V. C. School Governance
Local School Councils
Findings and Background
1. The Archdiocese will soon require that each parish have a functioning Pastoral Council in addition to a Finance Council.
2. Site-based management continues to be the preferred model for Catholic schools. Involvement of the laity is very important to the development and implementation of successful marketing, development, public relations and fundraising efforts in individual high schools and elementary schools.
3. Local school councils and lay involvement are a growing phenomenon in Catholic schools in most dioceses, although many schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles have not adopted such councils.
4. Almost every Catholic school needs more financial resources than can be provided by tuition/fees and parish subsidy. Consequently, third source funding is essential to providing quality Catholic schools.
5. Some Catholic schools in the Archdiocese had local school councils that became inappropriately involved in school administration or failed to achieve their mission in other ways. Because of past negative experiences, school administrators need help in learning how to establish and effectively use a school council.
Objectives and strategies
1. Each archdiocesan and parish elementary school and high school will be required to have a functioning consultative school council no later than 2008.
Strategies:1.1 Each school will submit a plan and schedule to the Department of Catholic Schools outlining how it will achieve this objective as soon as possible.
1.2 The Department of Catholic Schools will provide acceptable interim steps for meeting this objective, i.e., development council, etc.
2. The Department of Catholic Schools will have appropriate budget and staff in order to help individual schools achieve the objective of an active consultative school council by 2008.
Strategies:2.1 The Department of Catholic Schools will have a full-time consultant whose sole task is to help schools establish and maintain effective school councils.
2.2 Sufficient budget should be provided to hire workshop leaders, consultants and others to help achieve this objective.
3. Local school councils will be consultative and involved in policy development. They may also have hands-on involvement in fundraising, development, marketing and facility planning. However, local councils do not become involved in areas of day-to-day school affairs which remain the school administration's responsibilities.
Strategies:3.1 The purpose of a school council is to enhance and support the pastor and principal.
3.2 Archdiocesan policy and guidelines will clearly describe the role and function of school councils clarifying their responsibilities in appropriate areas.
3.3 Local school policies can enhance but not supplant archdiocesan school policies.
School Ownership and Governance
Findings and Background
1. Each of the 216 parish elementary schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is currently sponsored and operated by a single parish.
2. As changes continue to be experienced by the Catholic Church, and as the number of clergy declines, the governance of Catholic schools needs to be reexamined. The parish-based model of school governance is still most common in the United States. However, as circumstances change, many new models of Catholic school governance are being used in dioceses throughout the country.
3. There will be instances in the Archdiocese where an alternate governance/ownership model is necessary to ensure that a particular school, or group of schools, can continue to survive and remain viable.
4. Initiation and use of alternate governance/ownership models is most likely to succeed if the Archdiocese has an effective Archdiocesan School Council, a policy process, and an appropriately staffed Department of Catholic Schools.
Objectives and strategies
1. Three governance/ownership options will be used for elementary schools in the Archdiocese: parish school, inter-parochial school and archdiocesan school.
- Parish school (One parish sponsors the school, usually located on the parish site.)
- Inter-parochial school (One or more elementary schools are sponsored by two or more parishes. A consultative school council is accountable to the sponsoring parishes, but operates under archdiocesan school policy.)
- Archdiocesan school (A single elementary school, or group of schools, operated by the Archdiocese. A school might become an archdiocesan school under one or more of the following circumstances: the parish closes, economics of the geographic area, or a pastor is unfamiliar with the U.S. Catholic school model and is not willing or able to operate the elementary school.)
1.1 The parish model continues to be the preferred governance model, and will be used whenever practical.
1.2 The process for change of status of a parish school to an inter-parochial or archdiocesan school will be addressed in policy and procedures. In addition to appropriate steps, approval of the parish council, Archdiocesan School Council, Regional Bishop and Cardinal will be required to change the status of a school.
1.3 When a school's status is changed from parish to inter-parochial or archdiocesan, a contract will be developed with the local parish regarding use of facilities, financial responsibilities, etc.
