This week we’re ready to share the Diocesan Health Scorecard. This is our third year of gathering data to measure the health of our schools in the areas of demographics, finance, academics, and enrollment. This provides the foundation for our school health scorecards which will be distributed at the Principal meeting on January 11th. Most of our metrics in demographics and enrollment have stayed the same but we’ve seen some changes in finance and academics. Here is the link to the 2024 Diocesan scorecard.

In the finance section, we decided to use the end of year finance data from the 2021-22 fiscal year since we can verify that all that information is correct. We don’t have all the school’s financial data from the 2022-23 school year (yet). Although the financial data which was used to create the Cost of Education (COE) and Gap % is 18 months lagging, it’s still valuable. It’s interesting to note, for example, that the COE grew by $500 per student in one year. We’ve added four new metrics in the section:

• The Gap % number is a little broader than the previous measure of subsidy. It measures how much of the budget isn’t accounted for by tuition, government funding, and fundraising.

• The median income measures the median income for households with at least one child under 18 in the school’s zip code. Yes, most of our schools represent multiple zip codes. If a school would like to create a weighted average of median incomes, we’d be happy to share the median income for households with children for each zip code.

• The Tuition:Income ratio measures the percentage of that median income that would be used for one full tuition. The working definition is that each family should be able to spend up to 10 percent of their annual income for tuition.

• We’re using “Average Difference” as a measure of a school’s teacher salaries. After computing the average salary per school, we compared it to the starting salary of the local school district and gave a dollar figure for how much it would cost on average to bring each teacher’s salary up to the starting salary of the local public school.

Now that we have all but one of our schools taking the STAR test three times per year, we’re going to see more effective academic measures. The first measurement was STAR growth which compares the average growth of each student in math and reading compared to the national average. Since many of our schools didn’t take the test last year during the proper windows, those growth scores are a little limited. The math and reading achievement scores are a comparison of the average student percentile scores versus national norms. With our scores in the 60’s, there is clearly room for improvement.

The enrollment metrics allow us to get a sense of the Diocesan trends in enrollment and retention. The student retention average of 54% illustrates the potential for enrollment growth. If schools would hang on to their current students, their enrollments would be higher. As an example, the school which showed the largest enrollment decrease (112 students over 5 years), also showed a 5-year retention rate of 16%. Those two numbers are directly correlated. It was heartening to see that the teacher retention rate increased by 10 percentage points, which we hope is the start of a trend.

This week, we’ll discuss the Diocesan Health Scorecard and then hand out the school scorecards at the Jan 11th Principal meeting. We hope that this data sharing will help our schools focus on the areas which need improvement. All our schools, all of us can improve! Our students deserve the best instruction and the best schools possible.

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

• • 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.

  • Speech Tournament at Cardinal O’Hara on Jan. 20th, 9am start. Sign up HERE Please sign up before January 10th. Contact Rachel Zeller for more information. We are asking for 2-4 judges per school if possible.

  • 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.

  The Character Virtue for January is Determination. Please use this link to submit your student by Fri. 2/2. You may use this same link for each month.
  

Here's the link to the Office Blog

1/12/24 E-Rate Info Deadline for those working with Denton Clark

1/15/24 Deadline to Apply for Free UB Graduate Courses Starting 1/24/24

1/18/24 Government Services Update for Board Chairs, Chaplains, Pastors, & Principals

1/19/24 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

Substantial Equivalency Update: With the Public School District deadline to indicate the Pathway you have chosen to pursue coming on Monday, January 15th, you should make a Pathway decision this week and share that with the District. The Renaissance STAR assessments are still not listed on the “Approved Assessments” listing currently posted on the SE website, so you will need to make your Pathway decision based on the fact that you may have to give the NYS Elementary Assessments; you should be able to determine exactly which assessments you will be using for this Pathway at a later time, hopefully after STAR (and MAP, and iReady) is added to the list.

