Clouds hover as school begins

The back-to-school thrill of seeing old friends and breaking in new school supplies could be heard in the giddy voices that filled the hallways of St. Charles School.

“Welcome back!” greeted Skip Bonuccelli, the peppy and popular school principal who taught preschoolers how to knock “knuckles” after exchanging high-fives.

“Help your teacher learn a lot this year,” he advised kids as he visited classrooms Tuesday – the first day of class for the roughly 4,000 parochial-school students in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane.

Despite the cloud of uncertainty that hovers over schools and parishes in the diocese as a result of its bankruptcy, life continues as normal for the vast majority of parishioners and their families.

Last week, the Spokane Diocese was delivered its most severe blow when a federal bankruptcy judge ruled that schools and churches are legally owned by the diocese and therefore can be sold to pay victims of clergy sexual abuse.

The news was troubling to Kelly Hawley, a lifelong Catholic and longtime member of St. Charles, a congregation of roughly 850 families in northwest Spokane.

“It would be a huge loss to see schools and churches closed,” said Hawley, who accompanied her daughter, Jessica, to school Tuesday.

Although she sympathizes with abuse victims and believes they should receive reparations, Hawley hopes it doesn’t come at the expense of school kids and parishioners – people who had nothing to do with the molestations.

“The people who could wind up being victimized the most are our children,” she said, contemplating the possibility of schools and churches closing their doors.

At this point, Hawley and other parents who attended St. Charles’ opening day celebration have no idea what the future holds, they said, but they remain cautiously optimistic. The diocese and the parishes are appealing the judge’s ruling, but any sort of resolution may take years.

In the meantime, parishioners can’t be paralyzed by fear, said Mary Perrier, another St. Charles mom. Everyday life must go on despite all the obstacles, she said.

“We have hope and trust,” she said, reiterating the message delivered on Sunday by the Rev. Eugene Tracy, St. Charles’ pastor. “We’re Catholic. No matter what happens, we won’t lose our faith.”

The determination to survive was evident Tuesday at St. Charles, as well as other Catholic schools in Eastern Washington.

While final numbers won’t be available until later this week, enrollment remained steady for most schools and several are experiencing growth, according to Duane Schafer, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Spokane Diocese.

“People have been very upbeat today,” said Schafer, who spent the morning at the diocese’s three Valley schools – St. Mary, St. Paschal and St. John Vianney. “The kids are happy to be back.”

More than 235 students came to St. Charles on Tuesday – an increase of about 6 percent compared with last year. The school also opened a third preschool classroom this fall in response to the growing demand for curriculum-based early childhood programs.

Schafer declined to talk about the effects of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on the schools. Despite the judge’s ruling, he emphasized that the schools and parishes operate as separate entities, therefore the diocese’s Office of Education offers services instead of governance. The role of his office, he said, is more similar to the educational service districts in the public school system. “If there’s any financial effect (from the bankruptcy), it will be different for every parish,” he said.

In an article published this month in the Inland Register, the diocesan newspaper, Schafer said schools in the diocese are trying to address their future financial needs.

“For the schools, obviously there are financial challenges ahead, and the schools are concerned that the parishes may have to pull back from providing as much of a financial subsidy as they have in the past,” he told the Inland Register. “That could mean that tuition and fund-raising will have to increase.”

On Tuesday, Schafer said financial issues have always existed for Catholic schools, even before the bankruptcy filing. On average, about 70 percent of a Catholic school’s income is from tuition. Another 15 percent to 18 percent comes from parishioners and the rest must be obtained through fund-raising.

Depending on what happens, parents and school staff will have to work even harder, said Bonuccelli.

Every family in the diocese already has to volunteer at least 10 hours per school year to help with the supervision and operations of the school. Most families – more than 70 percent – offer to serve more. On Monday night, parents organized a barbecue that drew more than 250 people. Many have donated countless hours this summer helping paint the hallways and wax the floors. St. Charles also offers hot lunch four days a week – all thanks to the work of volunteers.

Teachers and staff – whose salaries are only 85 percent of what public school teachers make – also have been working all summer to prepare for the school year, he said.

Many parents have contacted Bonuccelli in the last few days since they learned of the court ruling. While he can’t predict the future for them, he at least tries to allay their fears.

“This is something that we will survive,” Bonuccelli assures them. “I cannot believe that something this good could disappear. Too many people care.”

Life inevitably holds many uncertainties, said Virginia Soderberg, mother of Rachel, an eighth-grader, and Becca, who’s in the sixth grade this fall. Sure, bankruptcy is a huge concern, she said, but “the church is the people, not the building.” Somehow, Catholics will step up to the plate to ensure their church’s survival, she said.

During the short ceremony that followed morning Mass on Tuesday, Bonuccelli left the students with a message resounding with the same optimism that appears to bolster other Catholics in Spokane: “Don’t lose hope,” he said. “You are the light of our lives. You are our hope.”