A plan to create a centralized system of Catholic elementary schools in Western New York is moving forward again, and parishes that currently operate schools have been asked to transfer their educational programs to the Buffalo Diocese’s Department of Education.

The plan was first announced in January 2025, but its implementation was put on hold for about a year to allow new Superintendent of Catholic Schools Joleen Dimitroff time to meet with school representatives and make some changes to the plan based on feedback. The Education Department now aims to have the centralized system in place by September.

A plan to create a centralized system of Catholic elementary schools in Western New York is moving forward again, and parishes that currently operate schools have been asked to transfer their educational programs to the Buffalo Diocese’s Department of Education.

The plan was first announced in January 2025, but its implementation was put on hold for about a year to allow new Superintendent of Catholic Schools Joleen Dimitroff time to meet with school representatives and make some changes to the plan based on feedback. The Education Department now aims to have the centralized system in place by September.

The Buffalo Diocese dramatically cut spending after filing for bankruptcy, eliminating most of its funding of Catholic elementary schools while paying lawyers millions of dollars.

Dimitroff is overseeing an effort to reinvigorate area Catholic schools through a centralized system that will handle the administrative tasks of operating schools, including finances, human resources, grant writing and data management, and will allow the school sites to focus on teaching and learning.

Catholic schools in the past largely operated on their own as a ministry of the parishes where they were located, and often in competition with each other for a dwindling pool of students and teachers. 

Other hires in the Education Department include an assistant superintendent for government services, a finance manager, an assistant superintendent for academics & data and a human resources manager.

A key piece of the strategic plan is getting approval from the State Board of Regents for the 29 separate schools to merge into the Department of Education, which has had a state charter since 1970.

To that end, the pastors of parishes with elementary schools have been asked to transfer all school educational programs and associated, operations, contracts, assets and liabilities to the Department of Education. Legal transfer agreement forms were distributed to those pastors earlier this month.

The language in the agreements has raised concerns, especially among some of the area’s most successful Catholic schools, about the diocese’s ability to manage a school system while still working through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Some skeptics of the plan for a centralized system said donations that help make those schools successful would dry up if the gifts were to be used systemwide.

Dimitroff said schools with strong enrollments may be viable now, but that was once the case for many schools no longer operating. She noted that 80,000 students were enrolled in nearly 200 schools in the 1970s. The current numbers are 6,500 students in 29 schools.

John J. Hurley, Catholic Academy of West Buffalo board chairman, cited declining enrollment and a building that needs at least $500,000 for a new roof and boiler system as reasons for the decision.

The strategic plan seeks to change that trajectory, Dimitroff said.

She acknowledged that the bankruptcy has led to uncertainty and a “sense of mistrust” among many parishioners, which has made it difficult to try to build confidence in a plan for the schools.

“We’re re-engineering our institution to avoid collapse and to strengthen our schools. We feel that we're stronger, together,” she said. “Is there ever an opportune time to do this? No. Something needs to change to be able to ensure that any child, any family that wants their child to have a Catholic education here in Western New York, has access to it.”

A system approach will allow all schools to take advantage of economies of scale, said Michael Baumann, human resources manager for the diocese’s Education Department.

“Instead of a small school trying to create a benefit package for 30 people, we’ll have a system that can create compensation and benefit packages for 600 people,” said Baumann, former superintendent of schools for the Newfane School District.

Baumann acknowledged that Catholic schools won’t ever be able to match the pay and benefits of public schools. But a system approach will allow for improvements in pay and in professional development for teachers.

“We’d like to be able to provide some incentive for our teachers to stay with us and not have to look elsewhere because they can’t afford to work for us anymore,” he said.

The diocese’s Education Department isn’t looking to cash in on parish money through the transfer agreements, even though in most parish schools, the school finances are not separated from the parish finances, Baumann said.

“When we talk about transferring assets, we’re talking about materials, supplies, equipment that are associated with the education division. We’re just talking about desks and chairs and computers and books and pens and things like that,” he said. “We’re not talking about absorbing funds from a parish.”

The transfer agreements will enable the diocese’s Education Department to absorb the educational operation of a parish. Parishes also will still own their school buildings, which will be leased for $1 to the Education Department.

Any account designated for a specific school will still be restricted for use at that school, Dimitroff added.

And ultimately, with state approvals, the Department of Education will be a separately incorporated entity that runs Catholic schools in Western New York, not the diocese.

Another significant aspect of the plan includes accreditation for the school system from the Middle States Association, which Dimitroff and Bauman said will be instrumental in attracting families to Catholic schools.

A team of evaluators will be in Western New York this week to examine the schools as part of the accrediting process.

“We’re very excited about having some closure on that and being able to promote that as part of our robust academic standards that we have,” Dimitroff said.

Published in The Buffalo News on Apr. 28, 2026