Safety Equipment (NPSE) and AIS Program Update: NYSED still has not released the NPSE Year 10 and AIS Year 7 applications and guidance. I was told by NYSED that they hope to release these forms by the end of January. Once the updated forms are made available they will be posted on the “Funding Opportunities” webpage. I usually send out an email to schools with their current funding amounts and program advice, but I may wait until February to send those. If you are making NPSE or AIS decisions this month, please reach out to me to discuss your current situation. Remember, expenses for these programs must be completed and paid for by 3/31/24 in order for you to submit them for reimbursement using this year’s forms.

Elementary Textbook Survey: The Executive Principals are requesting that each school complete an online 2023-2024 Textbook Survey so we can make some decisions about our annual textbook review/adoption process and update our recommended Textbook Purchasing Cycle; we will also be using the information collected for our Middle States process. Please only complete one survey per school using this link; I will also email the survey link to all principals later today (1/9/24). Information you will need to complete the survey: Textbook information for each book series used this school year for ELA, Reading, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Religion - this would include the textbook Title, Publisher, and Publication Year. If your school uses different textbooks in different grade levels, you should report all titles/series used for that subject. If your school does not use textbooks for a certain subject, please instead describe the other curricular resources your school utilizes (Ex. PNW BOCES Integrated Social Studies/ELA Curriculum; Mystery Science). I realize that you may need to get this information from your teachers; please try to collect the information and complete one online survey for your school by 1/19/24 so we can move forward with our Textbook Review plans.

Government Services Quarterly Update via Microsoft Teams, 1/18/23: On January 18th at 3:15pm, I will host the second quarterly online Government Services Update for school board chairs, principals, business managers, chaplains, and pastors. This quarter’s meeting will cover: the Mandated Services Aid submission process; Mandated Child Abuse Reporter Training; Special Education services; the Mathematics, Science, and Technology Teachers Grant; NonPublic Safety Equipment (NPSE) funding; Elementary Academic Intervention Services (AIS) Funding; and the 3/9 CIDEL Call to Educational Leadership. Our first meeting lasted about 40 minutes so I hope those invited can carve out some time to attend. Later this week I will send out invitations to the meeting along with the Microsoft Teams link. FYI - future meetings are planned for 3/5/24 and 6/13/24 at 3:15pm.

Textbook Orders - Buffalo Public Requisitions Due 2/5; Erie 1 BOCES Orders due 3/15: Erie 1 BOCES has asked that all textbook funds be used by 3/15/24. Please check to see if any funds remain and then place orders by 3/15/24. Also, please remember that the Buffalo Public Schools will only make requisitions for requests received through 2/5/24; please make sure you use up all available BPS textbook, computer hardware, computer software, and library funds by that date.

Active Shooter Training: Trooper Jeffrey A. Bebak, the Troop A School and Community Outreach Coordinator for the New York State Police, has offered to assist schools with Emergency Planning, specifically presenting on Active Shooter to school staff at no charge. The training is a best practices guide to help schools prepare for a multitude of different events. The training, with time for questions, typically takes two hours. Please call 585-344-6237 for more information about this free training opportunity.

Additionally, the Federal Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is offering a free Active Shooter Workshop (with free lunch) on 2/16/24 from 8:00am-4:00pm at Rich Products Corporation, 1 Robert Rich Way, Buffalo, NY 14213. Attendees will leave with a running start on developing an active shooter preparedness program for their own organization. Click Here to Register. For additional information please contact CISA Region 2 Central NY PSA Pete Owen at peter.owen@hq.dhs.gov or Cyber Regional Training and Exercise Coordinator Phillip Milbouer at phillip.milbouer@cisa.dhs.gov.

Free COVID Tests from Erie County DOH: The Erie County DOH has free COVID test kits and other PPE available for schools to request from their website here. Once requested, you will need to pick up the requested items. If your school is located outside of Erie County, please contact your own Department of Health to request these items (Niagara County).

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. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir (2022) by Matthew Perry.
   

2. Living Your Strengths, Catholic Edition: Discover Your God-Given Talents and Inspire Your Community (2003) by Albert L Wiseman, Donald Clifton, Curt Liesveld, et al

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

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

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

Click this link for a full list of my professional reading

January 2, 2024 "Principal Meeting"

December 5, 2023 "Accreditation Progress"

November 28, 2023 "Tuition Recommendations"

November 14, 2023 "Progress Report"

November 7, 2023 "Building Leadership"

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!