Catholic school governance models are unlike those found in public school systems. The oversight for public schools is the purview of local school boards that ensure public money is properly and efficiently spent to provide the best education possible for all students. Historically, Catholic schools enjoyed a degree of autonomy, answering solely to the pastor at the elementary level, or to the diocesan bishop or to a religious order at the high school level. Catholic school governance models have undergone a restructuring in recent years, due in part to the financial difficulty schools have faced. However, this restructuring does not mean that Catholic school governance resembles the public school model. Quite the contrary, as there are a myriad …show more content…
of Catholic school governance models developed to meet the unique concerns of each school, parish, diocese or religious order. By adopting an effective governance model, schools clearly delineate the leadership hierarchy, avoid redundancy, increase efficiency and ensure the smooth running of the school St. Timothy Catholic School- External Hierarchy St. Timothy Catholic School is a member of the Diocese of Arlington. As a parish school, St. Timothy serves the needs of 610 students in grades PK-8. St. Timothy Parish was established by the Bishop of Richmond in 1969 and the school opened in 1981. As a Catholic elementary school, the pastor is the authority on all matters concerning the operation of St. Timothy School. The pastor reports directly to the bishop. St. Timothy School, as a school in the diocese is “administered under the authority of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington.” The Bishop of Arlington is the authority on all matters of faith and education in the diocese. His primary responsibility is to oversee the diocese and its churches and schools, and he provides leadership for many ministries. His authority is as an authentic successor to the apostles. The bishop has authority over all priests, except those in a religious order, and he is the spiritual leader of all Catholics in the diocese. The bishop is assisted by the Principal Vicar of Faith Formation, who acts of behalf of the bishop in the bishop’s absence. His authority flows from the bishop and the principal vicar must act as the bishop would. When the principal vicar represents the bishop in educational matters, he must act to support the bishop’s educational goals. The Chancery Office delegates oversight of Catholic schools to the Office of Catholic Schools, under the leadership of the Superintendent of Schools.
The Superintendent’s office acts as a governing body on diocesan-wide matters. The Office of Catholic Schools provides cohesion on matters of curriculum, faith formation, operating calendar, employee screening, teacher certification, lay teacher benefits, and those areas where it is more efficient to have central office oversight than individual schools. The Superintendent avails herself of recommendations from committees, as well as from office staff members with areas of expertise such as curriculum, special education, leadership, enrollment management, and …show more content…
finances. With respect to parish elementary schools, such as St. Timothy, the pastor is the head of the parish and the parish school, however, the bishop is invested with authority over all schools by Canon Law. The bishop has delegated authority over schools to the Office of Catholic Schools, and thus, the pastor does not act alone, but is subject to supervision from the bishop and the Office of Catholic Schools, acting as the bishop’s agent. The Superintendent of Schools and the elementary school pastor work for the success of the school. However, on matters of academics, the pastor will defer to the Office of Catholic Schools. The diocesan governance model grants legitimate power to the bishop. This means the Bishop of Arlington has power conferred simply by holding the position of bishop. This position “is recognized by others as having a legitimate right to obedience.” (Owens, 2015, p.255). St.
Timothy Catholic School- Internal Hierarchy
The school is one of the parish ministries. As such, the pastor has legitimate authority at St. Timothy Catholic School. The pastor seeks advice from finance director and finance counsel on matters of salaries and other expenditures, and strategic initiatives. However, the finance counsel is advisory in nature and does not have individual or shared authority with the pastor.
