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CURRENT
ISSUE: July 2, 2007
VOL.
45, NO. 13Oakland,
CA
Berkeley parish announces closure of its school in June '08
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Father Stephan Kappler Parochial Administrator St. Joseph the Worker Parish, Berkeley |
St. Joseph
the Worker School in Berkeley will close its doors in June 2008 after
130 years of operation, but the building will continue to be an educational
presence in the community as a charter school.
Father Stephan Kappler, the parish’s parochial administrator, said
declining enrollment, high tuition costs, and a serious parish deficit
were the major factors leading to the decision, which he made in consultation
with the parish’s pastoral council and finance council.
He is currently negotiating with a charter school about a shared-use lease
of the building. “With a charter school on site, we will be able
to show our continued commitment to offer high quality, accessible education
to the children of our parish,” he said. The rent will provide much
needed income to help the parish itself survive, he added.
Parishioners were notified through a letter read at all weekend Masses,
June 23-24. On June 21, the 65 families whose children are enrolled for
the 2007-2008 school year received the same letter in the mail.
That day parents also received a letter from St. Joseph’s principal
Natalie Tovani-Walchuk outlining next year’s school plans. They
include combined classes starting with first and second grades and no
kindergarten.
At a town hall meeting Father Kappler held on June 26, a small group of
parishioners came to ask questions about the school’s last year
of operation. The gathering included a few self-described “old-time
parents” like Stella Perkins and Wanda Hundley whose children went
through St. Joseph’s in the early 1960s. They were there to offer
their support for Father Kappler’s decision.
Hundley has a grandson who attends a charter high school in Oakland and
reported he is happy with its accelerated science program because it will
prepare him for potential careers. Some charter schools are better than
“a lot of parochial schools,” she said.
Father Kappler told The Catholic Voice that St. Joseph School has the
capacity to enroll 220-plus students, but enrollment over the past five
years has ranged from 109 students in 2002-2003 to 128 students in 2006-2007.
“In 2002 one of the classes had just six students,” he said.
“Closing wouldn’t be an issue if we had a waiting list,”
Father Kappler told The Voice.
Years ago, during the golden age of Catholic education, there was a strong,
loyal backlog of parents deeply committed to the school, he said in his
letter.
“Today the situation is very different. Only a third of our current
students are parishioners’ children, so very few families of this
parish have a close connection to the school, least of all the ever-growing
Latino community.”
The parish has 1469 registered parishioners. The average Sunday attendance
is approximately 550, with half of those attending the Spanish Mass.
Latinos are the fastest growing population in the parish, but most of
them cannot afford to send their children to the parish school. Tuition
at St. Joseph’s during the next school year will be $5490 per child.
The school has been operating at a consistent deficit and has survived
only with the help of parish and diocesan subsidies. During 2005-2006
the parish subsidized the school with $28,068 and the diocese provided
$158,900.
For the 2006-2007 school year, the diocese provided a $99,000 subsidy
and the parish added another $28,000. Additionally, 77 students received
some form of financial aid, but the school is still about $59,000 short
to close out the end of this year.
“Thus, we are discussing right now out of whose pocket the money
will come,” said Father Kappler.
For the coming 2007-2008 school year, the diocese is prepared once again
to provide a $99,000 subsidy with the parish needing to pick up the rest
of the uncovered cost. “But since we do not have the kind of funds
needed, we will have to take out a loan from the diocese and then pay
it back after the school is closed,” Father Kappler said.
Rent from the new charter school will enable the parish to pay back the
loan, he said.
The parish can no longer afford to keep pouring money into the school
because of its own precarious situation, he added.
“St. Joseph’s has been operating at a deficit for many years,”
he said in his letter. Last year in an effort to stop the hemorrhaging,
the parish embarked upon a concerted push for increased financial stewardship
to help address its long list of deferred maintenance needs.
Although the Mass attendees’ contributions increased the average
monthly Sunday collection income from $3,007 to $4,002, it’s not
enough, Father Kappler said.
The bottom line in this economic scenario, said the priest, is the survival
of the parish itself. St. Joseph the Worker has to get back on solid financial
footing, so “that generations to come can find their spiritual home
here.”
To ensure that this happens, the parish needs a second source of income,
he explained. A charter school will make up the deficit, freeing up the
parish to make needed seismic repairs on buildings and get on with its
life and ministry.
