With two years under his belt as superintendent for Hawaii Catholic schools, Michael Rockers has been getting a clearer view of the highlights and hardships in local Catholic education.
On the bright side, professional development for teachers and principals is progressing well with skills and leadership training. New technology is creating more dynamic curriculums. Catholic values are being fostered in students.
On the rough end, fewer students are benefiting from these good things. Enrollment is declining significantly.
Dropping student numbers in Catholic schools has been a national trend. Locally, the Catholic schools office has made the problem a priority. In a July 18 phone interview with the Hawaii Catholic Herald, Rockers discussed how his office plans to bring more kids into Catholic classrooms.
Recent data provided by Hawaii Catholic Schools show an almost 20 percent decrease in enrollment from 2003 to 2013. At its highest point in the past 10 years, in 2006, there were 11,443 students attending the preschools, elementary schools and high schools in the diocese. Last school year, the total was 9,336.
Catholic schools on the Mainland have fared similarly. According to the National Catholic Educational Association, in 2002, there were 2,553,277 students in Catholic institutions across the U.S. In 2012, there were a reported 2,001,740 students — a solid 22 percent decline within a decade.
A question of priorities
When asked about factors that could be contributing to these troubling statistics, Rockers pointed mainly to family finances. For many parents, the decision to send their children to a Catholic school is based on a fine balance between affordability and quality of education.
“The economy plays a huge part in that,” Rockers said. “It’s always a question of priorities and a question of the value added that a school provides.”
“We always hope that the Catholic population in Hawaii sees the quality of our schools to be such that the academics and the Christian formation is well worth the sacrifice that it takes for many of the families to send their child to a Catholic school,” he added.
With the U.S. economy showing signs of improvement since the nationwide recession in 2008, Rockers said he hopes that Catholic school enrollment may start to “level off” in the coming years.
For now, however, Rockers and those involved in Hawaii Catholic Schools are taking a proactive approach to boosting student numbers. The superintendent said Island faculty, staff and governing school boards are beginning to rethink strategies and reengage more members of the community in the Catholic schools mission.
“When you look at the numbers, you look at efficiencies and stuff, too,” Rockers said. “If enrollment continues to decrease by 3 percent or so a year, it’s going to make it obvious that the schools that are in the same region are going to have to work together to support their student base.”
A system for success
In 2011, the Diocesan Board of Education convened a School Planning Task Force, which evaluated each of the diocese’s 42 schools and the Hawaii Catholic Schools organizational system. The team, under the guidance of former superintendent Carmen Himenes, published the “System for Success” report. This handbook provided several suggestions for increasing enrollment, which Rockers has begun to implement.
One recommendation was to launch a marketing campaign to spread word in the community about the benefits of Catholic education. This initiative is still nascent, but Rockers said an ad-hoc marketing committee to lead it is already being formed through the Diocesan Board of Education. The committee, he said, will include “board members, as well as volunteer marketing and public relations experts from the private and public sector.”
Marketing committee members are expected to be selected by October, 2014.
Meanwhile, Rockers said he is working on “gaining financial support for implementing the committee’s recommendations.” According to the superintendent, the marketing campaign aims to be diverse, ranging from web-based material to on-site school tours.
“When we get (parents) to visit the schools, they’re usually very impressed,” Rockers said.
The campaign will be tailored to focus on the unique strengths of each Catholic school. There will also be overarching efforts that showcase the general academic and character-building benefits of Catholic education.
“We’re never going to leave our mission, which is, we believe the fullness of the Gospel resides in the Catholic Church,” Rockers said.
The Hawaii Catholic Schools office recently produced a marketing video featuring Bishop Larry Silva and diocesan vicar general Father Gary Secor. It can be seen on the office’s website, www.hawaiicatholicschools.net.
Regional cooperation
In addition to marketing, the System for Success suggests increasing regional collaboration for parochial schools. Rockers has been working with the pastoral leaders of the diocese’s nine vicariates on ways to get all parishioners to support Catholic education — even those in parishes without schools or those without school-age children.
On Maui, for example, parishioners have been donating money in monthly collections specifically for tuition assistance. Rockers said Msgr. Terrence Watanabe, the Maui County vicar, has been urging parishes that don’t have schools to play a role in keeping Catholic education viable on the island.
Money from the Maui collections benefits students at each of the Valley Isle’s Catholic institutions: Sacred Hearts Elementary School, Lahaina; St. Anthony Grade School and St. Anthony Junior-Senior High School in Wailuku; and Christ the King Child Development Center in Kahului.
“Over $50,000 in tuition assistance from the fund was provided for Catholic students for the 2013-14 school year,” Rockers said.
Rockers said some parishes on Kauai are doing this as well. On Oahu, he said, vicariate collections have been more difficult to implement and distribute because many students attend Catholic schools outside their parish.
To provide more opportunities for Catholic education to families that otherwise can’t afford it, Rockers said he aims to work more closely with the Augustine Educational Foundation on scholarships.
Boosting school quality
The Hawaii Catholic Schools office also hopes to boost enrollment by creating more attractive learning environments. The goal is to foster top-notch pedagogy taught by skilled teachers and faculty, and to upgrade facilities and technology on campuses.
“We are moving forward with staying up with real quality education,” he said. “What that meant 20 years ago is a little different. Once you get your school leaders on board with this 21st century learning, it’ll have lots of benefits for our schools.”
The decline in student numbers has put increased financial pressures on schools as the cost of operating them goes up. While they try different strategies to increase enrollment, nurturing and maintaining their current classrooms gets more difficult.
Some schools have had to restructure their programs, like Christ the King on Maui, which last year did away with its elementary grades and became a preschool. Rockers said smaller schools suffering from enrollment challenges have been “thinking outside the box and doing some ingenious things,” such as multi-grade and multi-age groupings, and using technology to create individualized lesson plans.
“All those things can be looked on as kind of a positive and save some money for the schools,” Rockers said. “If they can do some of that, then we can have smaller schools enrollment-wise, and still have them be effective and financially viable.”
A standardized accounting system for all schools in the diocese, as well as financial benchmarks drafted by the Hawaii Catholic Schools office, have helped faculty “take another look at what other options there are besides their schools slowly dwindling and serving fewer and fewer students,” Rockers said.
No major merger plans
There have been “dialogues” about merging “at-risk” schools, the superintendent said. No plans, however, are on the immediate horizon for such major moves.
Despite the challenges, Rockers said it is inspiring that Islanders are very dedicated to Catholic education. He has seen tremendous support and openness to new ideas to help the system flourish, even if it means staff and families putting in extra effort and working through some difficult changes.
“The leaders of the parishes and the leaders in the schools are always thinking about what’s best for the students and their families,” Rockers said.
