St. Ignatius Catholic School
Amid concerns over changes to the St. Ignatius Catholic School board and the resignation of the Head of School, the school’s parents have formed an HSA sub-committee to communicate with the Archdiocese of Detroit (which oversees the Cayman Islands Catholic parish).
According to the website of the ‘HSA Parents’ Governance and Transparency Sub-Committee’, www.stignatiusparents.org:
“Evidenced by an attendance of more than 200 Parents who attended the GM, coupled with St. Ignatius Catholic School (our ‘School’) teachers attending to observe and obtain information on the current status of the School, there is a clear signal that the Parents of our School are tangibly disturbed and anxious at the lack of stability, robustness, transparency and accountability on the current governance structure of our School.
“In particular, and most significantly, the unacceptable impact this has, and may continue to have, on the education standards of our children, especially considering the tumultuous disturbances that have already occurred this year so far.”
A parent addresses the audience during a meeting of the St. Ignatius Catholic School Home School Association meeting 14 Sept. – Photo: Patrick Brendel
The group has also started a petition on their website, addressed to the Archdiocese of Detroit, that states:
“As Parents, we have our children’s best interests at heart and respectfully demand:
- Stability for the students and the School and we firmly believe that the retention of the Head of School is key to achieving this;
- Transparency with regards to decisions being made, the governance structure in general and the financial position of the School;
- Independent representation with the members representing the Parents on the School Advisory Committee being elected by the parents themselves for appointment by the Pastor;
- Accountability from all those that represent us and that make decisions that impact our children’s education; and
- Proper Corporate Governance with appropriate controls to ensure our voices are heard and that decisions are made in a collaborative way without any one person able to act unilaterally and without being held accountable.”
Read the Current’s story on the 14 Sept. meeting here.
*Disclosure: Cayman Current editor Patrick Brendel’s spouse Rachael Brendel is a member of the St. Ignatius Parish Pastoral Council. Three of their children attend St. Ignatius Catholic School.*