Principals from the Diocese of Trenton’s 36 Catholic elementary schools, gathered April 19 in Our Lady of Sorrows Schools, Hamilton, for a presentation by Dr. John Convey, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Professor of Education in The Catholic University of America, Washington, introducing them to the goals of the recently formed Commission for the Study of the Sustainability of Our Catholic Schools.

Dr. Convey serves as facilitator of the commission convened by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., in its inaugural meeting March 16. The commission is comprised of some two dozen members with a wide breadth of experience, each affiliated with Catholic schools, including parents, business leaders, educators, diocesan administrators, clergy and religious.

 In his opening comments to principals, Father Douglas Freer, vicar for Catholic education, stressed that the “primary task of this commission is to strengthen all of our schools … from strongest schools and struggling schools equally. Hopefully, at the end of this process,  everybody will take something away that will help with their individual communities.”

In her introduction to the group, diocesan superintendent of schools, JoAnn Tier, described Dr. Convey as a “friend of Catholic education” who has been in involved in research and planning for the benefit of Catholic schools across the country for the past 30 years.

Dr. Convey thanked the principals for coming to “one of the first consultation meetings of the sustainability study,” noting that a clergy consultation is scheduled to take place in May, with additional consultations scheduled in the spring of 2013 after the preliminary proposals are drafted but before final recommendations go to Bishop O’Connell.

Dr. Convey then explained the design of the study which includes a process of data collection, relative to such factors as enrollment, finances and demographic statistics, and surveys of educators, parents, clergy and parishioners.

It is expected that the survey for educators, which will be an anonymous, on-line survey, will be available within the next week or so. The surveys, pointed out Dr. Convey, will include two important segments – motivation and satisfaction. Educators will have the opportunity to respond to questions about why they are teaching in a Catholic school, and what issues are deemed as challenges to their continued role as Catholic school educators.

After their consultation in May, a different survey will be provided to clergy throughout the diocese. In the fall, a diocesan-wide survey will be offered for parishioners and parents in both Catholic schools and religious education programs.

“Part of the purpose of the survey is education,” said Dr. Convey, acknowledging the need to inform people that “something is happening here, pay attention . . . we’re all in this together.”

In the fall, there will be two general meetings which will include representatives from parishes and schools. The Problem Element meeting, in early fall, will present data gathered during the summer and provide the group with an opportunity to identify and address any problems that become evident through the data.

In mid fall, the Solution Element meeting will bring back the same people who will then have an opportunity to offer suggestions for solutions.

The data collected during the coming months will be an important tool for the six task forces that have been created within the commission, said Dr. Convey. They include Catholic Identity, academics, finance, development, governance and leadership, and marketing and public relations.

Dr. Convey reviewed existing data with the principals including information on enrollment and demographics across the four counties of the diocese, including Monmouth, Ocean, Burlington and Mercer.

Since 2007, there has been continued decrease in enrollment across all four counties, said Dr. Convey, with Monmouth dropping 12 percent; Burlington down by 24 percent; Mercer decreasing by 10 percent and Ocean by 16 percent.

A statistic of concern, which is common nationally, said Dr. Convey, is that grades one to five have lower enrollment than grades six to 12. Part of the problem is the birthrate, he explained, and national data also shows that some of the Catholic population is moving to areas without Catholic schools.

Dr. Convey stressed  that “the sustainability of high schools depends on the enrollment of elementary schools.”  Low enrollment will also increase the gap between cost per pupil and tuition rates, especially in smaller schools which are often in areas of least affordability, posing an additional challenge, he pointed out.

Dr. Convey also highlighted significant data regarding the growth of the Latino population within the diocese. “This is an important issue going forward,” he said. “The future of the Church is in the hands of the Latino community,” noting that within the population of young people attending Mass, half are Latino.

In closing, Dr. Convey emphasized, “Many dioceses are dealing with this issue now. Many schools have closed, some were a natural consolidation which should have happened years ago, but we’ve probably lost some 1,300 across the country.”

Referring back to the sustainability study, Dr. Convey stressed, “We know what value Catholic education has to the Church and nation. We can’t allow the system to go down the drain.”