Bishop Donald Kettler convened a steering committee to design a single Catholic school system — named Catholic Community Schools — for the St. Cloud metro area and surrounding communities. To keep the public apprised of its work and address general questions people may have, the group provides regular updates in The Visitor and on the diocesan website (www.stclouddiocese.org; click on “St. Cloud-area Catholic schools initiative”). The following is a summary of the committee’s Aug. 7 meeting.

  • Bishop Kettler began the meeting by welcoming the principals and presidents of the schools participating in Catholic Community Schools. They were invited to attend to receive an update on the progress of forming CCS and participate in a Q&A session with steering committee members.
  • Bishop Kettler spoke to the group about his strong support for Catholic schools and the reasons he convened the steering committee, which he explained in a Feb. 13 column in The Visitor. He stressed the need for schools to work together, and he said the committee welcomes and needs feedback about CCS from people at the participating parishes and schools.
  • Steering committee chair Dave Borgert noted that committee representatives have met with each of the school boards to provide information about the process of forming CCS and answer questions. These meetings will be repeated in the fall and could possibly include parish council members and teachers. He reviewed the CCS governance chart published in the July 31 issue of The Visitor.
  • In response to questions and comments from the school leaders in attendance, the committee acknowledged the importance of communicating clearly and frequently with school leaders and pastors, hiring a CCS superintendent as early as possible, and the importance of the committee being careful in the promises it makes regarding CCS.
  • To help facilitate communication, attendees were provided with a list of frequently asked questions and answers regarding CCS, the CCS mission statement and logo, and information suitable to be shared in school newsletters and parish bulletins. The school leaders also noted they will coordinate communications through the St. Cloud Area Catholic Principals Association.
  • The finance subcommittee met Aug. 10. The committee reviewed the collective budgets of the seven elementary schools and Cathedral High School. The 2015-2016 school year budget is over $14 million. A common chart of accounts was presented for schools to begin using this fall so the budgets of the schools identify income and expenditures in the same fashion.
  • A salary matrix was shared that reflects a combination of the four local school districts. Two different matrixes were shared. One reflects 75 percent of the public schools and the other reflects 85 percent of the public schools. The committee also reviewed parish investments in Catholic schools. It is a goal to have parish subsidies at 40 percent or less.

Feedback and next meeting
Questions or comments? Email: CatholicSchoolsSC@gmail.com.

Next meeting: Aug. 21.