New St. Paul board to meet

By Raymond L. Delisle
Communications Director

The newly established board of limited jurisdiction for St. Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High School, announced this summer by Bishop McManus, will hold its first meeting this week; members have been announced.
According to its by-laws, the board of directors has been established to meaningfully assist the Bishop in the governance and advancement of the school and to support and promote the school. The purpose and mission of the school is to operate a Catholic junior/senior high school in accordance with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as definitively, within the Diocese, interpreted and applied by the Bishop in his ecclesiastical capacity, so as to faithfully pass along to each generation the teachings, doctrines, and tenets of the Church. The board shall actively support, promote and advance the mission and an educational program for the junior/senior high school as prescribed by the Bishop. The board operates independently of the diocesan Catholic Schools Board.
This past August, Bishop McManus announced that Mary Lou Retelle, president of Anna Maria College, would serve as the initial chair of the board. Ms. Retelle announced that the following people have been appointed by Bishop McManus to be members of the board: Esther Boama-Nyarko, Michael Curtis, Father James B. Flynn, Richard Fournier, Father John F. Madden, Steve Perla, Chris Staal, Michael Spillane and Sharon Zenevitch. Ex-officio members are David Perda, superintendent of Catholic schools, Diocese of Worcester; Marybeth Gilmore, chief financial officer, Diocese of Worcester and Michael Clark, head of school, St. Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High School.
“I look forward to working with a board which is comprised of individuals who understand the values and benefits of Catholic schooling,” said Ms. Retelle. “We will immediately be engaged with finalizing the by-laws developed with the assistance of Partners in Mission and assisting in the strategic planning work to help promote St. Paul as an affordable, co-educational Catholic high school in the metro Worcester area.”
Many of the newly announced members have experience in Catholic education and have served on various Catholic school boards in the past.
Partners in Mission, a full-service consulting and professional education firm, will continue to assist the board and the school with the strategic planning as the board begins its work.