ccs_logoBishop Donald Kettler has convened a steering committee to design a single Catholic school system for the St. Cloud metro area and surrounding communities. The 12-member committee meets every two weeks to discuss various aspects of creating the new system, named Catholic Community Schools. In order to keep the public apprised of its work and address general questions people may have, the group will provide 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 brief summary of the committee’s May 29 meeting.

  • Feedback received by the committee since its last meeting included emails from representatives of two schools invited to be part of Catholic Community Schools (CCS). Committee representatives will respond by email.
  • Representatives from the steering committee are finishing their meetings with Catholic school boards to provide updates about CCS and answer questions. Committee representatives have met with the boards of St. Mary Help of Christians (St. Augusta), St. Wendelin (Luxemburg), Holy Cross (Pearl Lake), St. Katharine Drexel (St. Cloud), St. Francis Xavier (Sartell), All Saints Academy (St. Cloud, St. Joseph) and Cathedral (St. Cloud). They will meet with the board of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (St. Cloud) June 16.
  • One point of general feedback the steering committee has received is that people are not clear about its mission. The mission of the steering committee is to create the overall structure for CCS; it is not an implementation board or the board of directors of CCS. By way of analogy: the steering committee is the “architect” for CCS, not the “general contractor” or “interior designer.”
  • Bishop Donald Kettler stressed that the main purpose for forming CCS is not to save money but rather to get more children into classrooms, strengthen and improve the programs offered, and ensure teachers and principals receive just salaries.
  • Addressing a concern raised by some that a parish would close if its school building would close in the future, Bishop Kettler said the existence of a parish is not tied to the presence of a school building. “There is not a connection, in my view — that we would close a parish because we close a school,” he said. The committee also reiterated that the goal of forming CCS is to fill school classrooms, not close schools.
  • Bishop Kettler will meet later this month with the priests from parishes and schools involved in CCS, including priests who will be newly assigned to these places when the next round of priest appointments takes effect July 1.
  • The finance subcommittee met June 1 and began discussions about formulating a budget for the start of CCS beginning in fall 2017. At its next meeting, the subcommittee will examine a chart of accounts for the schools involved.

Members of the subcommittee are Linda Kaiser, diocesan superintendent of Catholic schools; Joseph Spaniol, the diocese’s finance officer; Tom Offerdahl, business manager at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Sartell; Father Ron Weyrens, pastor of the parishes of Holy Cross in Pearl Lake, St. Wendelin in Luxemburg and Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Rockville; Chris Schellinger, president of All Saints Academy; Bill LeClaire, a certified public accountant, Catholic school parent and member of St. Anthony Parish in St. Cloud; and Claudia Revermann, a CPA, attorney, Catholic school parent and member of St. Joseph Parish in St. Joseph.

Feedback and next meeting

  • Questions or comments? What would you like the new Catholic school system to look like? Email: CatholicSchoolsSC@gmail.com.
  • Next meeting: June 12.