Name Change to Merged Catholic School Could Affect Private Fund

The decision to merge two Catholic schools in Naugatuck and reopen them in one building under the name St. Theresa may have a greater impact than just parents who don’t appreciate the title change.

The proposed name change draws into question whether access to an independent private fund for one of the schools — that provides tuition assistance to needy students — would be affected.

On Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Hartford revealed its plan to merge St. Francis and St. Hedwig schools. The move was largely based on financial reasons, with both schools being hampered by declining enrollment and deficits. The new school would open up in the former St. Francis building under a new name: St. Theresa School.

One of the two schools, St. Francis, has an independent private fund called the St. Francis School Foundation, Inc. to support its students. The fund is set up to provide both tuition assistance to the students and some funding to the parish priest, said John Geary, the foundation’s current president.

Today, the amount of money in the foundation numbers in the six figures, Geary said.

The only issue, however, is the foundation is meant to supply assistance just to the institution titled St. Francis School.

“The funds were set up specifically based on our bylaws,” Geary said. “People through the years have pledged their money to us and we have it specifically outlined that the money go to St. Francis School.”

So, if the school closes, or there’s a change of venue, then it’ll be up to a team of lawyers for the St. Francis School Foundation’s board of directors to figure out what the ramifications would be, Geary said. He said he couldn’t comment whether the bylaws could be changed to reflect the new school name.

According to the certification of notification for the foundation, if the school closes, the payment of the debts and obligations of "shall be held in escrow for a period of five (5) years." After that period, the Board of Directors overseeing the fund may "disburse the entire funds" to the parish to be used for Catholic education program for its parishioners, the notification stated.

The foundation, a non-profit 501(c)3, began in 1980 when a group of borough parents wanted to maintain Catholic education at a time when enrollment was declining in schools across the state, Geary said. Naugatuck got the idea from St. James School in Manchester, and to this day both St. James and St. Francis are the only Catholic schools in the state that have private foundations, Geary said.

“It was set up strictly for education,” Geary said, although noting that the foundation is looking into whether to invest some monies in to small capital projects for the school. “The problem is a lot of people who have given to us are seeing the name change.”

The name change is slated to go into effect July 1 this year. Any change in bylaws would have to be dealt with at the Probate Court level.

The Office of Catholic Schools — which handles Catholic education for the Archdiocese of Hartford — said it plans to merge the schools by the summer. For it to break even, it would need 230 students enrolled.

St. Hedwig, a Catholic elementary school in Union City that opened in the earlier part of the 20th Century, would close completely. Parents’ reactions were mixed. Some said it was good to have Catholic education maintained in the borough, while others voiced discomfort with the merger itself. Others, however, spoke out in opposition to the name completely.

The Rev. Michael Slusz, the parish priest at St. Francis of Assisi Church, said there was “serious consideration” in the name change. Since the two schools are merging, the archdiocese was looking at it as a “blending” of the two schools.

“With some of the major constituent, we wanted to avoid some of the segregation they felt a name change would be made,” Slusz said.

Slusz said the archdiocese would be better suited to comment on the foundation issue with the name change. He said the foundation question was taken into consideration when the name change was made.

The archdiocese did not return a call by the time this was posted on Friday.

Whatever happens, the money from St. Francis School Foundation isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“The money is protected, it cannot be accessed by anybody,” Geary said. ”I will not allow any distribution of any assets until this issue (regarding the name) resolves."