According to the proposed lease agreement, the future charter school and
the parish will have a shared arrangement with the building reverting
back to the parish after school hours so the parish can continue to hold
parish functions there.
Tina Solovieff, a student at St. Joseph’s in 1959-60, said she thinks
the charter school “is the best case scenario. It will be so good
to see this transformation happening instead of the parish letting the
poor building stay empty or turned into condos.”
Charter schools are familiar territory for Father Kappler. When he went
to St. Louis Bertrand Parish several years ago as pastor, his predecessor
had invited a charter school to operate the former parish school. Father
Kappler worked with that particular organization for a year before inviting
another charter school to assume operations. “We had a good relationship,”
said the priest.
By moving to a charter model at St. Joseph’s “we will be able
to develop creative after-school CCD/faith formation programs for the
kids there in addition to the already existing CCD program,” said
Father Kappler in his letter. Approximately 120 kids were enrolled in
CCD this past year.
Father Kappler said he decided to keep the parochial school open one more
year to give parents the time to make other educational arrangements for
their children.
“I am aware that this school transition is a very difficult process,
especially for all the students, parents, faculty and staff,” he
wrote. “The year should give ample time to look for alternative
placements either at other Catholic schools in the area, or at the charter
school that will start operating for the 2008-2009 school year.”
Catholic schools in neighboring El Cerrito – St. Jerome and St.
John the Baptist -- have openings, but the School of the Madeleine, the
only remaining Catholic elementary school in Berkeley, does not. It already
has a waiting list, said Father Kappler.
But Vallejo residents Tamara and David Melgoza, the parents of a nine-year
old daughter enrolled at St. Joseph’s, said they aren’t interested
in shopping around for another school. The couple have jobs in Berkeley
so St. Joseph’s is the perfect school choice.
“It’s so convenient for us.” They came to the town hall
meeting to learn more about the proposed charter school.
Jill Sanders, on the other hand, is “heartbroken” that the
parochial school will close. Her son just finished kindergarten and she
would like to keep him at St. Joseph’s. But she has decided to transfer
him to St. Leo School in Oakland “because I don’t like the
idea of the first and second grades being together. It could be confusing
for him.”
Dawit Kidne has two children going into the third and fifth grades, and
“likes them being in a Catholic school,” but, like Sanders,
he also is not drawn to the idea of combined classes. “I’m
trying to decide whether they are good for kids.”
Despite declining enrollment and financial problems, St. Joseph the Worker
School has done well academically, receiving its accreditation this past
year from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
In her letter to parents Natalie-Tovani-Walchuk, principal, said, “Our
classes will continue to be small, providing for plenty of individualized
attention and academic support.”
The school will have full music, library, science and art programs, including
the FOSS hands-on-science kits to provide “a rich science experience,”
she wrote.
“The art room will house our Artworks programs and allow for messier
and more exciting art activities,” she added. Tovani-Walchuk said
the school will also offer an introductory Spanish class to all grades.
Tovani-Walchuk herself is moving on to another administrative position
within the Oakland diocesan schools system. St. Joseph’s new principal
will be Matthew Ruggiero, a current faculty member.
Ruggiero will also assist in teaching core subjects of math and language
arts in grades 1-3. Many other current faculty members will continue there
as well.
Bishop Allen Vigneron said he accepted Father Kappler’s request
to close St. Joseph’s School “with regret.”
“Such a decision is extremely difficult for the families who are
directly affected,” he said. “I recognize the emotional pain
that this closure creates.”
The bishop acknowledged that parishes “must make difficult economic
decisions in order to remain viable.” The current diocesan subsidy
of $99,000 is inadequate to meet the difference between what parents pay
in tuition and the real cost per pupil, he said.
“It is not possible to increase the subsidy,” said the bishop.
“The parish experiences the same limitations (as the diocese) and
is limited in what it can contribute to subsidize the school.”
The bishop said both he and the Diocesan School Board “are deeply
concerned about the recent history of urban school closures.”
In June 2004, the diocese closed three schools in Oakland -- St. Augustine,
St. Paschal Baylon, and Sts. Cyril-Louis Bertrand.
Presentation High School, which had operated for 110 years across the
street from St. Joseph’s under the auspices of the Presentation
Sisters, closed in 1988. Condominiums now occupy the site.
Bishop Vigneron said in his statement that he and the Diocesan School
Board are exploring a series of options that could continue and strengthen
Catholic education.
The bishop said he hopes to announce a set of plans in the near future
that will assist other financially imperiled schools.
