Seven Washington Catholic schools to become charter schools

Published: 2007-11-07

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Archdiocese of Washington has finalized its decision to reconfigure its current 12-school center-city consortium. Four schools will make up a new smaller consortium. Seven schools will be converted into charter schools and one will become a parish-run school. The Center City Consortium began in 1997 to help schools facing decreasing enrollment, budget deficits, deteriorating buildings and the threat of closure. Through the consortium, schools pooled their resources and have been assisted by consortium staff with development, fundraising and purchasing. The finalized plans for Washington's urban schools, announced Nov. 5, was developed in response to several crises facing the consortium, including a $7 million shortfall this school year, a projected $56 million deficit over the next five years, a 19 percent decline in enrollment and an increase in the number of the city's tuition-free public charter schools. An archdiocesan statement noted that "a conversion (to charter schools) will allow faculty and students to be 'grandfathered' in and to continue at the school they already attend, although the school would no longer be Catholic."

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