The transition from schools taught by clergy to classes taught by laity has meant a surge in expenses for Catholic schools, said Greg Geruson, director of the Catholic School Development Program.
BY SARA K. SATULLO
AND TONY RHODIN
Nuns no longer fill Catholic school classrooms teaching students for a small stipend.
The transition from schools taught by clergy to classes taught by laity has meant a surge in expenses for Catholic schools, said Greg Geruson, director of the Catholic School Development Program.
“The traditional Catholic schools’ business model is broken,” Geruson said.
To succeed and survive Catholic schools need to embrace business principles and find a way to raise money, he said.
The Diocese of Allentown is bringing a new program this fall to four of its elementary schools and two high schools
The International Education Foundation's Catholic School Development Program was recommended by Allentown Bishop John Barres' Commission on Catholic Schools, Geruson said. The commission began meeting in 2010, diocese spokesman Matt Kerr said.
The program's approach varies based on each school’s needs, but there’s always a focus on marketing, recruitment and the creation of a board of advisers that is similar to a public school board, Geruson said.
The board assists schools with marketing and finance, Kerr said, and could work with pastors in parish elementary schools. Many of the schools already have lay principals, he said.
“They are involved in the financial management of the school,” he said.
Schools in the program also have a full-time advancement director, who would oversee enrollment management, fundraising, communications and constituent relations for each school.
Kerr said Allentown Central Catholic High School and Berks Catholic High School in Reading will be in the program, as will Immaculate Conception School in Berks County, Good Shepherd in Northampton, St. John Vianney in Allentown and St. Michael's in Upper Saucon Township.
If the program succeeds in those schools, it's planned to expand to the other 34 elementary schools and five high schools in the diocese, Kerr said.
The program has been in use since 2007 in the Diocese of Camden and was implemented in 2011 at six Archdiocese of Philadelphia schools in association with the Connelly Foundation.
The program was implemented in 2008 in a Gloucester County, N.J., school that had 174 students enrolled and an 83 percent retention rate. By 2011-12, enrollment was up 24 percent, retention was at 93 percent and the school had a growing annual fund, according to a case study by consultant Marsha Higbee.
The foundation doesn’t charge for its work but does build partnerships between the foundation, the diocese and donors, Geruson said. He declined to name the donors in this case.
The program was founded in 2004 by Robert T. Healey "to bring business principles to the challenges of revitalizing Catholic schools," the release states.
“(Healey’s message is that) we not only want schools to survive we want them to thrive,” Geruson said.
Geruson said the program is successful because it implements the best marketing and fundraising practices used at universities and independent schools. Those practices becomes institutionalized, ensuring sustainability, Geruson said.