October 7, 2011
Catholic School Board workshop
Bishop: Even in differences, remain Christ-centered
Bishop Charles C. Thompson listens as Judy Van Hoosier, principal at Good Shepherd School, Evansville, and Daryl Hagan, diocesan superintendent of schools, discuss the school board training workshop which was held at the Catholic Center in Evansville. (Message photo by Mary Ann Hughes) Click for a larger version.
By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)
It was standing room only in Celebration Hall at the Catholic Center in Evansville one night last week as school board members from all over the Diocese of Evansville gathered for a Catholic School Board workshop.
Bishop Charles C. Thompson began the workshop by telling the board members a little about himself, that he had extensive experience working with school boards when he served as a pastor in the Archdiocese of Louisville, and that he had also been a high school chaplain there.
He thanked the board members for their willingness to share their gifts of time, talent, service and prayer, reminding them that “you are not there to represent yourself. You are there to represent the children.”
As Catholics, he said, the center of their lives is not the ball field, the classroom or the library — it’s the altar. “It’s the Eucharist. We are a Eucharistic-centered people. We must be Eucharistic-center. We must be Christ-centered — even when there are differences between us — we must remain Christ-centered.”
In his years as a priest in the archdiocese, working with many committees and councils, he said the most intense emotions were found on school boards “because it’s about children, it’s about our children.” That’s why, he told the school board members, “you have to keep it Christ-centered.”
The bishop then asked them if they understood what their status was as a board. He explained, “It’s advisory. It’s consultative. You are not a decision-making body.” That being said, he added, “I can count on one hand the times I did not take the advice from consultative bodies. Pastors take your advice very, very seriously, but in the end no board is a decision-making body. You are consultative.”
Their advice is “necessary and needed,” he reminded them, but the decision maker is the pastor. He encouraged the board members to pray for their pastors, support them and give them good advice.
He added, “Your gifts and talents are very important, but keep in mind the boundaries of those roles.”
After the bishop spoke to the entire group, there were break-out sessions. Daryl Hagan, the diocesan superintendent of schools, and Michelle Priar, assistant superintendent, spoke with new school board members. Their topic was “New to the Board? An Orientation for All New Members of the Board.”
Priar said that “no two school boards function alike, but they do need to do a few things alike.”
The boards need to be aware of the diocesan structure, according to canon law, with the bishop of the diocese at the top, then priests and deacons, the superintendent of schools, principals and then the school boards, which are consultative. The pastor is the chairperson of the school board in a parish, and the principal is an administrative officer.
Hagan explained that the discussion during a school board meeting is “so crucial,” and then he cautioned, “let the principal run the school. Your role is consultative.” He encouraged boards to set two or three goals, and discuss them at their monthly meetings.
Certain areas are outside of school boards’ jurisdictions. They include regulations, diocesan policies and cases involving students and faculty/staff members. Never discuss these cases, he said, because “it’s not your role. It’s the role of the principal.”
School board members need to be aware of the need for confidentiality, he said, reminding them that information shared and discussed during executive or closed sessions is not to be shared with anyone outside the meeting.
Priar encouraged the new board members to “always do what’s best for the students. That’s the most important thing you do.” She also encouraged them to work together, because “you are a team.”
Hagan agreed, adding, “You should never say ‘my child’ in the middle of a school board meeting. You are there for all children.”
Other break-out sessions featured:
- Tim McGuire, diocesan chief operating officer, who spoke on “Diocesan Strategic Plan: Past, Present and Future. How does it affect my school?”
- David Memmer, principal at Holy Spirit School, Evansville, Sara Guth, principal at St. Bernard School, Rockport, and John Duke, the executive director of Scholarship Granting Organization, who spoke on “SGO and Vouchers: How did that school attract so many new students?”
- Kamille Stich, chairperson of the marketing and enrollment committee at Holy Name School in Henderson, Ky., talked on “10 Simple and Inexpensive Things to do to Market your School.”
- Linda Cox, the executive director of the Catholic Foundation of Southwestern Indiana, spoke on “Endowments: What are they and can my school survive in the future without them?”
- Paul Leingang, diocesan director of Communications and editor of the Message, spoke on “Communicating the Mission through the Media.”