or to "teach them how to fish" through the services provided by the Department of Catholic Schools.
4. The Department will be responsible for annually updating the Strategic Plan for Catholic Schools.
Strategies:4.1 The President and his staff will work with the Planning Committee of the Archdiocesan School Council to annually evaluate the implementation of each aspect of the plan and to update and expand the plan, as needed.
5. Department of Catholic Schools salaries will be appropriate for the level of responsibility.
Strategies:5.1 Supervisors and other Department administrators will receive more compensation than the school principals who they coordinate and advise.
