Clients in the News

The Press Democrat

December 1, 2023

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St. Vincent de Paul High School announces plans to separate from diocese

St. Vincent de Paul College Prep in Petaluma has announced plans to become an independent Catholic school, signaling the end of leadership under the St. Vincent Parish, according to a school official.

“In a sense it will be its own entity, and that means independent. However, we will still have the permission of our bishop and our diocese to remain a Catholic entity within that diocese,” said Kerry Pedersen, the school’s director of admissions and marketing.

The school of nearly 200 students is currently managed by the St. Vincent Parish of Petaluma, which falls under the umbrella of the Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa. Starting next school year the school will be managed by an independent board of directors, Pedersen said.

The current board, formally elected on Tuesday, will serve a six-month term amid the transition as they prepare for the upcoming school year. It is made up of 11 members, including eight parents and three community members “with varying backgrounds,” Pedersen said.

The change has been in deliberations since at least Sept. 1, and the move was prompted by years of declining reserves, she said. Historically, the school was staffed by Catholic priests and nuns and there was less overhead.

Today, Pedersen said, there’s a need for leadership with more business acumen.

“It’s just not a sustainable model to have a pastor manage the businesses of two schools and a parish church. It’s just too much. So this is kind of what we’re calling the modernization of the business structure that our educational institution is run by.”

Of those two schools, the second is St. Vincent Elementary School, which will continue to be a parish school. And the plan is to maintain the historic relationship between the schools, Pedersen said.

“The utmost goal is that kids day to day won’t be affected by this.”

Although rumors about a planned transition at St. Vincent had circulated for weeks, it nonetheless came as a surprise when school officials announced it early Friday, along with plans to celebrate the announcement at Friday’s night’s championship football game.

“St. Vincent de Paul College Prep is not closing,” said Interim Principal Tony Greco in the announcement. “In fact, we are shifting in quite the opposite direction. This new chapter will bring even more strength to the school — financially and academically.”

Under the restructuring, school leaders hope to maintain St. Vincent’s theology program and keep it under the diocese’s direction, Pedersen said.

Its newly independent school board “will lease back the grounds, the structure, the campus, from the diocese, in order to continue to run the school on the same campus,” she said.

The board is attempting to raise $3 million on Donorbox to reach its goal of financial independence, according to Friday’s release.

“In order to make (a Catholic education) accessible for all families, we need more financial aid dollars to make the budget work. So that’s kind of the greatest shortfall that we have, is being able to keep up with that need, and therefore we need to raise enough money to get us through a few years of what is needed for financial aid,” Pedersen said.

In “the big picture,” Pedersen said, the move to independence was not related to the Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa’s decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March, and rather has been a “needed change” for at least six years.

The change also comes months after St. Vincent Principal Patrick Daly was suddenly removed as the school’s academic leader, sparking outrage among some parents, students and teachers. It was later revealed that his firing was due to allegations that tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges were made on a school credit card.

Those allegations were made by Fr. Bill Donahue, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Petaluma and leader of the church’s two schools.

Donahue took over as principal at the private high school until Tony Greco, a math teacher there, was appointed interim principal in September.

When asked if Daly could possibly return, Pedersen said there were “no plans” for his return to the school administration.

“We’re really blessed with the community that we have of current parents, alumni and the greater Petaluma community who have stepped up to support this move, because they see the importance of what St. Vincent provides to the children of this community,” Pedersen said.

“Having faith based education in Petaluma is important.”