Working towards a bright future for the Monroe County Catholic School (MCSS) system.

1. Working towards a bright future for the Monroe County Catholic School (MCSS) system. Presentation to the MCCS Board. December 14, 2004. Dr. Frank L. H. Wolfs Representing the parents of St. John the Evangelist School on Humboldt Street.

2. Our school system only will have a future if we reverse the enrollment trend. Data from “The Annual Statistical Report on Schools, Enrollment and Staffing, 2003 - 2004, and http://www.dor.org/.

3. Reasons of Diocesan Actions • Dramatic decrease in enrollment year over year, especially in certain schools. • Loss in tuition revenue from FY 03-04 to FY 04-05 is $941,388. • Negative impact of demo-graphics (?) • It is clear that the Board is obligated to take decisive action to address the threat to the future of Catholic education.

4. While there is no doubt the Diocesan School Board went through an extensive process to conceptualize the school mergings, the families themselves were not individually engaged. • We never had an opportunity to learn more about the factors weakening our school system, and even more importantly, contribute to a process to strengthen our schools.

5. The success of any plan depends on how it is supported by the clients. • The Diocese has great examples of making decisions with community input: • Consolidation of the school system from quadrants to the current Diocesan system. • Consolidation of parishes into clusters. • The processes used to make these decisions was community-based, involving extensive local (sometime heated) discussions. The community had ownership in the outcome of the process.

6. Our request and our offer. • The primary purpose of this presentation is to respectfully request a suspension of the decision to consolidate/close the seven schools. • We would like to work with the Diocese and the Board to develop an aggressive schedule of problem identification, information dissemination and most critically, identifying short-term and long-term solutions to funding, to supplement the tuition realignment program that is set to begin next school year. • We note that the tuition realignment plan is independent of the consolidation plan, and can be implemented even if the mergers are suspended. In fact, the expected increase in enrollment as a result of the tuition plan may eliminated the need for some or all of the proposed mergers.

7. Reasons for Suspension • Process to date did not recruit parental support and in fact alienated many parents. • Parental/family support are the major recruitment tools for the Catholic school system. • Support systems are not readily disassembled and reassembled or transferred. • Closure of schools have a damaging effect on the parish communities and thus the Diocesan community. • Unclear gains from consolidation: • Cost savings from decreased salary overhead is offset by decreased staff morale and decreased enrollment (retention less than 100%). • Decrease in parish financial support. • Loss of alumni (and thus potential donors for the endowment).

8. Unclear Gains of Consolidation:Bigger is not Cheaper. Data from “Balance Sheet for Catholic Elementary Schools: 2003 Income and Expenses”.

9. Unclear Gains of Consolidation:Effect on Endowment. • The revenues of a viable school system must include: • Realistic, affordable tuition • An effective annual giving program • An endowment (see “Building and Endowment: What, Why and How”, Mr. Steven Beaird and Rev. William E. Hayes) • The income of current endowment of the Monroe county system is about 0.1% of the total revenues. • Comparisons with other regions and systems: • Mideast: 0.8% (20.5% of schools have endowment) • Great Lakes: 1.6% of revenues (57.1% of schools have endowment) • Diocesan: 2.5% of revenues (52.7% of systems have endowment) • Alumni are essential for development. • Merging schools cuts off all connections to the alumni of the affected schools.

10. Value of Suspension • Preserves vital Catholic communities. • Opportunity for broad-based discussion of current problems and possible solutions. • Gives an opportunity to publicize performance targets, school by school and Diocesan wide. Despite a sincere effort by the School Board to disseminate a wide range of information and data, there are still a multitude of questions and outstanding concerns. • Challenges schools/parent organizations to meet publicized criteria of success and viability.

11. Increasing Enrollment is the Key.Why do parents leave or not enroll? • Challenge: Tuition versus free public education. • Response: • Tuition realignment plan. • Greater Catholic community support (more broad-based fund raising). • More consistent parental support of our schools. • Clear financial goals for the schools and the total system. • Challenge: Quality of public schools. • Response: • Stepwise investments in capital improvements generates pride and excitement which supplements the religious advantage of our school system. • More readily attract major donations. • Demonstrates long-term commitment to a particular school.

12. Increasing Enrollment is the Key.Why do parents leave or not enroll? • Challenge: Disaffection with or lack of commitment to Catholic education. • Response: • A dynamic parent support organization is a key factor in attracting new parents and is a tool of evangelization.

13. A Case Study of Parental Impact.St. John The Evangelist on Humboldt Street Parents Act to Address Enrollment. Projections before 11/12

14. A Case Study of Parental Impact.St. John The Evangelist on Humboldt Street Parents Act to Address Enrollment.

15. A Case Study of Parental Impact.St. John The Evangelist on Humboldt Street • Stability at St. John’s was achieved by creating an atmosphere such that parents moving to the suburb decide to keep their children at St. John’s. • Changes in demographics do not have to have a negative impact on enrollment. It is word-of-mouth that matters and parental involvement at the school is critical.

16. A Case Study of Parental Impact.St. John The Evangelist on Humboldt Street Parents Act to Address Enrollment.

17. A Case Study of Parental Impact.St. John The Evangelist on Humboldt Street • The St. John’s parents played a vital role in creating a viable school: • School Brochure/Marketing (Futures Club) • School Website • Fund raisers (Candy Sale, Auction, etc.) to make investments in the school (improves marketability): • Internet Access • Computer Equipment • Window Treatments • Cooler/Boiler • Enrollment is increasing. • Adequate enrollment for socialization. • Current class size is a strong selling point. • But … target goal is unknown. • Unclear actual deficit: $24,000 quoted by the Diocese is less then the loss of parish subsidy if St. John’s is closed.

18. When does St. John’s become viable? • Current operating expenses: $752,000. • Total number of student: 141. • Cost per student: $5,333. • Average cost per student in the 7 schools to be closed/merged: $6,5000. • What makes a school like St. John’s viable? • Operating in the black? • Cost per student: $ 4,500? This would correspond to 167 students.

19. The bottom line:We need hope for the future. • Parents want security that their school has a good chance to stay open. They are not comfortable with transferring their children every few years. • The consolidation process has not been associated with any assurance from the Diocese that the merged schools are viable and will stay open. This creates a lack of confidence, and raises many questions. For example: • In the case of the merger of St. John’s with St. Ambrose, the merged school will have an occupancy of 35% (with 100% retention) or 17.5% (with 50% retention), based on a maximum occupancy of 700. This is well below the 50% viability indicator. • The enormous decline in enrollment at St. Ambrose during the last four years is a great concern for the parents. The erosion of the local base has significant implications on the long-term viability of the merged school. Building size can quickly become a liability.

20. Final remarks. • We respectfully request a suspension of the decision to consolidate/close the seven schools. • The suspension will allow the Diocese together with all the stakeholders to formulate a strategy, supported by the entire Catholic community, to deal with the forthcoming budget crisis. • We realize that Rochester is charting new territory in Catholic education. We believe that our Diocese can be a National leader in this area by showing how difficult and painful decisions can be made by involving the entire community. We are your true partners! This is not your problem; it is our problem. • We appreciate having the opportunity to share our thoughts and concerns with you, and are hopeful for a positive response within the next two weeks.