My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

One of the greatest challenges I face as Bishop of Brooklyn is preserving our Catholic parish elementary schools. This coming September, two of our schools will not open: St. Clement Pope in South Ozone Park and Holy Spirit in Borough Park. It is truly sad and unfortunate, because as bishop I should be helping schools to stay open and opening new schools, not allowing schools to be closed.

In January of this year, I appointed a Diocesan Task Force for Catholic Elementary Schools and asked its six members to develop a long-term, visionary, and perhaps revolutionary approach to preserving Catholic elementary schools in Queens and Brooklyn. The Diocese, back in 1993, developed a Strategic Plan for Catholic Elementary Schools which at that time was accepted by the bishop. Some of the recommendations were implemented, while others still need attention. Some who are familiar with the document, popularly known as the Convey Study (after Dr. John J. Convey of The Catholic University of America, who compiled it), would say that if we had implemented the entire strategic plan we would have avoided the difficulties we are facing today.

Currently, there are 147 Catholic elementary schools in Brooklyn and Queens. Many are quite healthy and thriving. Some are in precarious situations, as was the case at St. Clement Pope School, which felt the effects of a vicious cycle of increasing cost of operating the school and the attendant increase in tuition. In the larger schools, the tuition increases are spread out over a greater number of students and are less likely to impact school enrollment significantly. In smaller schools, especially those with an enrollment of 250 or less, the increase in tuition can be much steeper, sometimes beyond the ability of some parents to cope.

Also as mentioned, Holy Spirit School in Borough Park will not reopen in September. This closing was truly a difficult decision but one which was made necessary by a projected enrollment below 150, prior to a substantial tuition raise being announced. I am afraid that a continuing decline in enrollment and the attendant increase in tuition may claim other schools, but I want to assure you of my commitment to Catholic schools as the very best vehicle for handing on the faith to future generations of Catholics. I ask that every Catholic in the Diocese see the Catholic school as a key vehicle for the new evangelization and provide financial and prayerful support to ensure its success.

Even parishes without schools and parishioners without school-age children need to be committed to supporting Catholic schools. Our schools are being supported by corporations and individuals through the Futures in Education Foundation. It is one of the best organizations we have in the Diocese, as it raises considerable money every year to help fund the education of children in Catholic schools. Some parents are able to benefit from the initiatives of the Futures Foundation, like the Be An Angel (adopt a student) campaign or the corporate funds raised and distributed as scholarships. In the 2003/2004 school year, this amounted to $1,803,000. Some parishes, far fewer than in the past, are also able to provide the school with scholarship assistance for the students. The Diocese also provided direct subsidy of $2,219,430 and indirect support of $6,592,930 in this last school year.

About six weeks ago, my newly appointed Vicar for Education, Msgr. Michael J. Hardiman, briefed me and provided a disturbing picture of Catholic elementary school statistics here in the Diocese. He informed me that in September of 2003, on the official census count day, nearly 70 schools had a kindergarten through eighth-grade enrollment of 250 or less, with 29 of those schools having an enrollment of 200 or less. Some parishes traditionally have small schools, with an enrollment hovering between 225 and 250. Some of that number, it seems, suffered a precipitous drop in enrollment due, in part, to people moving out of the city, and, in part, to some serious tuition increases parish schools had to implement to keep up with rising costs.

The Task Force is working on what I believe to be a bold new vision for the future of Catholic elementary schools. I ask that we all work to ensure that quality Catholic elementary education is available to parents and their children in as many areas of the Diocese as possible. I remain committed to providing just wages and benefits to our teachers and administrators who bear the brunt of the resource crunch. The Office of Catholic Education is currently being reorganized to continue providing support services for Catholic schools as it begins the process of establishing the foundations necessary to implement a vision of Catholic schools for the 21^st Century. We will do what is necessary to ensure that parents will have Catholic schools of excellence to choose for their children now and into the future. This is truly putting out into the deep.