Advisory councils seen for all diocesan schools
By Chris Donahue
Staff Writer
Sustaining Catholic schools by forming advisory councils for each school in the diocese was a key goal discussed during the Pastors and Principals Meeting in St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Piscataway, Dec. 6.
Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski provided the welcome and led prayer service in the chapel.
Timothy Dwyer, associate executive director, chief administrators, Catholic Education for National Catholic Education Association, discussed budgeting and management in a morning presentation and analyzing financial statements and ratios in the afternoon. Group discussions followed each presentation.
Msgr . Michael J. Corona, superintendent of the diocesan Office of the Schools and executive director of the Department of Education, told the pastors and principals that because of the expertise members of the advisory councils could provide,“you’re going to find your job of development and fundraising and recruitment is going to become a habit.”
“At the beginning of the last century, the pastors and bishops got together and decided that in order to pass our faith along in a Protestant culture we had to teach our kids in school, so they went to great expense to collect the dimes and pennies from immigrants to build the Catholic school system that we have today,” Msgr. Corona said. “It’s up to us who are facing the same problems they faced in a different way. We’re facing a secular humanistic country that wants nothing to do with faith.
“The bottom line is that if we believe that our Catholic schools are going to be the salvation of the Church in the future, then we have to do everything that we possibly can to make them the best Catholic schools they can be.”
Several schools in the diocese have advisory councils in some form, said Dr.Frank Heelan, deputy superintendent. The benefits of councils include providing advice on financial matters and development, which would allow pastors and principals to focus more on the day-to-day operations of their schools, he said.
The councils, which would work with principals, also provide a sounding board for the community, he said.
The advisory councils ordinarily consist of a chairman and vice chairman and at least 10 members, who would serve two-to three-year terms.
The diocese would like all of its schools to have advisory councils estab-lished within two to three years, Dr. Heelan said. The diocese will provide training for establishing councils and members. Advisory councils would have limited jurisdiction, meaning they wouldn’t have a say in matters such as personnel or curriculum decisions.
Jackie Kraus, first-year principal ofOur Lady of Victories School, Sayreville,said “the workshop brought up some things that I will have to discuss with my pastor. It pointed me in the right direction.”
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law