City Catholic School Merger Is Proposed

A recommendation to merge Ann Arbor's St. Francis and St. Thomas Catholic Schools into a single school system under one board of education was part of a 58-page report presented last night to about 250 persons in the St. Thomas High School gymnasium. Other main recommendations were to close St. Alexis Elementary School in Willow Kun and Ypsilanti St. John's High School. Both were said to be too small for efficiënt ! tion. The executive board and I school board of St. John's has already voted to close the high school in June. The recommendation has been sent to John Cardinal Dearden of the Archdiocese of Detroit, who will make the final decisión. But the Rev. Robert Burroughs, pastor of St. Alexis Catholic Church, said last night he and his school board "have decided at all costs to keep our school going." Father Burroughs called the school the "life of the parish," and said its closing would "set the parish back spiritually 15 years." Last night's report was the result of a survey of the four area Catholic schools by the University of Michigan, Bureau of School Services. It was jointly initiated by the four Catholic school boards. The survey included such subjects as facilities, curricula evaluation and teacher qualifications. The report was criticized by several people in the audience for its emphasis on "intellectual" and "material" things in the schools. "These things are not that important," one mother stated. Another man called the Catholic Schools the "heart oí the parish," and said not all evaluations can be done on a "dollar basis." George Simons, former president of the St. Thomas School Board, told the audience: "This school will stay open as long as you want it to stay open, as long as you support it." The Ann Arbor Board of Education's decisión Wednesday to scrap further talks with the Catholic schools on possible ways of aiding them financially came under fire last night. "If the Ann Arbor Public Schools wants to pass their bonding and millage issues, maybe they'U conduct mèaningful dialogue with the Catholic iparents," one woman declared. jAnother man predicted, "We're going to have an awful lot of half days (in the pujblic schools) if we dump 1,100 kids on them at once next year." Concerning the f i n a n c i a 1 problems of most Catholic schools today, Dr. Ray Kehoe of the Bureau of School Services told the audience he thinks there will "al ways be a difficult problem" financing the Catholic schools unless there is some type of state aid. Kehoe explained the merging of St. Thomas and St. Francis for school purposes would not save the financially a i 1 i n g schools any money. But it would increase the efficiency of the operations and would give St. Francis parish a hand in the decisión - making at the highschool level, he said. Under a single school system, Kehoe recommended that: -All children in grades 1 through 5 from both parishes Jttend St. Francis Elementary School; - All children in grades 6 through 8 attend a newly-created Middle School to be located in the St. Thomas School complex; - St. Thomas High School continue to serve all students in grades 9-12 from the two parishes, as it does now. K e h o e acknowledged t h a t transportation might be a problem for children from both parishes if the merger took place. Preliminary discussions on such a merger are now being held by a special committee of St. Francis and St. Thomas representatives, according to Dr. Cari C. Hug Jr., chairman of the St. Francis SchooJ Board. The report said the four area Catholic schools were among the "better parish-operated ele mentary and secondary schools in Michigan." The four Catholic schools were commended for their "excellent" student citizenship, "very favorable" teacher-pupil' ratio, high morale, wellbehaved students, adequacy of standard supplies and equipment and general quaiity of teachers. The report also commented that "most students appeared to enjoy school and the work in the classroom. This reflects credit upon the adminisfration and staff for creating a constructive climate for learning." Kehoe and his staff indicated the libraries in the local Catholic schools were generally good, and that education in the basic subjects such a s English, science, mathematics and history also was good. But there are definite deficiencies, according to the survey, in curriculum enrichment and exploratory courses- such as music, art, home economics, physical education and industrial arts. The report also noted some deficiences in . buildings and sites at all four schools. St. Francis School was called a "fine" elementary school facility for grades 1 through 6. But more physical space for instruction in laboratory science, practical arts and fine arts is needed for grades 7 and 8, the report stated. "The St. Thomas School I complex has serious deficiences I as regards playgrounds and I playfields," according to the I report. "Other building and site I deficiences inciude parking, I elementary library facilities, I the secondary home economics I room and science I ries." ' Kehoe said the performances of children in the four Catholic schools were academically "satisfactory," as measured by standardized tests and compared with national norms. In general, the report recommended six main changes for the local Catholic schools: - Enrich curriculum opportunities for pupils in grades 1-6, especially in the areas of art, physical education, vocal and instrumental music and library; - Provide a junior high school curriculum for grades 1 , and 8, with emphasis on more laboratory science, industrial arts, home economics, arts and crafts, music and physical catión. ! - Increase the curriculum offerings in the high schools; -Elimínate m a n y small classes at the high-school Ievel which enroll less than 20 stuidents ; -Name a superintendent of schools and provide him with a central staff ; - Try to increase enrollments. : St. Alexis School educates 89 children this year in grades 1 through 6. St. John's High School has less than 300 students. St. John's Elementary School has about 430 students. The enrollment at St. Francis School this year is 327, and at St. Thomas it is 763.