Catholics Need Not Apply (To Catholic School)

In the diocese of Arlington there exists the reasonable requirement, in my considerably cultivated judgment, that the headmasters of any Catholic school should be Catholic.

The Trustees of Notre Dame Catholic High School find it simply too difficult to comply with this draconian requirement. The trustees (an ill fitting moniker in this situation) have decided to hire a non-Catholic headmaster because they could not find a Catholic one. As a result, the school will have to disassociate itself from the Church.

One could be forgiven if they harbored the smallest suspicion that perhaps the trustees really didn’t look that hard. One person who thinks so is Chief Operating Officer of the school Dan Dolan. Mr. Dolan, a Catholic, has applied for the job but been ignored. Now I certainly can’t speak to Mr. Dolan’s qualifications, but its seems that if is the COO of the school, at the very least he could run it long enough for the trustees to conduct an actual search.

Needless to say, the parents of the students at Notre Dame are none too pleased with the decision of the board. I almost called it the inexplicable decision of the board, but alas its seems rather explicable. Money. A former member of the board who has filed a $24M lawsuit alleges that a donor is pulling the strings and keeping the school afloat while they are likely to lose many students over this decision.

Of course, the board (who could not find a qualified candidate in a Diocese of over 400,000 Catholics) says there is absolutely nothing to worry about.

Clark said parents need to realize that the trustees have the best interest of the school at heart and that Catholicism will still have a role at the school.

“Notre Dame Academy is choosing to be a co-ed, college preparatory school, which celebrates the Catholic heritage,” he said. “We will continue to offer the religious curriculum that is consistent with the Catholic faith.”

Oh, well if they just need to realize that, then no worries. Sure, they sacrifice their money to send their kids to a “Catholic” school, only to be betrayed. They need only realize that the school will celebrate its Catholic Heritage.

Celebrate the “Catholic Heritage?’ How? Like France?