Bishop Approves Plan for ‘Catholic Community Schools’

UNDATED - A plan to unify the St. Cloud area Catholic schools has been approved by the Bishop.

Several area Catholic schools will soon be operating under the "Catholic Community Schools" board. Bishop Donald Kettler is moving forward with the plan that was sent to him in December.

The Catholic Community Schools corporate board has been formed, and a board of directors will oversee major decisions like finances, programming, and human resources. The board will be made up of pastors and lay people.

A yet-to-be-hired Superintendent will oversee the day-to-day operations at a central office.

The schools in the Catholic Community Schools are: All Saints Academy in St. Cloud and St. Joseph, Cathedral, Holy Cross in Pearl Lake, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in St. Cloud, St. Francis Xavier in Sartell, St. Katherine Drexel in St. Cloud, St. Mary, Help of Christians in St. Augusta, and St. Wendelin in Luxemburg.  Each school will maintain its own site council.

The goal is to have the structure operational for the 2017-2018 school year.

The committee says there is no intent to close school buildings, or change in the individual cultures, but rather grow student enrollment.