Diocese to address troubled St. Bernard's High School

 The Catholic Free Press staff

    Financial losses and a steady decline in enrollment at St. Bernard Central Catholic High School have the diocese looking at ways to secure the long-term viability of the Fitchburg school.
    Enrollment dropped from 434 students in 2008-09 to 133 in 2018-19, and an operational deficit is projected to exceed $600,000 in the upcoming school year,  Superintendent of Catholic Schools David Perda wrote in a letter to parents Thursday.
    Preliminary efforts to re-organize the school are under way, and there is work being done to establish a new governance model, he wrote.
   Linda D. Anderson, who takes over as principal at the end of the school year, wrote in a letter posted on the school’s website and Facebook page, that after a May 29 meeting with diocesan representatives and members of area schools, there was a unanimous decision to look at making St. Bernard’s a non-diocesan, private, Catholic institution.
    A meeting to discuss the future of St. Bernard’s is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 10, at the school.
    However, the threat of closing the school is also present.
    “We currently anticipate 120 students at the school for the 2019-2020 academic year,” the superintendent wrote. “Given this rate of enrollment the diocese is able to continue operation of the school for another year. Any further decline in enrollment would seriously jeopardize the school’s ability to continue operation and offer a quality education including sports and other extra-curricular activities.
    “If the total school enrollment should fall below 100 by July 15th of this year and the Catholic Schools Office determines that the school cannot operate effectively within the school’s projected 2019-2020 deficit, then families will be notified that the school will have to close,” Superintendent Perda wrote in the letter inviting parents and guardians to Monday’s meeting.
    He assured parents that, “should the school cease operation ahead of the 2019-20 academic year, all students would be offered placement at either St. Peter-Marian or Holy Name High Schools in Worcester while keeping their current financial aid packages. Transportation between Fitchburg and Worcester would also be provided.”

EFFORTS UNDER WAY

    “To alleviate the present economic conditions at St. Bernard’s and to address the future of Catholic education in the North County, Bishop McManus has convened a series of conversations with our regional educational partners in exploring possible alternative governance models for St. Bernard’s,” the superintendent wrote.
    Partnerships with the Bernardian Foundation, the St. Paul Consortium and the Catholic elementary schools have been “most welcomed as we work to build a more healthy Catholic educational system in the region,” he wrote.
      North County stakeholders have supported the idea of making St. Bernard’s a private Catholic school, he said.
    Mrs. Anderson wrote that a steering committee of business and finance experts is to develop the best arrangement for the 2020-2021 school year and to establish a sustainable operating model for the future.
    “We are considering carefully the models of other schools throughout the country that have not only made this transition, but have become exemplary institutions of secondary education in the process,” she wrote.
    “We are also pursuing a reinvigorated curriculum and student-life model that will prove academically challenging as well as socially fulfilling,” she wrote. “The primary mission of our school will continue to be the formation of our students in the image of Christ; … we maintain our commitment to serving the whole person of our students, tending to their emotional, spiritual, and intellectual needs with equal resolve.”
    “In testament to the St. Bernard’s maxim, ‘Love one another,’ various groups and individuals have bonded together in goodwill to assist the school with recruitment, marketing, and fund-raising efforts,” Superintendent Perda wrote.
 
ECONOMIC PRESSURE

    Despite St. Bernard’s “academic successes with high graduation and competitive college placement rates,” its financial deficit and decline in enrollment are cause for the concern, according to the superintendent.
    For years the school has operated without any superfluous expenses, and its budget is lower than comparable public or private schools, he wrote. But economic pressure from declining enrollment can’t be relieved by further cost cutting without impairing the students’ educational experience.
    The school has realized significant operational losses over the past several years and the diocese has covered these deficits annually, he wrote. The diocese can no longer afford to subsidize the school’s operational losses in addition to assisting with student financial aid, he said, adding that “across our system,” financial aid meets less than 20 percent of the families’ demonstrated financial need and the diocese “remains steadfast in providing educational opportunities to students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.”
    The diocese, through the Adopt-A-Student program, Catholic Schools Appeal, Partners in Charity, and the Forward in Faith endowment, provides the single-largest source of student financial aid at St. Bernard’s, the superintendent wrote.
    “We are optimistic that a reinvigorated St. Bernard’s will serve students and families for future generations,” he wrote, asking for the patience, prayers and support of all involved and thanking them for their support.
    “Without your support and the support of all who’ve come before you, there would be no St. Bernard’s,” Mrs. Anderson wrote. “Our present circumstances are no exception to that fact, and we welcome your support more now than ever, in the form of feedback, contributions, or prayers.”