Bishop 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 other week to discuss various aspects of creating the new system. 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.stcdio.org; click on “St. Cloud-area Catholic schools initiative.”) The following is a brief summary of the committee’s Feb. 20 meeting.

  • Committee members will begin each meeting by reviewing feedback they are receiving. To date, they have heard generally supportive comments about the process and its goals. This includes feedback from recent meetings that committee representatives had with pastors and principals of the parishes and schools involved.
    There have been some questions about the scope of the committee’s charge from the bishop, what the role of teachers will be in the process, and how the finances and school system will be structured. The committee’s charge is to study options for the various components of a new school system and provide a draft plan to Bishop Kettler by December 2015. The role of the committee beyond that date, and how it might aid in the transition to a new school system, is still to be determined. As Bishop Kettler said in his Feb. 13 column in The Visitor, the committee will consult with others in the wider community as needed, including teachers in areas such as curriculum. A working group of the steering committee will study possible financial and governing structures for the new system, but it is too early in the process to know what the end product will be.
  • The committee reviewed governance standards for Catholic schools as set out in the document “National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools.” (The document can be accessed at: www.catholicschoolstandards.org.) The committee reviewed and discussed section 1 (including mission statements and their commitment to Catholic identity) and section 5 (regarding how governing bodies are put together and how they should function.)
  • Committee members discussed the importance of keeping lines of communication open between the committee and pastors, principals, parents and the public.
  • Questions or comments? Email: CatholicSchoolsSC@gmail.com
  • Next meeting: March 6