One of the challenges to building a collaborative community is our different definitions and expectations of community. Out of this curiosity, I read the Rule of St. Benedict and then Sr. Joan Chittister’s The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century. I was aware that St. Benedict was a monk in the 5th & 6th centuries, but I’m also aware that his treatise of religious community has been a topic of debate–whether it means withdrawing from contemporary society or a new approach to living in a polarized society?

The starting point is welcoming. Benedict says, “All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, who said ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me.’” There is much wisdom to be found here. Let’s start with Catholic identity. Many people measure the Catholic identity of a school by the crosses or pictures on the wall. “Does it look Catholic?” they might ask. Of course it’s important to have a symbols-rich environment because we need all the help we can to reach our young people. But we can’t lose sight of the importance of acting like Christians! And we can all start with welcoming. If we greet every visitor as if they are Christ, the culture of the school couldn’t be any more Christian. As Chittister says, “Benedict wants us to let down the barriers of our hearts so that this generation does not miss accompanying the innocent to Calvary as the last one did. Benedict wants us to let down the barriers of our souls so that the God of the unexpected can come in.” Benedict goes on to describe his form of hospitality, which is more than a polite welcome. “Christ is to be adored and welcomed in them.” Imagine if our parishes undertook this kind of hospitality. If we really believed that Christ was in every person and we adored the Christ in every person we met in Church, our churches would be joyful beyond measure. In the same way, our schools would be more joyful. Our Catholic entities often struggle with the tension between a desire to be a business and wanting to be a family. Perhaps an emphasis on real hospitality could bridge the tension.

The second takeaway is leadership. Benedict reflects on the qualities of an abbot and other leadership positions. “There is an open invitation to envy, quarrels, slander, rivalry, factions, and disorders of every kind, with the result that, while the prioress and subprioress or abbot and prior pursue conflicting policies, their own souls are inevitably endangered by this discord; and at the same time the monastics under them take sides and so go to their ruin.” Chittister interprets this section as the difference between authority and leadership. Authority is given/granted, leadership is practiced through vision and charism. There is a deeper issue that impacts most church leaders—clerical and lay. Pastors are appointed, but that doesn’t mean they have earned the respect to lead. Bishops are appointed but must earn the respect to lead. Usually with principals, I can get this point across if they are also parents. “Because I said so,” is not usually an effective strategy with children, let alone adults. As Chittister say, “It is often the case that the two realities—authority and leadership—do not reside in the same person. Then the stage is set for tension.” (278) It is important for all leaders to examine whether they are leading out of vision or out of authority. (Continued here)

Previous blogs can be found here. Want to keep up with the conversations surrounding Catholic education? Set up your own Google Alert, subscribe to this newsletter by clicking "follow," or subscribe to the Catholic School Matters podcast.

Dr. Tim Uhl

• Dr. Kaitlin Reichart of the Greeley Center for Catholic Education will be joining us virtually on Thursday. This session is designed for teachers and is a followup to her presentations on October 6th. The session is from 2-3 pm. Click here to join the meeting

• New school scorecards and diocesan scorecards should be sent out to all principals, pastors, chaplains, and board chairs this week.

• Every school should receive their customized MSA adult and student surveys by tomorrow, Wed Jan 24th. If you don’t, please contact your District liaison.

• Chess Tournament at Cardinal O’Hara on Feb. 3rd, 10am start. Sign up HERE Please sign up before January 31. Contact Laurie Wojtaszczyk for more information or see the flyer HERE. Directions for students and parents can be found HERE.

• The speech tournament was postponed and we’re still awaiting a new date and place.Here is a flyer with more information for those schools participating.

• The Diocesan Spelling Bee will be held on January 31st at 6pm at Mount St. Mary’s High School. Please register your top 3 spellers HERE after you have held your own school-wide spelling bee. You can find resources and practice spelling words HERE along with some tips for your in-school spelling bees.

• Here is the Catholic Schools Week schedule.

• STAR Testing window is Jan. 8-29. PLEASE make sure you are doing all of your testing during this timeframe. Let me know if you have any issues that need to be worked out ASAP.

• Ash Wednesday and Lent are right around the corner! (Feb 14th). How are you preparing?

Here's the link to the Office Blog

1/26/24 Elementary Textbook Survey Due - Click Here for Survey Link

2/5/24 Last Day to Submit Buffalo Public Schools Textbook Requisitions

2/27/24 HS Scholarships for Academic Excellence (SAE) Nominations Due

3/15/24 Last Day to Submit Erie 1 BOCES Textbook Requisitions

3/18/24 Save Mandated Services Claim online for C. Riso Review

3/31/24 NYSED Nonpublic Safety Equipment (NPSE) Claims Due

3/31/24 NYSED Elementary School AIS Claims Due

4/1/24 Online 2021-22 Mandated Services Claim Due to NYSED

Executive Budget Update: Thank you for the emails you sent to Gov. Hochul. I am happy to report that the Governor's Executive Budget proposal includes full funding for Mandated Services Aid, with sufficient funds to restore the 4% shortfall in reimbursement last year. MST Grant Program increased by $3 million; all other programs have proposed funding at previous levels: NonPublic Safety Equipment (NPSE), Elementary AIS, Textbooks, Computer Hardware, Computer Software, and Library materials. Now we need to work to ensure our priorities are included in the final budget to be passed by 4/1/24.

