Good Counsel school will close May 26, plans for future

One of the oldest Catholic schools in the state will close for the 2006-2007 school year because of low enrollment and financial struggles.
Our Lady of Good Counsel School in Little Rock could reopen some day, leaders have said.
After consulting with the school board, parish council and finance council, pastor Father Richard Zawadzki, SVD, petitioned to Bishop J. Peter Sartain to close the school on May 26 in order to give the parish and school the opportunity to evaluate the feasibility of re-opening the school later in concert with parish and diocesan planning.
In late April the bishop agreed with the parish’s decision and it was announced to the students, parents, faculty and parishioners.
Vernell Bowen, superintendent of schools, said the bright side of the decision is the school’s buildings could one day be used for other educational purposes. It is unlikely the parish would operate a school for pre-kindergarten to eighth grade again, but a joint project with other schools or the diocese is possible, Bowen said.
The Catholic schools in Pulaski County are currently in the middle of a strategic planning process and are looking at all educational services offered in Little Rock and North Little Rock. Recommendations will be made to Bishop Sartain in June.
“All of the ideas are being brainstormed,” Bowen said.
In the 2005-2006 school year, 136 students were enrolled. When the school was registering students in March, a goal of at least 50 students was set, principal Paula Gallagher said. Parents were asked to pay $480 in fees as a sign of their commitment.
The parish planned to raise tuition in the fall 2006 and would have been able to stay open if at least 50 students were committed to the school, Gallagher said. By March 31 fewer than 40 children were enrolled.
“That was our first goal that was not met,” she said.
By April 6, Father Zawadzki, the parish council and school board made the decision to petition Bishop Sartain to close the school. Without a stable enrollment and finances, the parish was unable to keep subsidizing the school at the same rate.
“This is a time they (the parish) can’t take on more and more debt. They (the parish and members of the parish) did everything they could,” Gallagher said. “They can’t continue to take on this financial obligation.”
In years past, it allocated $150,000 a year to the school.
In a letter to parents and parishioners dated April 6, Father Zawadzki said the increasing subsidy from the parish required to operate the school would put the parish in a serious financial crisis and make it impossible for the parish to remain financially sound.
Over the past 10 years the financial condition of the school has been addressed. Also, fewer young families ae moving to the area and overall parish attendance is dropping.
Two years ago Bowen said she met with parish and school leaders to address ways enrollment and finances could get on the right track.
Gallagher, who became principal in 2005, said many alumni are shocked to hear that their alma mater is closing. Parents and students are heartbroken. It is especially hard for the current seventh grade class that was looking forward to finishing their elementary education at Good Counsel, the principal said.
“Everybody is very sad and disappointed,” Gallagher said. “It is disbelief.”
Seventy-four percent of the students are Catholic. Gallagher said many of them are already enrolled for the fall in other Catholic schools in Little Rock, including St. Edward and St. Theresa.
The faculty includes 15 full-time and part-time teachers and five staff members. Several them of have already been hired or interviewed at area Catholic schools, said Gallagher, who will be working in the fall as a public school principal in her hometown of Russellville.
Good Counsel is considered an inner-city parish and school today, but when it opened at its current location in 1955 it was on the city’s west side. Now middle-class families are moving further west and into the suburbs, and the neighborhood around the parish is mainly low-income housing.
“As the demographics have changed around us, we remain a unique and diverse parish,” the pastor wrote in his April 6 letter.
Gallagher said without a school some are wondering how it will impact overall parish attendance.
“It is very much a concern,” she said. “Will they (parents) move their membership? It is a worry for a lot of families. You want to be involved where your kids are attending school.”
The closing of Our Lady of Good Counsel is a similar story to other school closings around the country. In 2005, 173 U.S. Catholic schools closed or were consolidated.
Even in Arkansas, the Diocese of Little Rock has closed two schools between 2001 and 2005. In most cases, schools are forced to close as enrollment dwindles and thus income is reduced. In 1990, Good Counsel School had 384 students. Since then, enrollment has dropped 65 percent.
Unfortunately, other school closings are not out of the question.
“I do expect it to happen again if good planning is not done for the future,” Bowen said.
Good Counsel School opened in 1894 on Ninth and Marshall streets in downtown Little Rock and was known as Capitol Hill School. As people were moving west and more students were enrolling, the decision was made to move the school to a larger building at its current location at 12th and Jackson streets in 1955. The new school continued to grow, and in 1962 and 1988 more classrooms were built.
Sisters of Mercy served as teachers and principals over the years. Sister Dorothy Ann Plafcan, RSM, was the last religious order principal in the school when she left in 1992.
A public reception to honor alumni and former teachers and principals will be held following the 4:30 p.m. Mass Saturday, May 20 in the gym. Gallagher said “anyone who loves Good Counsel and wants to see Good Counsel School before it closes” is invited to attend.