Citing financial shortfalls, the board of St. Bernard’s Catholic School has voted to stop offering kindergarten through sixth grades after the current school year, bringing an end to an elementary school program founded more than a century ago by the Sisters of St. Joseph. Seventh through 12th grade classes, which are currently being offered on the same campus (between C and D, Dollison and Henderson streets in Eureka), will continue, and tuition will be lowered in hopes of boosting enrollment.

St. Bernard’s President/Principal Paul Shanahan said elementary enrollment has fallen in recent years, likely because the local economy has made private school tuitions less affordable for many parents. “We’re looking at a local economy that struggles to support middle class [and] upper-middle class groups,” he said. Meanwhile, he added, charter schools have given parents excellent — and free — alternatives, and traditional public schools have strengthened in recent years.

“If you’re a parent struggling to pay your bills, you have good options for elementary school that allow you to make that choice,” Shanahan said.

Parents of St. Bernard’s students were informed of the school board’s decision at the March 31 recent parents’ meeting, according to a press release (below).

Until 2005, St. Bernard’s Elementary School occupied a separate campus across the street from the high school. Here’s a Google Street View image of that campus, which has been vacant since the two student bodies were consolidated onto the high school campus:

Shanahan said the school board is looking into the possibility of renting the campus to an existing charter school. [Clarification: St. Bernard Parish owns the building and would thus serve as landlord for any future tenant.]

“There’s been a facility that was built and designed for elementary school education, and it hasn’t been utilized,” Shanahan explained. While St. Bernard’s was offering its own elementary school program it didn’t make sense to rent to a competing institution, he added, but now it does.

Asked whether he’s concerned that the junior high and high school programs will suffer without the elementary school serving as a sort of feeder institution, Shanahan said he’s not. St. Bernard’s already sees big jumps in enrollment at the seventh- and ninth-grade levels, with class sizes sometimes doubling. “People are willing to make that [financial] sacrifice [when their kids reach those grades] because of the growing importance of a physically and emotionally safe learning environment,” Shanahan said.

The closure announcement comes in the midst of a long trend of declining school enrollment countywide. The number of elementary and high school students in Humboldt County peaked about 25 years back at roughly 26,000, according to Humboldt County Superintendent of Schools Garry Eagles. It has since dwindled to about 18,000. Curiously, the total county population over that same time period has increased by about 20,000.

“What we’ve seen is a tremendous shift in the percentage of the population that’s young,” Eagles said. That means fewer adults in the community have direct ties to education.

Eagles said that after speaking with local superintendents, he believes the leading culprit for this trend is the economy. “Interestingly enough,” he said, “we’ve seen the drop-off at intermediate and upper grades — fourth grade and higher.” Kindergarten through second grade enrollments have actually been increasing. Families with middle schoolers and high schoolers are moving away — perhaps to take higher-paying jobs outside the area.

In recent years, Arcata saw the closure of Bloomfield Elementary (in 2008), and Eureka has seen the closure of three elementary schools: Worthington in 2003, Jefferson in 2008 and Lincoln in 2009. “Eureka has had a tremendous adjustment in pupil count,” Eagles said. The city’s first-week enrollment numbers this school year were around 3,700. “I remember it being upwards of 7,500,” Eagles remarked.

That downward trend has slowed over the last two years, with enrollment declining by only one percent, give or take. “We were declining 3.5 to 4 percent a few years back,” Eagles said.

But recent years have also seen the birth of many charter schools, which use public school funding but operate independently. 

Shanahan said that despite the end of St. Bernard’s elementary school program, the school’s influence will live on in the community. “When the Sisters of St. Joseph’s started the school [in 1912], our community looked a lot different,” he said. “Part of their legacy is the dozens and dozens of St. Bernard’s graduates who have become leaders and teachers in our local public schools. That legacy lives on.”

Here’s the full press release:

St. Bernard’s Catholic School Board recently voted on, and agreed to, major restructuring of its school system in the wake of continued financial shortfalls at the elementary level.

The new plan, presented at the most recent parents’ meeting on March 31, includes eliminating Kindergarten through Sixth grades, a renewed focus on Seventh grade through High School, and lowered tuition to help increase enrollment in Junior High and High School. 

“This was a difficult decision,” says Paul Shanahan, President/Principal of St. Bernard’s. “My grandfather attended school here in the 1920s, my parents came here, and I did too. I’m grounded in the history, and deeply respect our legacy. But that’s also why I care so deeply about ensuring the legacy of St. Bernard’s continues. It was a challenging but important choice.” 

The plan also includes multiple goals to improve the school’s current performance, including these highlights:

• Maintain a class size of 20 students per class

• Increase SAT scores by 10% each year

• Initiate bus service to outlying areas

• Continue providing a physically and emotionally safe environment

• Raise alumni giving to 80% participation

• Upgrade the physical plant

St. Bernard’s School Board, leadership team, and teachers agree this is the best path forward — to not only embrace the rich history of the school, but to ensure it can continue serving students and propel St. Bernard’s to a bright future.