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Like parishes, schools get ready to incorporate
Restructuring to result in minimal changes, if any
By J.D. Long-García, jdlgarcia@catholicsun.org
May 15, 2008
Parishes won’t be the only ones changing their civil organization during the diocese’s comprehensive restructuring process later this year. Some Catholic schools will also be making modifications to their civil structure.
When the restructuring process takes effect on July 1, each parish in the diocese will embark on a new civil beginning as an Arizona non-profit corporation. Parochial preschools and elementary schools, on the other hand, will not be separately incorporated.
Instead, those parochial schools will remain a part of the parishes to which they belong, and will continue to exist as a ministry of their respective parish.
St. Catherine of Siena School, for example, will remain a part of St. Catherine of Siena Parish and the newly established non-profit corporation.
“It won’t change anything,” said MaryBeth Mueller, superintendent of Catholic Schools. “Life will continue as it is for our preschools and elementary schools.”
Simple, right?
Well, almost. For several years, the diocese has operated two diocesan or multi-parish schools — St. John Bosco Interparish School in Phoenix and Pope John XXIII Catholic School Community in Scottsdale. What will happen with them?
Pope John XXIII, which is located immediately adjacent to St. Bernadette Parish, will become part of the St. Bernadette parish corporation. St. John Bosco, located immediately adjacent to St. Benedict Parish, will become part of the St. Benedict parish corporation.
According to Mueller, both schools will retain their current names and will continue to serve students from the surrounding parishes in their region.
“Normally, when something new is happening, people are concerned about it,” said Shelly Connor, principal of St. John Bosco. “But it won’t affect the vision of the school or how classes are run.”
One thing that will change for those two schools is their relationship with the pastors of St. Bernadette and St. Benedict, who will now oversee school operations in addition to overseeing parish operations.
Where before Mueller and the Catholic schools office directly supervised St. John Bosco School and a lead pastor designated from four pastors supervised Pope John XXIII, the two schools will now come directly under the supervision of the pastor of the parish they are legally associated with. That’s similar to all other parochial preschools and elementary schools.
“To the kids and to the parents, he’ll play the same role,” Connor said of Fr. Gary Regula, pastor of St. Benedict. “Now he’ll have some administrative stuff to deal with.”
In overseeing and managing parochial school affairs, each pastor will consult with his parish’s board of directors, with the school principal and with the school’s advisory board.
High school incorporation
Unlike the parochial preschools and elementary schools, the five diocesan high schools, which do not belong to any parish, will be separately incorporated on July 1.
Once again, the formation of a high school corporation will not change the name of the school or the relationship between the school and the bishop, the diocese or the superintendent. It will, however, require some administrative changes and the formation of a corporate board for each entity.
In total, new corporations will be formed for Bourgade Catholic High School, Notre Dame Preparatory, Seton Catholic High School, St. Mary’s High School and Xavier College Preparatory.
Brophy College Preparatory is part of the Jesuit religious community and therefore is already a separate non-profit corporation and will not be affected by the diocesan restructuring.
Each high school will be required to file annual reports, to keep corporate records and to establish a board of directors — civil requirements for all corporations. The plan is for the board to meet annually.
The typical high school corporate board of directors will consist of the principal, the bishop, the superintendent, and the chairpersons of the school’s finance committee and advisory board.
The chairpersons of the finance and advisory boards will attend board meetings and provide expert advice and consultation. The principal, superintendent and bishop will vote on any matters that are properly brought before the boards.
At their annual meetings, the corporate boards will accept certain recommendations from the school’s finance committee and advisory board on issues such as the annual budget and the purchase and sale of property — in compliance with diocesan finance policy and canon law.
The diocese estimates that the high schools will each spend approximately $500 to file and publish articles of incorporation, to perform title searches on property and to purchase and prepare corporate record books.
Each high school may also incur some cost in participating in external financial reviews that will be performed annually by outside auditors.
“The transition should be a fairly easy one for the high schools,” according to John Kelly, general counsel for the Phoenix Diocese.
Over the last four years, schools have done more of their own accounting, said Joe Anderson, chief finance officer for the Diocese of Phoenix. He also noted that his office has been increasing its support of the schools during the restructuring process.
“We’re still here to support the parishes and the schools,” Anderson said. “That won’t go away.”
The roles of school leadership will also stay the same within the new civil structure. The diocese, the superintendent and the Catholic schools office will continue to offer the same support and services that they offer today.
“None of that is going to change,” Mueller said. “In Catholic education, we partner with the parents. They’re the primary educators. We’re not changing that.”
Mueller encouraged parents with any questions about the transition to consult the school principal.
“The important thing is communication,” she said. “We need to build positive relationships.”
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