Kevin Kelly/Key photo Sister of St. Joseph Mary Anne Heenan speaks with Kermit Fendler, a member of the Central City School Fund board, following an April 21 meeting in which the start of a comprehensive diocesan-wide study of Catholic education was announced.

Strategic Planning Director David Woolwine stressed that the 14-month study is not being done in "crisis" mode, but with an eye of strengthening and preserving Catholic education throughout the diocese.

"There are no foregone conclusions," Woolwine said. "We are going to look at everything."

Woolwine also noted that the need for a comprehensive, diocesan-wide school plan was underscored following similar studies of Catholic parishes and schools completed this year in Kansas City's Northland suburbs and Northeast neighborhoods.

"What that made clear to us was the need to do this diocesan-wide, rather than on a piecemeal basis," Woolwine said. "We are going to look at what works and what doesn't and capitalize on what works well."

The outline of the study was announced to pastors and principals April 21 at a meeting at St. Therese Parish in Parkville.

Sister of St. Joseph Mary Anne Heenan said that she and Alan Meitler will lead the study, facilitated by Meitler Consultants, Inc., of Hale's Corner, Wisc., the same consultants who spearheaded the Northland and Northeast Kansas City studies. Meitler Consultants have also worked with some 90 dioceses across the nation on strategic plans, including the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

"I am passionate about Catholic education, its importance, its value and its future," said Sister Mary Anne, who has decades of service as a Catholic school teacher and principal.

"Hopefully, this will generate a lot of energy and discussion of Catholic schools and the need for them," she said.

While issues such as affordability and Catholic identity will be key elements, the final report will be broad-based and will be tailored to meet the needs of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, she said.

"There is no pre-conceived plan, nor do we come in with all the answers," Sister Mary Anne said. "We can't focus just on finances. We can't focus just on academic excellence or on Catholic identity. We must look at it all. The goal is not simply the preservation of our schools, but the service to the common good of our church and of our society."

Last year, a declining enrollment trend caused by many factors forced the closure of St. Patrick School in St. Joseph. This year, St. Ann School in Independence and St. Monica School in Kansas City will close at the end of the school year also due in part to declining enrollments.

But after her initial look at Catholic education in the diocese, Sister Mary Anne flatly stated, "We are starting on a very solid foundation."

"Your schools are Catholic, and they are excellent. But we can't rest on those laurels," she said.

One of the first steps, Sister Mary Anne said, would be to gather demographic and enrollment trend data.

"We have to have a good view of what our reality is," she said. "It's not a matter of looking at a snapshot of a particular year. It is the trend we need to analyze."

The data analysis will also consider the number, location and structure of schools, the financial foundation under them, building needs and "current governance models" of each school.

"What has gotten us to this point (in the history of diocesan Catholic education) has been very good," Sister Mary Anne said. "But we need to question our assumptions and ask, 'What do we need for the future?'"

When the final plan is written, key "stakeholders" including lay people throughout the diocese will need to feel a sense of "ownership" about it, otherwise it would collect dust on a shelf, Sister Mary Anne said.

But it is also important that the entire Catholic community recognize what makes Catholic schools different, and have the will to sustain them, she said.

"We know it is not our work, but the Lord's work that we are about," she said. "If we are not Catholic schools, if we are not different from other excellent schools, then we don't desire to have a future."

Sister Mary Anne said she has already begun on-site visits to schools.

"That's one of the most rewarding parts of my work. I have already gotten to meet so many wonderful people," she said.

But Sister Mary Anne said many of the challenges facing Catholic education in the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese are the same challenges other dioceses face.

Among them: