Diocese Must Reduce Faculty in Holy Redeemer,
Holy Cross School Systems
Closure of three schools is primary cause 
 

The closure of three schools, plus declining enrollments and budget deficits, have forced the Diocese of Scranton to eliminate a total of 55 teaching positions in the Holy Redeemer and Holy Cross regional school systems.

Earlier this year it was announced that SS. Peter and Paul School in Plains, St. Aloysius School in Wilkes-Barre and St. Vincent School in Honesdale will close at the end of the current academic year because of significant enrollment declines. This will result in the loss of 10 teacher positions at SS. Peter and Paul, 16 teacher positions at St. Aloysius and 10 teacher positions at St. Vincent.

In addition, total enrollment in the two systems has declined. The current enrollment in the Holy Redeemer System is 3,496. Based on registrations, the projected enrollment for next year will be 3,139, a loss of 357 students. In the Holy Cross System, enrollment this year is 3,198. Based on registrations, the projected enrollment for next year will be 2,902, a loss of 296 students.

As the economic recession continues, more families are challenged by the cost of providing a Catholic education for their children. With fewer students enrolled, fewer classes and fewer teachers are needed. Therefore, an additional 19 teacher positions have to be eliminated beyond the 36 in the three closed schools.

Another contributing factor are budget deficits in both systems. While accounting for the fiscal year is not yet completed, the projected deficit in the 2008/09 budget for the Holy Redeemer System is $700,000. The projected deficit for the Holy Cross System is $1,100,000.

                                      Enrollment Loss       Budget Deficit    Teacher Positions

                                               2008/09 – 2009/10      2008/09        Being Eliminated

Holy Redeemer System               – 357                      $700,000           23 elementary

           6 high school

Holy Cross System                       – 296                    $1,100,000          22 elementary

                                                                                                                       4 high school

Letters were mailed on Monday, June 8, to all teachers to inform them of their status for the next school year. In some cases, teachers will not have a position. In other cases, teachers may not have a position at their current school but have been offered a position at another school based on their seniority and the other criteria that will be used to determine teacher staffing as in previous years:

• Seniority based on years of continuous service in the Diocese of Scranton. Seniority will apply to positions in a given regional system (not across systems), within secondary category grades 9-12 and elementary category grades K-8, and within specific fields of competence.
• Religion Certification: all teachers have six years from their date of hire to complete six required theological courses offered by the Diocesan Pastoral Formation Institute.
• State Certification: permanent certification (LEVEL II certificate) is required after three years of successful teaching (the state may extend this period to six years) in a particular subject area, along with completion of specific coursework required by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
• Pastor’s Letter confirming that the teacher is a practicing Catholic and in full communion with the Church. If not Catholic, the teacher must have a letter from the appropriate representative of his/her faith tradition. (This policy has been in effect for many years. All current teachers have obtained their letter; any new hires will need a letter.)

These criteria will also apply if additional positions become available, either through attrition or the need to staff classes if enrollment increases sufficiently, between now and the start of the 2009/10 school year.

Any displaced teachers will continue to receive their salaries until Aug. 21, and their medical benefits will remain in place through the end of August.

The need to reduce positions was communicated to the Employee Councils in these two systems at a meeting on May 18. Which positions would be eliminated was not known at that time, but the Councils recommended that the letters should be sent to the affected teachers before the end of the current school year.

At that meeting, the Employee Councils were informed that salaries – as is the case for all Diocesan employees – would have to be frozen at current levels because of the budget deficits. There will be no increase in health insurance premium contributions for school employees.