The Local-executive Governance Model in Catholic Parochial Elementary Schools: Understanding Pastors’ Perspectives

• Main Author: Carvalho, Armando Luiz
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School 2021
• Subjects: Catholic education; Catholic elementary schools; Catholic pastors; Local-executive governance model; Parochial schools; Educational Leadership
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/etd/998; https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2000&context=etd

Catholic parochial elementary schools in the United states are normally governed by the pastor of the local parish and under a local-executive governance model. Despite pastors’ paramount role in the governance of Catholic parochial elementary schools they often lack the training, interest, or time to fulfill their roles. This qualitative study explored pastors’ perspectives on the local-executive governance model, where governance of the school is local and the pastor is the sole executive of the school. This dissertation included interviews with nine pastors in a diocese on the west coast of the United States. The study explored how pastors’ view their roles at their parochial schools. The pastors were asked about their views on their spiritual, education, and managerial roles at their parochial schools. Findings indicated that pastors enjoyed their spiritual roles at their schools but chose to delegate many of their financial, human, and academic responsibilities to the school principal. The findings supported the need for Catholic schools to explore other options in school governance beyond the local-executive governance model and to shift more authority from pastors to qualified laypersons.