Approval has been granted by the Archdiocesan Board of Education and Archdiocesan Financial Commission to begin a study of the financial aspect of education in the archdiocese.

The purpose of the study is to find the exact cost of education, and project it for the next five years. Involved will be all parishes with parochial schools, and four parishes without a school. The two high schools will also participate.

Hopefully, the study will give parish boards information needed to make important decisions concerning their parochial schools, such as: Can the parish afford the school? How much money will actually be saved by closing it? How much should the parish subsidize the school? What is a fair tuition rate?

One certain outcome will be a new accounting system for drawing up the budgets for parish schools and schools of religion. This will allow the department to gather uniform and accurate statistics for the whole archdiocese, and for parishes to budget their expenses more carefully.

Also, for the first time figures will be available showing the actual cost of operating a professional school of religion. This will allow for a comparison of the per-hour costs of religious instruction in the parochial school and the school of religion.

A bid to do the study has already been received from a local accounting firm. The educational research department of Notre Dame University will submit their bid shortly. A local foundation has been asked to finance the study, and is presently considering it.

The study may be the most important educational venture in the archdiocese since the reorganization accomplished by the 1966 Synod. It could possibly be the most important step taken in the 1970’s. The study will be followed with a completely new statement on the goals of education in the archdiocese, including all aspects-religious, parochial, high school, and adult education.

Policies

At its October meeting the Archdiocesan board passed the following politics:

SEX EDUCATION:

A program of instruction in human sexuality, imparting a knowledge consistent with their years, shall be provided for all children of the Archdiocese. Parents responsibility in conveying proper sexual knowledge will be stressed, and instruction is to provide factual knowledge and an appreciation of the true values of life and of the family. Instructional material to be used will be approved by the Department of Catholic Education.

RULES:

1. <1.>A parent program must precede any classroom instruction
2. <2.>Teachers presenting the program must be properly prepared by in-service training.
3. <3.>A parent may have his child exempted from the class.

EXPULSION:

The decision to expel a student from a parish or archdiocesan school is to be made by a committee of faculty members. Parents may appeal to the Parish Board of Education for a review of the decision.

Reorganization

Reorganization of the Department of Catholic Education was also voted upon at the October meeting. Under the new set up, religious education in the parochial schools will be under the direction of the Office of Religious Education. Previously it was the charge of the Directors of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The new structure makes Fr. Tony Morris responsible for all religious education in the archdiocese. The change was effected this year, because Fr. Morris now has two full-time assistants to help him in this area, Sr. Mary Zoghby, R.S.M., on the secondary level, and Sr. Audrey Pierce, I.H.M., on the elementary level.

The date set by the Synod for the accreditation of all elementary schools was 1972. Last year all schools became affiliated with the Southern Association; meaning they showed their desire to be accredited.

Once affiliated they could begin evaluating the schools in order to plan the orderly upgrading of those areas where there are weaknesses.

This year six schools (St. John, Our Lady of the Assumption, Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Paul of the Cross, Sacred Heart, Griffin, Immaculate Heart of Mary) have written their Letter of Intent, meaning that they will undergo a thorough self-study from October 1969, to October 1970.

Two schools, Christ the King and St. Thomas More, have already completed their year of self-study.

St. Thomas More has received its visiting committee and Christ the King is awaiting their arrival. Both will apply for accreditation next September.

The biggest difficulty faced by schools so far is building up libraries to 10 volumes per child.

No Junior High

Last year a proposal to make St. Anthony school into a junior high to serve the parishes on the southwest side of Atlanta was greeted with enthusiasm by most all pastors, principals, and parish board members involved.

The obvious advantage was the possibility of providing a first class junior high school education to seventh and eighth graders, something impossible now in the present elementary school set-up.

At a meeting held by a subcommittee of the Archdiocesan Board of Education at St. Anthony’s on Oct. 29, the proposal ran into strong opposition.

The following Monday, at a meeting with the principals of the schools involved, the plan was discussed again.

It was agreed at the end of the meeting that there was too much opposition to the proposal to spend further time investigating it.

The major criticisms were cost and distance. Families did not wish to give up the family-rate tuition for those children in the 7^th and 8^th grades, even if the quality of education was better.

Others felt that transportation would be impossible, even though St. Anthony’s is better served by public transportation than any school in the city.

Objections were raised about the age of the buildings, or the impossibility of providing a first class program in them.

Race was an unmentioned, but obviously important factor. The most interesting statement of all came from a St. Anthony’s parishioner. “If the idea is so good, why haven’t they tried it on the north side.”

Father Dan O’Connor, education superintendent, has asked to speak to the Home and School Associations of all the parishes involved to explain the proposal again, but unless there is much more evident support for it than presently discerned, the proposal is dead.