The school principal reports directly to the pastor. The principal acts as the administrator of the school and sees to the day-to-day operations of the school. Additionally, the principal has as his primary responsibility the faith formation of the students. Furthermore, the principal also reports to the Superintendent of Schools, Office of Catholic Schools. The principal works with the Office of Catholic Schools on strategic initiatives that reflect the vision and mission of the diocese. The Office of Catholic Schools also advises the principal on legal matters, personnel matters and offers expertise on special education and curriculum issues. The principal will also confer with the Parent-Teacher Organization, as well as the Enrollment Management Committee, the Safety Committee and other support organizations, but these groups are advisory, have no authority and do not act without the approval of the
principal. The principal at St. Timothy Catholic School has two administration-level assistants, the Assistant Principal and the Dean of Academics. The Assistant Principal acts with regard to student discipline issues and day-to-day logistics, such as carpool and the one-to-one technology program. The Dean of Academics advises the principal on curriculum matters and issues relating to supervision of teaching, and professional development. Both the Assistant Principal and the Dean of Academics have limited authority, and act, not independently, but in accordance with the mission statement of the school and the leadership vision of the principal. The principal seeks the advice of both the Assistant Principal and Dean of Academics on all matters, including but not limited to hiring, professional development, expenditures, scheduling, etc. However, the final decision-making authority rests with the principal. At St. Timothy Catholic School, there are no other school-wide authority positions. There are occasions when the principal will employ a participative decision-making leadership model, empowering leader-teachers to advise him in areas of school climate, textbooks, the handbook among others. Teachers are the authority figure in closest contact with students. In the classroom, the teacher is the final authority, and often, in matters of student discipline, the administration supports the teacher. However, all aspects of the managing the classroom must reflect the mission of the school and the vision of the principal. Teachers have the responsibility to deliver the curriculum as established by the Diocese of Arlington, Office of Catholic Schools. Teachers communicate with the Dean of Academics concerning lesson planning and pacing, and with the Assistant Principal regarding student discipline. The principal will participate in all serious matters. As leaders in the classroom, teachers use a variety of leadership models to manage the students. At St. Timothy, we do not support the use of a coercive leadership model where the teacher uses punishment to manage student. The administration provides professional development on classroom management and teachers use a reward power, defined as “controlling rewards that will induce others to comply.” (Owens, 2015, p. 255). Teachers also act as faculty advisors to Student Council, National Junior Honor Society and other clubs, but these require entirely different leadership models. In these cases, teachers use more of a coaching as teaching model that “assumes the learners have a basic understanding of what they are doing,”(Owens, 2015, p. 35) and, as Perkins (1982) added, “the coach can stand back and observe.” (as cited in Owens, 2015, p. 35). The St. Timothy School governance model is multi-faceted, but efficient. There is a direct line of authority from the pastor through to the teachers. All parties understand the leadership model and their individual responsibilities to fulfill the mission statement and provide a faith-filled education for all students.
Ms. Hall shared several insights to the superintendence and advice for those aspiring to be one. One insight that she revealed was the importance of really knowing the district. She spoke about the importance of truly understanding the district's heritage, how people relate to it, and what they expect from it currently. This allows her to really prepare for the deep changes that she planning. Her greatest piece of advice was that a superintendent must be willing to build relationships with all stakeholders. She feels that a superintendent must be an instructional leader and a politician of sorts in order to be truly effective.
...hile it is important that the administrator monitor the amount of money spent and the amount of money to be spent, he/she is not responsible for the overall account of the budget. Most schools employ a secretary to handle the accounting duties. This person writes the checks, makes deposits, and balances the general ledger. They are also responsible for providing paperwork when audited.
One of the three basic pillars of the Roman Catholic Church is Tradition. The Church often uses this pillar of Tradition to validate its actions or to establish its own infallibility. One unspoken foundation that I feel is more essential, however, is that of Love. Love is what is taught in Scripture, another pillar of the Church, and should, therefore be the root of any traditions in the Catholic faith. By judging human actions or the spirit of God by cold laws enforced by the Church, we lose important insight into what our faith and our existence are truly about. Even the Church, in its humanness, sometimes forgets that love of God, others, and ourselves should be the core of every decision we make. The Church that many see as harsh and archaic could easily be refreshed and renewed, not by peppier music or stand-up comic priests, but by emphasis on the spirit of love rather than the letter of the law.
On the daily basis, by him, the secretary, Title 1 liaison, and the director of finance. If the school goes over on of the budgets, the district replaces the money from another
In theory, responsibility for operating the public education system in the US is local. In fact, much of the local control has been superseded, and state legislation controls financing methods, academic standards, and policy and curriculum guidelines. Because public education is separately developed within each state, variations exist from one state to another.
High schools mirror feudal society in their hierarchy. In the feudal system, God, the pope, kings, lords, knights, and serfs all hold more power than the group after them. Within a high school, the school board, superintendent, principal, counselors, teachers, and students all stand within a hierarchy. Just as the pope was a representative of God, the superintendent also represents the school board, passing on rules and relaying requests back to the school board. If the high school campus is a kingdom, then the principal is the king, giving responsibilities to the counselors and answering only to the
There are many factors involved in creating a good learning environment for children. There is little evidence that decentralization as the first (or only) element of an educational program of school restructuring is a successful strategy. Changes in governance may be critical to restructuring when they occur along with other activities that are designed to enhance student learning, and when they function to support this goal (Conley, 1993). Recent problems in commercially managed schools in Baltimore and Hartford may be indicative of combinatorial effects of complex factors that can render seemingly well thought out plans ineffectual in satisfying the communities they serve.
