Catholic Elementary School Review Process for School Sustainability Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School

Prayer for the Planning Process God our Creator, You have given us the Church as a communion of life, love and truth. You gave us your Son Jesus Christ who desires that all may be one as you are one with him. Your gift of the Holy Spirit gathers people of every race, language and way of life. Your apostle and our patron Paul calls us to be one body in Christ. Guide us as we discern your will for the future of this local Church. Bless us as we attend to the needs of this Archdiocese. May our deliberations and decisions be marked with respect, patience and honesty. We pray that we might shine forth as a people made one in the unity of you who are Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us. Saint Paul, pray for us.

What Is A Sustainability Review Process? An essential element of the mission of the Church in this Archdiocese is vital and viable schools. When a Catholic Elementary School embarks on the school sustainability review process it may be that financial issues/debt, enrollment decline, lack of growth, demographic shifts in population, over capacity in the region or educational models continue to be challenges for the long-term vitality and viability of the school. The following steps guide a process to investigate the impact of the challenges that may affect school sustainability. Upon completion of the review, schools will submit a three-year plan to the Superintendent of Schools that will outline solutions for sustainability.

Step I: Step I: Using a discernment process, a task force is formed by the pastor/canonical administrator, principal and business administrator pastor/canonical administrator business/parish administrator principal of the school trustees and/or chairs of the various parish and school committees (preferably finance, parish council, and school advisory committee members school and parish volunteer leaders two or three school parents at large A chair or co-chairs are appointed by the pastor/canonical administrator, or by the group itself. A representative from the archdiocese will assist in the discernment process and will serve as resource to the task force.

Step II: Step II: Communication, school and parish-wide initial announcement made regarding the nature of the review process and key elements to be examined by the named group mailings as necessary to all school families and parishioners with updates on the process pulpit announcement, school and parish bulletins as pertinent subsequent parish/school-wide meetings to share the data as a means for transparency and accountability

Step III Completion of the Archdiocesan Assessment for School Vitality and Viability

Step IV: Step IV: Review of financial and enrollment data trend analysis of the enrollment pattern that includes projections by linear progression of enrollment for the next three years for the school under review and neighboring schools a financial history that includes prior years’ ending financial statements and any outstanding parish/school debt- commercial debt, benefits programs, parish assessment the current year’s projected ending budget projections for the next three–five fiscal years (minimum) Review of the Archdiocesan Assessment of School Vitality and Viability All the information collected and analyzed should be made available in a form appropriate for presentation to the parish and school communities involved and the Superintendent of Catholic Schools

Step V: Step V: In the event of the need to right-size the educational program, study alternative educational models multiage grouping split grades sharing a teacher between grades shared resource discussion for a regional solution

Step VI: Step VI: A public meeting for school families and parishioners is held:* to introduce the task force members and to become familiar with their charge to present the current reality of the schools as it relates to long-term vitality and viability to present a budget with a tuition figure to support the model of operation that best meets the educational and financial needs for the next three years** to gather insights from stakeholders to hear and answer questions about alternative educational models, if necessary *Subsequent meetings may be necessary to answer questions and update information **Please note: In many cases, even if 95% of the enrollment is retained, in order for a school to continue for 3-5 years, tuition/development dollars must be raised significantly and staff reductions and other budget cuts are needed for sustainability and /or a shared resource discussion for a regional solution.

Step VII: Step VII: Finalizing the enrollment commitment for the next year using the educational model that meets fiscal needs may be necessary at this juncture or if part of shared resource discussion registration letter sent to every school family asking them to commit to the educational model(s) being presented payment of a registration fee and form personal follow up with the parents who do not register The results will dictate whether or not the school is sustainable based on the retention level of the current student population.

Step VIII: Step VIII: Task Force conclusions and recommendations draw conclusions based on the data set and develop a three-five year plan for school sustainability submit the recommended plan to the Superintendent of Catholic Schools for review and response upon the response, update the three-year plan if the benchmarks have not been met

Step IX Parish and school communities are informed of the three-year plan and where applicable, the need for shared resource discussion.

Step X If the recommended plan specifies that a reduction in staff is needed, the services of an attorney to assist with the Reduction in Force (RIF) according to Justice in Employment policies is necessary.

Step XI Upon completion of the sustainability reviews, the Office of Catholic Schools will monitor schools for at least three years.

Timeline

Understanding Discernment As you have heard this morning, OLL will embark on a process to review its future viability. This review is a microcosm of the planning process currently underway in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and one that we feel will help us plan for the future of Catholic School education. The process as was described embodies a grassroots effort to study and analyze data in an effort to discern future planning for our school. Again, in an effort to honor your volunteer time and energy, we assure you that no decisions have been made at this time and that we look forward to you helping us formulate those decisions through this review process. As Catholics, by the very nature of our baptismal call, we are asked to share our time and talent with our parish community. While we appreciate your willingness to share your time with us, there are also some very important understandings and skills necessary to do this work. They are knowledge of Catholic Education, finance, technology, marketing, fund development, communication/public relations, program development, data analysis, data- driven decision-making, etc. We ask that you reflect on your talents by answering the questions and pray about your possible participation in this holy work. We too, will pray for you and all members as you embark on this discernment process. Please submit your reflections to the school office by Wednesday, December 8 th, so the Pastor, Parish Administrator and Principal can discern who can best assist us in the review process.

Discernment Form Why do you wish to be a member of this task force? What understandings and skills will you bring to this work? Did you participate in any of the Archdiocesan planning meetings over the course of the past year? What other leadership committees have you served? Do you understand the commitment and workings of the task force? How long have you been involved/member of OLL school / parish community? Would you be interested in any other committee, and if so, please identify.

Thank you for attending this meeting. You will be kept informed of task member selection, task force meeting minutes and other pertinent information to this sustainability study.