 Alternative Governance
Historically, Catholic schools have been largely operated and funded at the parish level. In most cases, the pastor or another priest was responsible for oversight of the school, which was staffed by nuns, priests, and brothers, while the students were from families with membership in the parish. For a number of reasons, this model is changing. From the increase in lay teachers and administrators, to the consolidation of schools among different parishes, to the recommendations of church leadership, Catholic education is turning to alternative governance models that remove the burden of running schools from the individual parishes and place the diocese, a management team, or a board of directors at the head of a group of schools.
This new model creates a number of advantages for schools, including:
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- Shared responsibility for educating Catholic children and funding of schools among all of the parishes—not just those with home schools or those geographically close to schools.
- Increased economies of scale and buying power for everything from supplies to professional services, to technology.
- More even distribution of wealth and quality among schools, so that children of poorer parishes have the same educational advantages as those with more financially stable memberships.
- Greater ability to define and manage pastoral, academic, lay, and volunteer roles and duties.
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One of the most significant advantages to a diocesan governance model is the ability for leadership to manage schools, standardize curricula, and improve academic performance through the use of web-based management tools and data-driven instruction. For instance, SchoolOne’s Student Information system allows administrators to collect data and analyze it at the level of the diocese, school, grade, class, and student. Similarly, with the use of tools like ActivData from SchoolOne partner Promethean, student performance metrics can be analyzed from the diocesan level to the assignment, test, or individual question or student level. | |
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