Updated Mandated Reporter Training Requirements: Social Services Law § 413 has been amended to require additional training within the once-in-a-lifetime NYS “Mandated Identification and Reporting of Child Abuse and Maltreatment/Neglect” coursework that includes protocols to reduce implicit bias in decision-making processes, strategies for identifying adverse childhood experiences, and guidelines to assist in recognizing signs of abuse or maltreatment while interacting virtually. The law requires that all mandated reporters, including classroom teachers, educational administrators, and pupil personnel service providers, complete the updated training curriculum by April 1, 2025. The training requirement, with mandated personnel categories, can be found at Child Abuse Prevention Training | New York State Education Department (nysed.gov). For information about approved training providers, please see the Office of Teaching Initiatives website. Additionally, the Office of Children and Family Services has created a 2-hour web-based self-directed online training course that can be completed to satisfy this updated requirement.

Mandated Services, Thoughts on Payroll and Benefits Records: As I mentioned before, due to recent NYSED audits I highly recommend that you print out official payroll and benefits reports from your payroll and associated companies to support what you are claiming for Mandated Services. I thought some additional recommendations might be in order. For salary, I recommend you print out an official 2022-2023 payroll report from your payroll company, essentially a payroll report from 9/1/2022 to 8/31/2023. Ideally, the report would have a “regular” gross pay line for each person’s main educational duties (along with any “Bonus” pay for Christmas and Easter somehow indicated or included) with any stipends or pay for coaching or work in a before or after school program separated out since we can’t claim this pay on Mandated Services. If possible, the payroll report might show at least the employee share of their taxes and maybe even their Healthcare and retirement deductions. Here is what NYSED indicates in their User Guide on Page 11 with regard Payroll Records, along with an example:

• “Payroll records for those employees providing the mandated service, showing gross & net salary, and all payroll deductions including a breakdown of fringe benefits including sources of data (company names), must be maintained and made accessible upon request.

• Payroll company documents are preferred; if payroll is completed in-house, please provide payroll (w/ benefit breakdowns) on school letterhead, accompanied by staff hiring agreements or contracts.

• Please redact identifying information from documents.”

As for Benefits, you can claim the employer’s share of the following benefits, to the extent such share is actually paid for the benefit of employees engaged in providing required services: Retirement, Social Security and Medicare Taxes (FICA/FIT), Workers’ Compensation Insurance, Life Insurance, Unemployment Insurance, Disability Insurance, Health Insurance, and Union Welfare benefits. Hopefully your Business Manager can access official benefits reports from each of the companies to “prove” these were the actual benefits paid to each person. I am not sure if your payroll company report would show the Medicare, Social Security, and NYS Taxes paid by the school (not the employee) for each employee. Hopefully you can get official documents for Healthcare, retirement (“Who’s Where”), and legacy pension costs by employee. I’m not sure how to prove what you paid for Disability and Workers’ Comp but you can find my advice here.

NYSED Science of Reading Literacy Briefs : NYSED held a Statewide Literacy Event on 1/10/24 on the Science of Reading. If you were unable to attend you can find the presentation and seven Literacy Briefs on their website here.

Previous posts from Mr. Riso

This season's Catholic School Matters podcast season is on hiatus until February. Previous episodes:

• "Top 10 Lessons Learned as a Catholic High School President."
  
• Lauren May and Ron Matus from Step Up For Students
  
• Kelby Woodard
• In the fifth and final installment of the Leadership Series
  
• The fourth podcast
  
• The third podcast
  
• The second in the series includes a conversation with Greg Richmond
  
• The first podcast includes a conversation with Dr. Daniel McMahon
• John Kennedy of St. Joseph High School
  
• Fr. Jack Podsiadlo, SJ
  
• David Palmieri

Here is a link to the podcast on Apple Podcasts.

A weekly newsletter of resources to spur enrollment and excellence in our Catholic schools.

Email: catholicschoolmatters@gmail.com
Website: www.wnycatholicschools.org
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
Phone: 716-847-5520
Twitter: @WNYCatholicEd

1. Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America (2023) by Michael Harriot
   

2. Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America (2023) by Heather Cox Richardson

3. The Great Mental Models, Volume 2: Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (2023) by Farnam Street, Shane Parrish, and Rhiannon Beaubien.

4. People Get Ready: Ritual, Solidarity, and Lived Ecclesiology in Catholic Roxbury (2023) by Susan Bigelow Reynolds
   

5. No Guilty Bystander: The Extraordinary Life of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton (2023) by Frank Fromherz & Suzanne Sattler, IHM.

Click this link for a full list of my professional reading

January 16, 2024 "Leadership & Anxiety"

January 9, 2024 "Diocesan Scorecard"

January 2, 2024 "Principal Meeting"

December 5, 2023 "Accreditation Progress"

November 28, 2023 "Tuition Recommendations"

November 14, 2023 "Progress Report"

For previous newsletters, click this link

A few years ago I set out to write a book which would explore the challenges of Catholic school leadership. My premise that there are no easy answers and that we have to learn from our (and other's) mistakes in order to form a mindset appropriate for orchestrating conflict proved prescient as we all faced completely new and unexpected challenges in 2020. The book,Orchestrating Conflict: Case Studies in Catholic Leadership is now available on Amazon or on the Barnes & Noble site in print or e-book formats. The book explores issues in Catholic school leadership and the tensions between building community and following Church policies and introduces deliberate practice as a method for leadership formation. Most recently, I have completed a new book proposal so book #2 is underway!