Catholic schools often pride themselves in the values they strictly uphold and the mission and visions they aim for. However these missions and
The context from which I bear the most knowledge is a congregational setting that would argue that it is a mystical community, but in its history it was viscerally the model was one of the Church as Institution. At the time of this independent church’s founding it was a part of a Pentecostal denomination which attempted to provide institutional means of governance for the individual churches it represented. Since it is a fairly young denomination, it might be fair to note that it gathered its model from the institutionality of the Catholic Church as a means of governance. The denomination had a head bishop who was elected from a pool of other bishops; these would be the equivalent of the Cardinals in the Vatican. Beneath the bishops were superintendents who managed and trained pastors as they planted congregations. As this particular congregation grew the founding pastor recognized the need to dissociate from the main denomination and enter into ministry as a non-denominational church. In essence this gave more autonomy to the congregation and ultimately to the pastor. This particular minister was often considered a benevolent dictator, which would be the type of leader needed for that time as everyone looked to him for spiritual answers. Historically in the denomination, since many of the congregants were poor and uneducated, the senior pastor was often the most educated person in the church. In those cases theological training often came after placement if it were available. Currently the church has a pastor that has roots in the Pentecostal denomination, but is ordained as an Anglican priest. The autonomy is still present, but there have been many desires to focus the church in more of a model of the church as sacram...
This essay will examine the influence that the Catholic Church has had on one particular school; that school being St. Flannan’s College in Ennis, Co. Clare. ‘Churches have been deeply involved in education and this has had a large influence on the nature of the educational patterns which have evolved’ Coolahan (1981) This essay will examine how influential the Catholic Church has been on this school and the impacts and consequences on the school today as a result of this. We will firstly look at Saint Flannan and his historical and religious background. We will then look at the history of St. Flannan’s College and how deeply rooted the Catholic Church is in the school’s history in order to gain a perspective on how influential it has been and why. Finally we will then look at some issues that have resulted within the school as a result of the Catholic’s Church influence prior to and since the schools establishment in 1881.
The school categories are conventional, congenial, or collegial. These three categories are distinguish by discussing the style that the principal administers the school (Glickman et al., 2010). Each individual category gives out a different outcome. A conventional administration or leadership it is recognized by the lack of communication among the staff and the administrator, also, the independence of the teachers is evident, it is no common goal it is a more individual goals setting, usually the responsible for everything are the students and teachers...
School administrators are the leaders of the school buildings and it is there job to make sure that each child receives was has been promised to them by law. School leaders, however have a set of ethical standards that will help them make the best decisions for the staff and students that they serve. Their personal beliefs come into play, but it up to them to use the standards as a guide along their way.
Common sense will tell you that a school board has a fair amount of influence in a school district; however, it was not until I attended a meeting that I realized the extent that influence has in shaping a school. Prior to my attending a meeting, I had no idea what went on at school board meetings. My experience has taught me a great deal about the responsibilities of a school board, as well as how their enthusiasm and forward thinking have the ability to elevate a school to greater heights.
At least two Catholic schools were established in the early years of the nineteenth century but neither survived very long, and it was not until after the arrival of Therry and Connolly in 1820 that significant development took place. By 1833, there were about ten Catholic schools in the country. From this time until the end of the 1860s, Catholic schools received some government assistance under a variety of schemes, but campaigns for 'free, secular and compulsory' education had begun in the 1850s and it became increasingly clear that Catholic schools would not be able to rely on government aid for much longer. Between 1872 and 1893, every State passed an Education Act removing state aid to Church schools. This was a turning point for Catholic schools and, indeed, for the Catholic community in Australia. Bishops and people decided to persevere with the Catholic system. With no money to pay teachers, the bishops appealed to religious orders in Ireland and other European countries, and soon religious sisters and brothers were responding to the crisis.
As mentioned before, leadership styles take an important role in running a school. Unfortunately, many principals have not yet defined their leadership style and struggle to administrate their school. They are responsible not only of teachers and students, but of every employee in the school. They have the power to control all the resources available to improve and meet academic goals. Despite their power, principals need to identify appropriate leadership styles to succeed as