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Schools reconfigured by D.C. archdiocese Enrollment declines and money crunch forces changes in education Washington (CNS) -- The Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., has reconfigured its current 12-school center-city consortium. Four schools will make up a new, smaller consortium. Seven schools will be converted into non-Catholic charter schools, and one will become a parish-run school. The Center City Consortium began in 1997 to help schools facing decreasing enrollment, budget deficits, deteriorating buildings and the threat of closure. Through the consortium, schools pooled their resources. Answer to crises The new plan was developed in response to several crises facing the consortium, including a $7 million shortfall this school year, a projected $56 million deficit over the next five years, a 19 percent decline in enrollment and an increase in the number of the city's tuition-free public charter schools. The decision followed months of study, and included input from six archdiocesan advisory boards and more than 1,300 people at the 12 parishes in the original consortium. "While this decision has been a difficult one for all involved, I am grateful for the participation of so many people and consultative bodies, including parents, principals, teachers, pastors, community members, and, of course, the benefactors and supporters of the Center City Consortium schools and for the genuine concern they have for the children we serve," said Archbishop Donald Wuerl. Millions invested In the past 10 years, the archdiocese and donors have invested $60 million in the consortium, which began with eight struggling schools. In recent years, more schools were added because they could not be sustained at the parish level. The Center City Consortium "is a very successful model, but the problem was funding it," said Patricia Weitzel-O'Neill, archdiocesan superintendent of Catholic schools. "The financial challenges became overwhelming. We had to come up with some sort of new framework." It costs $7,500 to educate a child in a center-city school, but the tuition is $4,500. Charter schools can receive up to $15,000 in government funds per child. Decline Referring to enrollment declines in the consortium's schools, Weitzel-O'Neill said this "is something we are facing not only in this archdiocese, but in the whole mid-Atlantic region. We don't have as many school-age children as we did 20 or 25 years ago." With the change, about 1,100 students will remain in the new four-school consortium and St. Augustine parish school. There are about 1,000 students total in the seven schools that are slated to become charter schools next year. (About 71 percent of current students in consortium schools are non-Catholic.) |