Catholic schools’ overhaul

Board to oversee ‘Pittsburgh East’

The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has named a 15member board of directors to oversee the consolidated elementary schools in what it has dubbed the “Pittsburgh East” region.

The diocese announced in 2017 that schools in the eastern portion of its region would consolidate their resources, following a similar process undergone by Roman Catholic elementary schools in the North Hills. An advisory board was established at that time to assist with the regionalization, and that board now will switch to a governing role following the formal establishment of Pittsburgh-East Regional Catholic Schools Inc., a nonprofit.

The governing board includes representatives from each of the 15 parish groupings that support the schools, and will soon appoint a regional administrator to oversee the day-today operations of the 14 schools, according to an article in Friday’s edition of the Pittsburgh Catholic newspaper. The diocese announced last month that St. Agnes Catholic School in West Mifflin will close after this school year.

The school changes are part of the On Mission for the Church Alive restructuring plan, in which the diocese is attempting to combine an evangelistic push with the need to get leaner amid declining membership and Mass attendance. The diocesan elementary schools have seen an enrollment drop of about 50 percent since the year 2000.

In February, the diocese announced that 14 schools in a new “South Region” also will begin a regionalization process.