Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.A fund with origins in the Walmart family hopes it can help stave off the possible closing of some Catholic elementary schools in Omaha.
In the late 1990s, the Children's Scholarship Fund was started by New York investor Theodore Forstmann and John Walton, son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. The goal was to provide educational options for low-income families.
"Without getting into the politics or merits of what the archdiocese is looking at," said Kurth Brashear, chairman of the fund's Omaha affiliate, "we certainly have an interest in strong private and parochial schools. Our concern is in trying to provide families with a choice."
The Omaha chapter started in 1998. Since then, $19 million has been raised to help families in Omaha and northeast Nebraska send children to private elementary schools — 1,915 pupils this school year.
Today marks the start of Catholic Schools Week, an annual celebration. But in some areas of Omaha, the future is uncertain.
A week and a half ago, the Omaha Catholic Archdiocese revealed the first draft of a plan that could close six elementary schools in older parts of the city, mostly east of 72nd Street.
Brashear, who is Lutheran, said the local scholarship fund supports the archdiocese in its efforts to do what is necessary for efficient, vibrant schools. But the fund also is poised to ramp up its efforts and increase its fundraising to put more children into parochial schools' empty seats.
"Ultimately," he said, "we need these schools to be open for our program to work."
Brashear said that the scholarship fund and the archdiocese have had a good working relationship but that the fund's board would like closer consultation on the plan that has been drafted.
Deacon Tim McNeil, chancellor of the archdiocese, said that the Children's Scholarship Fund has provided great assistance over the years and that any additional funding would help.
But he noted that Philadelphia is closing 48 Catholic schools and that the trend is a national one. Some Omaha schools face serious financial problems.
"We have the same number of parishes and schools as 40 to 50 years ago," McNeil said, "but the population (in older areas) has greatly diminished. We have to look long-term to sustain our schools and our parishes, not just for one year or two years."
Brashear, who has volunteered with the Children's Scholarship Fund for six years, said the fund, too, is looking long-term.
In September, the board hired Sandra Reding as its first full-time executive director. She previously worked as a fundraiser for Lauritzen Gardens and the Joslyn Art Museum.
The fund's office moved from the Chancery, the archdiocesan headquarters, to The World-Herald Building downtown. (Publisher Terry Kroeger sits on the local board of the Children's Scholarship Fund, and the newspaper is providing office space at no charge.)
Reding said the fund has been raising more than $1.2 million a year locally, and receives $1 from the national office for every $2 raised locally. That put the total last year at $1,855,000.
The goal this year is to increase local fundraising by a third, to $1.6 million.
The fund provides nearly $1,000 per child. Each family must pay $500 and is required to meet three times a year with the school principal.
Parishes and schools typically raise money to cover the rest of the cost of educating each child. Reding said the total yearly cost per student is between $4,500 and $6,000 in the area east of 72nd Street.
The fund receives about 3,000 applications per year, and so far it is able to pay for nearly two-thirds of those students. A computerized lottery system selects families from among those who qualify by income guidelines — and once they are in the system, they stay as long as they qualify.
As the fund raises more money, Reding said, it also will do more marketing to let families know what is available. "We don't want to be one of the best-kept secrets anymore."
About 85 percent of the private schools helped by the fund are Catholic. One that is not is Good Shepherd Lutheran School near 50th and Center Streets, where Mark and Carla Andersen have sent their four sons, thanks to the Children's Scholarship Fund.
"My husband and I saw this as a blessing from God," Carla Andersen said, adding that wealthy donors help make it happen. "In today's climate, there is so much criticism of people who are successful. I'm just so thankful, and I think they should be praised."
The Andersens aren't Lutherans; they are evangelical Christians. But they appreciate being afforded the choice of sending their sons to a Christian school.
Brashear, son of Kermit Brashear, former speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, attended Lutheran elementary schools and then the private Brownell-Talbot for high school.
Omaha had five Lutheran schools east of 72nd Street in his youth, he said, but now has only two. So the problem of dwindling school enrollment isn't just in older Catholic schools.
Married and the father of children ages 3 and 1, Brashear isn't interested just in private schools. He also serves as attorney for the Learning Community, the two-county organization of 11 public-school districts that share a common tax base.
Brashear sees no conflict in his dual roles with private schools and public schools.
"Some may have difficulty squaring those two," he said. "But families should be able to decide how their children are educated."
Brashear called private and public schools a "complementary system," and said public schools would have difficulty handling and paying for the influx of students if there were no private schools.
The Omaha founders of the scholarship fund were insurance executive William Kizer and the late auto dealer Tal Anderson. Both national founders have died, Walton in a 2005 small-plane crash and Forstmann in November from brain cancer.
The Omaha archdiocese says the first draft is "highly subject to change." It contemplates the school closings of All Saints, Holy Ghost, St. Joan of Arc, Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Stanislaus and Holy Name.
Omaha businessman Pete Ricketts last week announced a plan to form a community foundation to keep Holy Name School alive for years.
The Children's Scholarship Fund has provided more than $1 million for Holy Name over the years. Of the 166 students enrolled there this year, 70 receive help from the fund.
Though the school is Catholic, 43 percent of its students are non-Catholic; 68 percent are minorities.
Of the other schools listed for possible closing, the Children's Scholarship Fund says that as of last Monday, All Saints had 150 students, with 57 receiving help from the fund; Sts. Peter and Paul, 123 students, 43 funded; Holy Ghost, 100/40; St. Stanislaus, 91/33; St. Joan of Arc, 113/21.
The fund says that since 1999, it has provided $3.3 million to those six schools.
A consultant's draft report to the archdiocese said an enrollment of under 200 is not sustainable. A final report on schools is scheduled to be submitted to Archbishop George Lucas in April.
Brashear said that the archdiocese must do what is in its best interests but that the Children's Scholarship Fund wants to continue playing a significant role.
"Our biggest concern," he said, "would be if capacity is dramatically reduced as a result of changes."
Contact the writer:
402-444-1132, michael.kelly@owh.com
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