(Ed. Note: The following report on parochial schools in the Archdiocese of Atlanta was written by Father Daniel J. O’Connor, secretary of Catholic Education.)

A sharp drop in elementary enrollment, the first ever experienced by the schools of the Archdiocese, was the single most significant fact of the past school year 1967-68.

On the elementary level 5,864 students attended our schools, a drop of 778 from the year before. On the high school level, there were 1,729 students, 23 less than the previous year. The total enrollment for the schools of the Archdiocese was 7,953. This was a drop of 802 students from last year’s 8,395.

This sharp decrease in attendance paralleled a trend in Catholic education throughout the country for the past several years. It was, however, the first time that total attendance of the schools in the Archdiocese of Atlanta dropped, and the decrease of almost 10% was far higher than the 5.5% drop on the national level.

Several factors can be cited for this drop. The continued rise in tuition rate is perhaps the most important. In some of our schools last year, the tuition rose sharply, and the average tuition for elementary schools of the Archdiocese is now close to $200. The general rise in all educational costs, especially the constant increase in salaries for both our lay teachers and religious, leads us to expect that this tuition increase will continue.

The second reason for the decrease was the an effort on the part of most of our schools to reduce the class size. I believe it will come as a surprise to the people of the archdiocese to realize that the present teacher-pupil ratio in our elementary schools is approximately 1 to 29. The effort to get schools ready for accreditation is the most significant cause for this deliberate attempt to reduce class size.

Not only was the class size reduced, but several of our schools dropped grades. In some cases where the there were two classes in one grade, one was eliminated. Two schools, Sacred Heart in Griffin and St. Joseph in Athens, dropped their 7th and 8th grades. This was necessary because students from these schools must go into public high schools, and parents choose, for various reasons, to begin them in public schools on the 7th and 8th grade level. St. Gerard School at Fort Oglethorpe will drop its 7th and 8th grades this year due to a continued decrease in attendance at this level.

Another reason for the decline in attendance is the change in attitude on the part of many Catholic parents. There is no longer a stigma attached in taking children from Catholic schools and putting them into public schools. The very fact that Catholic education is so extremely expensive today forces many parents to at least consider this.

We believe, therefore, that its more important than ever that parish boards of education realize that their parish school is competing with excellent public schools. If we are to keep our schools open, we must assure our parents that rises in tuition will result in better education. We can no longer expect parents to pay high tuition for overcrowded classrooms, an incomplete curriculum, and teachers who do not meet minimum state certification requirements. The sacrifices we are now asking our parents to make to give their children a full Catholic education are too great to provide anything but quality education.

On the high school level, the drop in enrollment was very small despite the fact that Drexel High School was closed at the end of last year. The majority of the Drexel students were absorbed into the student population at St. Joseph and St. Pius X High Schools. For the first time this past year, St. Pius X had a waiting list for new enrollees, and St. Joseph was filled to capacity. The high school situation, therefore, continues to be healthy, and indications are that the demand for Catholic education at this level will equal, if not exceed, our capacity to provide it in the immediate future.

The past year saw many other changes in the educational programs of the archdiocese. The Archdiocesan Board of Education, in operation for the second year, wrote policies that will insure the orderly preparation for accreditation by our elementary schools. The new policies in many cases were similar to standards of the Southern Association. They cover class-size, lay teacher salaries, annual school budgets, and the use of full-time principals. The policies are also called for affiliation of all our elementary schools with the Southern Association by September 1968.

In the area of elementary education, the trend toward ungraded reading classes continued, so that now almost all of our schools teach reading by this method. The self-evaluation study begun by our elementary schools three years ago was brought to a conclusion. The report that issued from our schools’ evaluations will provide parish boards of education with a clear picture of the strength and weakness of their schools, and thus allow our boards to make orderly and systematic improvements in each school’s program.

Finally, we are pleased to announce that the Sisters of Mercy agreed to assign a sister as director of elementary education beginning this coming year. Her duties will be to revise and revitalize the entire elementary program, thus insuring better education in our schools.

In the area of secondary education, Father John Cotter, Principal of St. Pius X High School, began to serve the archdiocese in his new position as director of secondary education. In that position he undertook a reorganization of the secondary program by appointing departmental chairmen for all areas of the high school curriculum. These chairmen come from all four Catholic high schools in the archdiocese. They will work together to update and revise the secondary curriculum and experiment with new training methods, courses of studies, and materials.

Father Cotter was also instrumental in obtaining four sisters from the Immaculate Heart of Mary order of Monroe, Michigan, for service in the archdiocese. Two sisters will teach at St. Pius X High School, and two will conduct the religious education program at Holy Cross parish. This use of religious personnel for work both in our Catholic high schools and a parish religious education program is perhaps indicative of a trend that will be more significant in the future as the Church attempts to balance its resources to provide better religious education for all of its children.

Father Anthony Morris made great strides in organizing the Office of Religious Education. Father Morris is the first priest in the archdiocese to serve full-time in religious education. It is interesting to note that next year there will be seven full-time religious and lay people in his work. Father Morris will have a sister assisting him in his office, and five other sisters or laymen will be serving full-time in different parishes throughout the archdiocese.

Father Morris was able to conduct a much more thorough census of children in our parish schools of religion this past year, which is found in this report. This census indicates that there was a 70% increase in the number of students registered in schools of religion. Much of this increase can, of course, be accounted for the more systematic process of registering and reporting the children in the schools of religion.

It is significant, nevertheless, to notice that the total number of children in these schools was 7,902. This means that for the first time more children were receiving religious education in parish schools of religion than in our parochial and archdiocesan elementary and high schools.

Since no new parochial schools are being constructed at the present time, and since there are no plans for new parish or elementary or archdiocesan high schools, this trend can only continue. We must work, therefore, to strengthen the archdiocesan program of religious education in the years ahead. Training of catechists must have top priority, but the entire program must be able to develop, including systematic evaluation and supervision of parish schools of religion, and an increased effort to improve and strengthen these parish catechetical efforts. The area of adult religious education is extremely important, too, and must not be overlooked.

For the first time this annual report also includes statistics for the Newman program in the colleges and universities in the archdiocese. This indicates our growing awareness of our duty to continue to meet the religious needs of young people of the archdiocese. Over 90% of our Catholic high school graduates, and a proportionately high percentage of Catholics graduating from public high schools continue their educations. As they do, their knowledge of religion and their commitment to the Christian way of life must be increased at the same time. More and qualified personnel, better facilities, and new and more interesting approaches must characterize the renewed effort in this extremely important apostolate.

A glance at last year, then, reveals in our archdiocese, the change and evolution that characterizes the state of Catholic education everywhere. We must not be afraid to face it; we must accept it and learn from it. We need not fear it, because it offers to all of us in the field of education - priests, religious, and laity -- new and striking opportunities to do the task we are committed to better than ever before.