Reform in Catholic School Board Governance presents a treatise on the contributions made by Monsignor Charles O’Neil D’Amour in Catholic school governance reforms. The model created by Msgr. D’Amour served as a prototype for the governance of Catholic schools and religious education programs. As a Catholic schools administrator and advocate, Msgr. D’Amour focused on the need for inclusion of religious and laity in Catholic school boards at the diocesan and parish levels, recasting of school board governance structures, and the national implications of the new practices for Catholic school boards.
The structures of parochialism that once served a good purpose were now working counter to the cultural demands of a formative and collaborative society. He referred to this basic structural reform as recasting. He feared that what was working now would not work for long. The existing parochialism called for a more inclusive approach to problem solving if American Catholic schools were to meet their crises head on. Survival was at stake!
Catholic elementary and secondary schools in the United States are presently in crisis. These educational institutions have made great contributions toward shaping American society. Today, it is imperative to examine the prevalent conditions for their survival.
