Study details challenges facing Middlesex schools
By Chris Donahue
Staff Writer
PISCATWAY — Declining enrollment, fewer baptisms and increased competition are some of the challenges that will test the viability of Catholic schools in Middlesex County for the foreseeable future, according to a study by Meitler Consultants, Inc.
A Meitler representative shared results of the diocese-wide study, which began in September, with consultative groups from the 26 elementary and four high schools in Middlesex County at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center March 21. Each five-member consultative group comprises the principal, pastor and three lay leaders.
The consultative groups will return to their respective parishes to discuss the challenges and receive input from parishioners then provide written feedback to Meitler.
Meitler will host similar meetings with consultative groups from schools in the other three diocesan counties — Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren — at dates to be determined.
The study is intended to provide a blueprint for the future of Catholic schools in the diocese, according to superintendent Ellen Ayoub. “The results put everything where we can all see it and address it as a challenge for the future for Catholic education,” she said.
Declining enrollment and other factors resulted in the announced closures of three schools in the diocese. Corpus Christi School in South River, Everett Academy in Peapack and St. Peter the Apostle High School, New Brunswick, will close in June.
Declining enrollment
The Meitler study’s findings reflect decreasing enrollment trends for Catholic schools in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the country; however, growth is occurring in the West, Southwest and sections of Florida, where populations of Catholics are increasing.
From 2001 to 2006, enrollment in Catholic elementary schools in Middlesex County decreased 18.6 percent, but enrollment at the secondary school level increased 0.6 percent, according to the study. Those figures were nearly identical to both the state and National Catholic Education Association’s Mideast Region rates, but were a few points higher than the entire Diocese of Metuchen and NCEA national percentages.
From 2001 to 2007, Catholic elementary school enrollment in the county declined 1,863 students or 22 percent. During that same period, only three schools experienced an increase in enrollment: St. Augustine of Canterbury, Kendall Park (27 percent); St. Stanislaus Kostka, Sayreville (12 percent); and St. Mary of Mt. Virgin School, New Brunswick (6 percent).
Overall, elementary school enrollment in the county for 2006-2007 is 79 percent of capacity based on an average class size of 25 students. Only five schools are operating at 90 percent of capacity or greater and four are operating at 60 percent or less.
The potential revenue lost from the 1,688 empty seats is $5.35 million, which could be used for program enhancement, teacher salaries, tuition assistance, inflation and capital repairs and improvements, the report said.
The importance of enrollment is not lost on officials at St. James School, Woodbridge, and St. John Vianney School, Colonia.
St. James, which has 305 students, is operating at 102 percent capacity, while St. John Vianney, which has 548 students, the largest in the county, is at 91 percent capacity. However, enrollment in both schools has declined the past five years, and that trend is projected to continue.
“We have been looking at the possible decline for a long time and we are trying to maintain retention and build up our academic excellence,” said Msgr. Edward M. O’Neill, pastor, St. John Vianney Parish.
“Demographically, the area is changing,” said Dolores Gioffre, a member of the advisory council at St. James School. “We are getting a lot of Hispanic and Latino residents who are traditionally Catholic, but can they afford tuition? We will have to look at ways to raise more money.”
Fewer baptisms
Parish records indicate that declining enrollment is likely to continue in Middlesex County. In 2005, there were 1,621 fewer baptisms than in 1995, a decrease of 31 percent. The eastern part of Middlesex County recorded 1,053 fewer baptisms (-41 percent) compared with the western portion which had 568 fewer baptisms (-22 percent) during the timeframe.
Overall, the diocese experienced 1,664 fewer baptisms during the same period, a decrease of 21 percent.
While the Diocese of Metuchen grew by 13,324 parish households (+9 percent) from 1995 to 2005, Middlesex County experienced a loss of 1,201 families (-1 percent). By area, there were 4,606 or 9 percent fewer parish households in Middlesex East, but 3,405 or 8 percent more in Middlesex West.
Cost of tuition
With the cost of tuition a major factor in parents’ decision regarding which Catholic school to enroll their child, how much a family earns can be just as important as where the family lives, the study showed.
For example, in Middlesex County, where the median family income is $82,969, tuition for two children is an average of $5,355 or 6 percent of the family income. However, in Perth Amboy, which has the lowest median family income in the county — $47,639 — the average tuition is $5,080 or 11 percent of the family income.
On average, tuition for children attending Catholic schools in Middlesex County is significantly less than for the diocesan average. The average “first Catholic child tuition rate” in 2006-2007 was $8,342 per year for grades 9-12 at the diocese level but only $7,263 for Middlesex County (both including private schools). For kindergarten to eighth grade, the average tuition was $3,171 per year.
Future survival
St. Joseph of Carondelet Sister Mary Anne Heenan, senior consultant at Meitler, said the study will be completed by January. Meitler is also working with a diocesan task force to help formulate a vision of what Catholic schools in the diocese should look like in 2020, she said.
“The future of our church depends on the success of our Catholic schools and developing people who integrate their faith with daily living. The schools are an ideal place to do that,” Sister Mary Ann said.
“We must come up with a plan to make our schools both continue and thrive and that plan must ensure that our schools are distinctly Catholic, truly excellent and fiscally sound.
“If they are not distinctly Catholic they don’t deserve to survive into the future; if they are not fully excellent they should not survive into the future because we are short-changing our children.”
*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