A sign of the times

“We’re being very proactive so we will not have to close our doors, but it’s still very heartbreaking,” principal Dawn Flesland said Monday of the decision.

Flesland, who just one year ago was hopeful to increase the school’s enrollment, said when Boise Inc. announced last May it would permanently eliminate 265 jobs at the local paper mill, rumors quickly spread that the school would have to close its doors.

“At that point, we thought we’d be OK,” the principal said.

Then summer vacation hit.

During that three-month period, Flesland said the school’s enrollment shrunk from 39 to 26 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The school collects about $2,750 in tuition per student and the loss amounted to around $35,750.

“A large chunk of what our school operates on comes from tuition,” Flesland said. “Another chunk is fundraising and we also receive parish subsidy, but giving is down at the church, too, so we are losing more money there.”

To overcome the rapid decrease in enrollment, the parish finance council and the school’s advisory committee made the decision to eliminate the school’s four upper grades and focus on its preschool program.

“The bulk of our student numbers are in the lower grades,” Flesland said. “We know we can’t build a school up by keeping higher grades. We have had families who have enrolled their child later in their school years to get more one-on-one help... but normally, we’re going to grow from the small grades.”

Exact details on how a revamped preschool program will operate are still unclear, but Flesland said extending preschool hours longer than a 3-hour day is being discussed.

“Most of our kindergarten class comes from our preschool program,” she continued. “If we can get that preschool program built up a little bit, we’re hoping to keep some of those families.”

Flesland said unfortunately, the reduction of grades could mean staff layoffs.

“We’re looking at how we can restructure,” she said. “Obviously we won’t probably have jobs for everybody...it might be some full-time employees go to part time.”

Flesland said the parents are supportive, but still surprised.

“Most reactions are that they’re disappointed,” she said. “We’re disappointed, too.”

In a church newsletter, the Rev. Kris McKusky wrote the “never give up” mentality of Borderland kicked in during the decision-making process.

“Our attitudes quickly turned from despair to one of hope for rebuilding,” he wrote. “We quickly began looking for ways to get through a tough time while setting some groundwork for future success...Our challenge now is to support our Catholic school and parishes and work to ensure that Catholic education remains a part of the Borderland region for years to come.”

Flesland echoed McKusky’s comments by explaining she was optimistic the decision keeps the school from closing completely.

“This is one of the options we have to exhaust,” she said. “If we build up our younger grades, we will hopefully, in the future, have enough students to include the upper grades again at some point.”