Economy and enrollment

Parents sitting around the kitchen table, pondering tough times, and wondering about whether they can afford to send their child to a school they have to pay tuition for.

That’s an image that worries the Rev. Gerald Horan, superintendent of the Diocese of Orange’s 42 Roman Catholic schools. More people’s leaving private school is a likely effect of a harsh economy, he said.

While enrollment has been declining anyway for demographic reasons, it has decreased more sharply in the last year, specifically in elementary school, Horan said. But with the economy worsening in recent months, Horan said he wonders how many families will have to opt for public school instead.

“Next year is where our concern is heading,� he said. “There are more families challenged, but not prepared to make a change in their child’s education in the middle of the year. For some of them, is their commitment to Catholic education in peril?�

But as of now, Newport-Mesa Catholic schools aren’t suffering like those in lower-middle-class parts of the county, where the housing collapse has hit harder. Enrollment numbers are relatively stable, with St. Joachim’s down by 20 students this year, St. John the Baptist Catholic School up by 12, and Queen of Angels increased by 31 students over the year before.

Still, even those schools will feel the effects of shrinking endowments — church investments have suffered just like everyone else’s — and diocese officials are still discussing whether teachers and other officials must face a freeze on salaries. Raising tuition significantly isn’t an option, as it could push more students out, Horan said. Turning to more donations won’t work either, he said.

“People are feeling economic pressure just as we are,� he said. “That wouldn’t work.�

Not all private schools, religious or secular, had the same story to tell. At Sage Hill School, revenues have remained relatively stable because its administrators control tuition and have other help like endowments, said Gordon McNeill, who heads the Newport Coast high school. While his school is looking for cost savings, none of it will affect students, he said.

“You’re able to raise money through tuition in a way that others can’t,� McNeill said. “In this time where you’re watching public schools cut back through the arts and other course offerings, as a matter of fact we’re expanding.�

That doesn’t mean there won’t be some cutbacks, however, McNeill added. “We do have to be financially sound, and we have to tighten our belt at a time like this, just as everybody else does.�

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at [email protected].