In this article, I discuss new school governance models. While I researched and then discussed a number of alternative school governance models in Chapter Two of Writing A New Story for Catholic Schools, I began to wonder what statistics were available related to school governance models.
I reviewed editions of NCEA’s Annual Statistical Report on Schools, Enrollment and Staffing published from 2000 to 2021. Many of us are familiar with this annual publication authored by Sister Dale McDonald, NCEA Vice President of Public Policy and Margaret Schultz through the 2021 edition that is now authored by Annie Smith, NCEA Vice President of Research and Data and Sarah Huber, NCEA Data Analyst.
I studied statistics in the Annual Report that addressed the trend in the number of schools over time by governance and school type. I noticed that the number of parish-governed schools had declined in all categories while the number of diocesan and privately governed schools had increased in all categories (Table 1).
One way to make schools more affordable and to ensure financial viability is to change governance models so that a network, consortium or regional school board and school office can centralize management and realize cost savings through the economy of scale and reducing duplication of efforts in school operations. The numbers in Table 1 may indicate that we are seeing a shift in governance from the parish to other organizations. Parish school administrators may want to consider if they could benefit from joining a network or consortium of schools, or if the development of a regional school might be possible in their area. Information on all of these governance models is available in the NCEA book Writing A New Story for Catholic Schools.
When planning to change a school’s governance model, it is important to engage parents and community partners to ensure strong enrollment support. In Chapters 4, 6 and 7 of Writing A New Story for Catholic Schools, Ron Fussell and I provide information about new school programs and we also provide detailed strategies on how to engage parents and community members in determining which new programs would enhance enrollment in a school. Examples of innovative school programs that are attractive to families include dual language curriculum, discipling curriculum, Science, Technology, Religion, English, Arts, Mathematics (STREAM) curriculum and individual student goals curriculum which is often used in smaller schools with multi-age classrooms.
There are many advantages to the parish school governance model including local control, proximity to families and connections to the Catholic faith. When a parish administrator and stakeholders determine that the parish is no longer able to operate a Catholic school on their own, all of these advantages can be integrated into a new school governance model through creative thinking and planning.
Note: This article addresses NSBECS Benchmark 10.3 by focusing on local and regional partnerships and regional cost sharing.
For further reading: Simonds, T. A., & Fussell, R. D. (2021). Writing A New Story for Catholic Schools. National Catholic Educational Association.
Father Tom Simonds, S.J., Ed.D. is professor of education at Creighton University and prepares teachers and leaders for public, private and Catholic schools. He has 13 years of experience as a Catholic high school teacher, coach, leader and board member. He has authored and coauthored four books with NCEA.
Father Tom Simonds, S.J., Ed.D.tsimonds@creighton.edu