Parochial school vitality

Abstract

Catholic schools in the United States face severe challenges to financial stability. Decreasing enrollment and increasing expenses are negatively affecting school budgets and threatening school vitality. Parishes consider closing or consolidating schools facing economic challenges. Catholic schools utilize vitality metrics to create school profiles that focus on financial viability factors such as enrollment, tuition collection, alternative revenue sources, and parish subsidy. However, evaluation of school vitality places significant emphasis on the financial threshold for a parish to support its school. This study sought to understand the relationships between Catholic parochial schools and their sponsoring parishes to contribute to the larger concept of school vitality currently in use. The study recommends two further parish vitality factors representing the interconnectivity of a parish and school, integration of organizational structures and development, and maintenance of parish identity to broadening the understanding of parochial school viability beyond financial resources.