BY JENNIFER BAILEY
DANVILLE — At the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, St. Paul and Holy Family elementary schools will be combined at the current Schlarman High School site, and the restructured school will be known as Schlarman Academy.
For the remainder of the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years, Holy Family, St. Paul and Schlarman each will continue to operate as individual schools.
One parent is enthusiastic about the consolidation, echoing others’ views.
“I think it’s a change for the better,” Judy Larson of Danville said. “I think it would be wonderful.”
Moving the younger students from the two elementary schools into one building would give them more opportunities, she said, and they would get to know more people.
Larson and her husband, Brian, have two children at St. Paul’s and one at Schlarman.
Talking to other people, she said, “Everybody has been positive about it.”
Two-year study
According to a press release from the Schlarman Development Office, the Diocese of Peoria in August published the recommendations of a two-year planning study for Catholic school education. “Renewing Our Mission: A Blueprint for Our Future” was a study facilitated by Meitler Consultants of Hales Corners, Wis.
The study recommends that Catholic school education in Danville be restructured by relocating the two Catholic elementary schools to Schlarman High School and offering pre-K through 12th-grade education at this site.
The pastors of the parishes in the area in collaboration with the Diocese of Peoria officials believe this restructuring is necessary to maintain quality Catholic education in Vermilion County.
Given the projected decline in the general population in the area, as well as a decline in the Catholic population, the study concluded that a renewed Catholic school configuration will better serve the Catholic community for the future and guarantee the best use of resources.
Reconfiguration will allow for a better use of facilities and faculty as well as financial resources.
It will reduce the cost of overhead and allow these savings to be re-invested in order to strengthen the quality of education programs and facilities in the years to come.
The implementation and details of the restructuring will be worked out in the next year and a half.
Pastors of the Danville parishes, local Catholic school officials and professional staffs of the schools, in collaboration with the Diocese of Peoria Office of Catholic Schools, will address the specifics and plan to consult broadly as the implementation process proceeds.
In the fall 2009 edition of “View from the Hill,” Schlarman’s publication for alumni and friends, Development Director Janet Picillo writes about the K-12 campus: “Although the recommendation for combining our schools may be surprising to some, it is clear that the important goal to focus on is how we work together to ensure the future of Catholic education in Vermilion County.
“The data compiled during the strategic planning process reveals the status quo will no longer work for us in this community. Our county’s population is decreasing, and Vermilion County is one of 22 counties in Illinois that is on the Poverty Warning List.
“As a community, we must be proactive instead of reactive to our situation. We are truly fortunate to have diocesan and parish leadership that values our Catholic education system and is working diligently to lay out a blueprint for their future success.”
Rationale
According to the study, Schlarman’s 15-acre site is suitable to relocate the elementary schools.
The study also suggests expanding Hispanic student recruitment efforts, due to the Hispanic population being projected as the fastest growing local group.
Rationale for the changes:
-- The schools are within 3.5 miles of each other
-- Combined K-8 enrollment in 2007-08 was 392 students and during this period schools operated at a combined capacity of 62 percent
-- Using current retention rates from grade to grade, the projected average K-8 combined enrollments could be 388 students between 2008-09 and 2013-14
-- Schlarman’s enrollment declined each year between 2002-03 and 2006-07 and increased slightly in 2007-08, with an overall loss of 27 students. Total enrollment in 2008-09 is 183. It was 220 in 2002-03.
Also, Schlarman depends heavily on the two elementary schools in Danville and one in Westville for its enrollment. The average total grade 8 enrollment is projected to be 45 between 2008-09 and 2013-14.
Data for Vermilion County parishes indicate an overall declining trend in registered households, infant baptisms and number of children enrolled in religious education.
In addition, the study states: facility maintenance needs for the three schools are projected to cost $496,000 within five years and an additional $720,000 in six to 10 years.
The number of classrooms in St. Paul School and Holy Family School is 20 and 14, respectively. Schlarman has 11 classrooms. In addition to classrooms, each school has a gym, computer lab, cafeteria, library and music rooms.
Five of nine grades at St. Paul School have enrollment levels that warrant a one-section class but operate as two sections. In addition, aides are assigned in two classes where enrollment levels do not seem to indicate the need.
St. Mary’s
Over at St. Mary’s School in Westville, the study recommends the school should give immediate consideration to adopting a multi-age model of instruction. If this approach does not achieve viability, then consideration should be given for St. Mary’s School to transition students to Danville Catholic schools.
K to 8 enrollment was 90 in 2007-08 with an average class size of 10. Grades 5 and 6 operated as one multi-age class, as did grades 7 and 8. Some teachers find the multi-age classroom a challenge. K to 8 enrollment declined to 69 in 2008-09.
St. Mary’s School operated at 49 percent capacity in 2007-08. Capital repairs within the next five years are projected to cost $202,000. An additional $50,000 is estimated for the following six to 10 years.
