by Kathi Stearns

	Sister Patricia Clune

ROSWELL—Sister Patricia Clune, CSJ, founding principal of Queen of Angels School, Roswell, has announced her resignation effective June 30, the end of the school year.

Sister Clune said the reason for her decision was that she and the Office of Education have a different vision and management style for Queen of Angels School.

“I want my resignation as principal of Queen of Angels to say that I have absolutely no confidence in the Office of Education or its leadership,” said Sister Clune. “I am not resigning over money. What matters to me is people and programs. There is a spirit of mistrust and disempowerment between myself and the Office of Education that cannot be overcome.”

Sister Clune has been a teacher and administrator in Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Atlanta and in Delaware for 30 years. A member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Sister Clune served at St. Anthony’s School, Atlanta, and St. Joseph’s School, Marietta. Sister Clune was the assistant superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Wilmington, Del., where she had served since 1994 before she was named principal of Queen of Angels in January 1999. The school opened last September.

“This is a tremendously sad day for Queen of Angels and the Archdiocese of Atlanta,” said Father Frank McNamee, administrator of St. Peter Chanel Mission, whose church will be built on the same property as Queen of Angels Elementary School and Blessed Trinity High School. “Her departure will be an incredible loss for Archbishop (John F.) Donoghue’s vision for Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Atlanta as well as for the city of Roswell and the faith communities at St. Peter Chanel, Queen of Angels and Blessed Trinity. A lot of people shared Sister’s vision for education. Her resignation will shatter the community that has been established here.”

Sister Clune said that the Office of Education has asked her to cut over $302,300 in existing expenditures from her 2000-2001 budget, $375,400 from her 2001-2002 budget, $450,800 from her 2002-2003 budget,

$452,700 from her 2003-2004 budget and $448,800 from her 2004-2005 budget.

According to Msgr. Terry Young, Secretary for Education, both Queen of Angels and Holy Redeemer School, Alpharetta, have been asked by the Office of Education to reduce their expenses by approximately $300,000 for the upcoming year and to make significant reductions in their expenditures through the 2004-2005 school year.

“They were not asked specifically to cut personnel,” Msgr. Young said. “They were asked to look at their staffs and see what personnel they had that exceeded the expectations of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools standards. I wanted them to evaluate their staffs and see how any cutbacks would affect each of the school communities. I was waiting for them to get back to me when this (Sister Clune’s resignation) happened.”

Sister Clune said that to reduce the budget by over $300,000 she would be forced to cut personnel.

“I will not make these personnel cuts,” Sister Clune said. “I came here to build up the body of Christ, not tear it down piece by piece. I cannot support what is being asked of me and the archdiocese needs someone who can.”

Msgr. Young, who began his tenure as Secretary for Education in January 1999, succeeded Bertha Martin who resigned effective Dec. 31, 1998. According to Msgr. Young, the budgets for the new schools were approved Dec. 15, 1998 by the Office of Education and by the Finance Department.

Martin had served as the Secretary for Education for the archdiocese from Feb. 1, 1996 to Dec. 31, 1998 during which time funds were raised through a “Building the Church of Tomorrow” Capital Campaign for a number of projects, including building the three new Catholic grade schools and high schools in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Msgr. Young says the problem with funding arose when the new principals were asked what kind of faculty and support staff were needed to operate these new schools. He explained that most of the new principals’ wishes were granted, i.e., that the faculties of the new schools include paraprofessionals assisting classroom teachers, assistant principals who did not teach, full-time nurses, directors of religious education and development directors.

“This staffing is not typical of our existing schools,” Msgr. Young said. “The biggest mistake that was made was that there was not an assessment of our existing schools. Rather than making decisions on what has worked in our existing Catholic schools in the past, a new model was suddenly created. This new model has not proven financially feasible in all areas. That was where the error in judgment occurred.”

Sister Clune believes it was the Office of Education not the principals who created this model.

“They told us that these new schools had to be state-of-the-art in all ways because that is how they had been marketed,” she said. “We were told what we needed and how much to pay for it.”

Moreover, Sister Clune said, the salary scales were approved by the Secretary for Education before any offer to a prospective faculty member was made.

Mike McNamara, chief financial officer for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, said that based on the financial statements it appears that Queen of Angels and Holy Redeemer will each have a projected deficit of approximately $600,000-$700,000 for the 1999-2000 academic year. For 2000-2001 the projected deficit for Holy Redeemer and Queen of Angels is approximately $1 million for each school.

“The schools were supposed to show a profit of around $400,000 in their initial year,” McNamara said. “But each of these schools has over spent by approximately $1 million. That kind of spending cannot continue.”

Mary Reiling, principal of Holy Redeemer School, declined to comment on how her school community would be affected by her school’s existing deficit.

However, Sister Clune said that on Feb. 25, 2000 the Finance Department and Office of Education approved her budget for the upcoming year. Sister Clune received a memo from Marcia Taylor, director of administrative services for the Office of Education, stating that her budget for the 2000-2001 school year was “approved for use.” On March 10, she says she received a call from Msgr. Young informing her that the school’s budget was not approved and that cuts in expenditures needed to be made immediately.

Msgr. Young said that many people believe the deficit could have been dealt with by simply raising the tuition at each of the new schools. However, he and the archbishop have rejected this possibility because they do not want Catholic schools to become elitist.

“Currently these new schools are the most expensive in the archdiocese,” he said. “The archbishop and I are committed to having non-elitist schools that are affordable to the majority of parents who want their children to receive a Catholic education. Therefore, raising the tuition at these schools is not an archdiocesan option.”

Father McNamee said that in an attempt to make Queen of Angels non-elitist and to allow each person to have the opportunity to receive a Catholic education, Sister Clune accepted many children with special learning needs; some were gifted while others had learning difficulties.

“When she did that she made a commitment to the parents and to the students to work with these kids. Because of the drastic cuts that the archdiocese is requesting, neither she nor the school will be able to meet the needs of these students or their parents,” Father McNamee said.

“In addition, she accepted some non-Catholic students who are now joining the Catholic faith. Her departure will have a major impact not only upon the school community at Queen of Angels but upon the entire Archdiocese of Atlanta.”

Sister Clune said that many of the positions that now must be eliminated are already established at the existing Catholic schools. But she emphasized that this is much more than simply a personnel issue for the members of her faculty. In reality it most deeply concerns the children to whom she made an educational commitment, she said.

Finally, Sister Clune said that she was not truly being allowed to act as principal.

Sister Clune said if the issue was simply money she would take that matter to her parents and work together as a faith community to overcome the financial obstacles that the school is currently facing.

“If I sent a letter home to the parents at Queen of Angels and told them of the financial needs of the school community they would come through for me,” she said. “However this is about much more than money. It is about honesty, it is about integrity and it is about letting me do my job.”

Sister Clune says that the archdiocese is moving away from site-based management and moving toward total diocesan management.

“They are taking all the responsibilities away from the principal,” Sister Clune said. “If you are going to pay me to be principal, then let me do my job.”

Sister Clune says that even though her resignation may be the final lesson she teaches her students, she believes it is an important one.

“When you believe something is wrong, you have to be willing to stand up for it,” she said.

“I think the disagreement between Sister Clune and ourselves is over accountability and prudence,” Msgr. Young said. “I appreciate her passion for her school, but I also must be concerned about all of the schools and all of the parish schools of religion.”