By Thea Jarvis

The ad hoc committee on Catholic school tuition and related parish support policies will hold a series of five "listening sessions" this fall to solicit input on the fair and balance financing of Catholic schools.

All parishioners, priests and Religious are invited to attend and express their views on the future of Catholic education in the archdiocese.

Sessions will be held October 29 at St. Pius X High School in Atlanta, November 5 at St. John Neumann Regional School in Lilburn, November 9 at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Decatur, November 10 at St. John the Evangelist School in Hapeville and November 12 at St. Joseph's School in Marietta.

"We hope to figure out if we're going to have a system of Catholic schools priced in a fashion that most Catholics can afford, or a group of private schools" beyond the financial reach of average families, said state Senator Mike Egan, chairman of the ad hoc committee who will lead the listening sessions.

Sister Roberta Schmidt, CSJ, archdiocesan secretary for education who, with the superintendent of Catholic schools, Maureen Kane, has acted as staff to the committee, said she hopes the gatherings will give people an opportunity "to learn about Catholic education as ministry."

"Fifty-three parishes and missions sent children to Catholic schools in 1991," Sister Schmidt pointed out. That is "a big piece of the diocese."

Input from listening sessions will help the committee put together "a recommendation on how we can fund the schools to assure their future," she said.

The ad hoc Committee on School Tuition/Parish Support Policies was convened this past spring by Archbishop James P. Lyke, OFM, to address increasing costs of Catholic education. Composed of 28 laymen and women from each parish with 10 or more children attending Catholic schools, the committee also includes representatives from the archdiocesan board for education, St. Pius X High School and Marist School, a Catholic elementary and high school principal, two pastors appointed by Archbishop Lyke and two priests nominated by the Priests' Council.

In preparation for the upcoming sessions, meetings were held in June, August and September to discuss feedback from pastors and parish finance councils and lay the groundwork for broader archdiocesan input. The committee expects to present recommendations to Archbishop Lyke by the beginning of 1993.

During the listening sessions, an introductory statement and three questions formulated by the ad hoc committee will help focus discussion. The introduction includes a November 1990 statement by U.S. Catholic bishops and a November 1991 statement by delegates to the National Schools Congress.

"We invite all Catholics to share in the apostolate of Catholic education, realizing that financial support is a means of responding to God's call to stewardship," the bishops said.

Delegates to the schools congress expressed a similar concern: "Catholic schools are essential to the life and future of the church in the United States and require the support of the entire Catholic community."

Participants at sessions will be asked to address the following questions:

• - Can the archbishop count on the continued support of all Catholics in the archdiocese to maintain parochial and diocesan secondary schools?
• - Should financial aid be available to families unable to pay full tuition? If yes, to what degree and from what sources should financial aid be given?
• - What percentage of the cost of educating children in a Catholic school should be borne by parents? by parishes? by the archdiocese?

"It is becoming more and more difficult for individuals to pay the tuition necessary to support the schools," said Senator Egan, a Christ the King parishioner. "We are in some danger of Catholic schools turning into a collection of private schools. I personally do not think that is desirable."

Egan's six children attended Christ the King School and he remembers the days when students were charged no tuition. At that time, the parish was the main support of the school. Now, he said, the lion's share of school monies comes from tuition, so parents bear a greater burden.

As school costs and costs in general have continued to rise, parishes, too, have had to carry heavier financial burdens. Though subsidization of Catholic schools by parishes is "much smaller (here) than in the church as a whole throughout the United States," Egan said, local churches are having more difficulty paying school subsidies out of parish budgets.

He points to the increasing importance of development funds in the evolution of Catholic school support.

"More and more, we see parishes and schools beginning to have their own development campaigns," he said. "Hopefully, this will increase."

At a 1991 convocation of archdiocesan priests, budgetary implications of parish subsidies for Catholics schools was a focus of concern. Using guidelines developed by the archdiocese in 1975, feeder parishes sending children to other parish elementary schools were billed anywhere from $700 to $1,000 for each child in 1991. This figure changes each year depending upon the school budget.

The ad hoc committee is a successor to a committee of the Priests' Council which made recommendations to Archbishop Lyke in 1991. The present committee has a broader consultative base, involving laity and educational professionals as well as clergy.

Sites for the five listening sessions were chosen to provide adequate coverage of the archdiocesan population, Egan said. All sessions begin at 7:30 p.m.

For further information and directions, contact the Department of Catholic Education at 404-888-7833.