North Hills Catholic schools making progress on consolidation – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A lot of progress has been made sorting out the final details of theregionalization of Catholic schools in the North Hills, but administrators said there is still much more work to be done.

Two months after the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced formal plans to combine seven schools into three, the nine-person board overseeing them has announced tuition rates and preschool hours. Coming next are teacher assignments which are expected this week and proposals for new names, mascots and colors, which will be finalized in time for next school year.

It is a tight timeline, but we are blessed with a lot of great people in place with this whole process, said Michael Killmeyer, the new regional administrator for the schools.

The diocese announced last fall that 11 schools in the North Hills wouldregionalize, in an effort to consolidate resources and address rapidly declining student enrollment.The school changes are part of the larger On Mission for the Church Alive restructuring plan, in which the diocese is attempting to combine an evangelistic push with the need to get leaner amid declining membership and Mass attendance. A similar model eventually will be put in place at all schools throughout the diocese, which has seen a 50 percent drop in overall elementary school enrollment since 2000.

St. Alexis in McCandless and St. Alphonsus in Pine will merge, with the pre-kindergarten students based at St. Alexis and students in kindergarten through eighth grade at St. Alphonsus. St. Sebastian will merge with St. Teresa of Avila, both in Ross, with students in first through eighth grade based at St. Sebastian and the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students at St. Teresa of Avila. St. Mary of the Assumption in Hampton, St. Bonaventure in Shaler and St. Ursula in Hampton will combine, with the pre-kindergarten students at St. Bonaventure and students in kindergarten through eighth grade at St. Mary. St. Ursulas school, which was founded in 1911, will close in June.

The remaining 10 schools will be overseen by a non-profit, North Hills Catholic Elementary Schools, which will be run by a board of five pastors and four lay people.

St. James School in Sewickley and Christ the Divine Teacher Academy also will be included in the new governance structure. Assumption and Northside Catholic schools will be included in the regionalization and spend the next year developing strategic plans, but no changes to those schools are planned for the next school year, diocesan officials said.

Certainly, with any type of announcement that things are going to change, people are going to be skeptical and respond, said Rev. Kevin Fazio, chair of the new board and pastor at St. Alphonsus Church.I think folks are beginning to see the fruits of this hard work and prayer.

Some parents have taken to Facebook to express their frustrations with the regionalization process as a whole. At first, many were worried that combining the schools would mean doing away with the kindergarten through eighth grade model that is so distinctive to Catholic elementary schools. And even though that model has been preserved, some have taken to Facebook to voice concerns about the quick turnaround for the restructuring and higher-than-expected tuition at some of the schools.

But Meredith Kandravy, head of the parent teacher guild at St. Mary, said more parents have been attending the open houses and other registration and fundraising events. Some may have beendisenchanted with the process, she said, but more people seem optimistic about the changes.

Were definitely getting a lot more people who have been giving it a chance, she said.

Parents are being asked to provide input for the new names and mascots for the merged schools. All of that will be discussed at the next board meeting in May and then submitted to Bishop David Zubik for approval, Father Fazio said. The schools will also be forming new parent and athletic associations.

The board plans to announce which teachers will be remaining at the new schools this week. The number who are retained will be based on the current number of students who have enrolled for next year, Mr. Killmeyer said. If enrollment continues to increase, the board may hire more teachers back.

I can empathize with the parents, Mr. Killmeyer said.Theyre very vested in this and trying to help. Theyre anxious to hear what teachers will be in place.

Among the other aspects of the merger the board will be working through are fundraising and finances, Father Fazio said. As part of the new regionalized structure, the 32 parishes in the North Hills will all help support the schools financially. The details of that arrangement still need to be worked through, which will take some time because the diocesewide On Mission plans for parish consolidations will be rolled out over the next five years.

Elizabeth Behrman: Lbehrman@post-gazette.comor 412-263-1590.

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North Hills Catholic schools making progress on consolidation - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette