Ursuline nun to lead Catholic schools

Section: Religion

Bruce Nolan

An Ursuline nun who helped run Catholic schools in Wilmington, Del., has been named the new superintendent for Catholic schools in metropolitan New Orleans, the Archdiocese of New Orleans announced Friday.

Sister Kathleen Finnerty, who was assistant superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Wilmington will take over the Catholic education system in time for the upcoming school year, the archdiocese said.

The hire marks the Catholic system's return to a superintendent with traditional educational credentials.

She succeeds the Rev. William Maestri, a theologian, writer and public policy specialist who led the system through the Herculean effort to reopen damaged schools after Hurricane Katrina, but whose impatient executive style sometimes alienated parents and other potential partners.

Finnerty was principal of four New York schools before becoming assistant superintendent of schools in her Delaware diocese eight years ago.

In an interview Friday, Finnerty said she wasn't seeking a career change when she came to New Orleans for an educational conference in March.

The trip was a revelation, she said.

"The images first-hand were very different from what we saw on television," she said. "Whereas the experience of that day was of driving for blocks, and seeing house after house -- and seeing that nobody was able to start rehabbing . . ."

"And that stayed with me."

Back in Wilmington, Finnerty said she went to the Web site of the National Catholic Educational Association to check an unrelated item. She happened upon the archdiocese's advertisement for a new superintendent.

The two things came together and I just couldn't shake it," she said.

Finnerty said she went to her superior. "I need someone to tell me I'm crazy."

"Maybe not," her superior replied. "Maybe it's the work of the Spirit."

Finnerty, who would not disclose her age, was raised in Manhattan and has master's degrees in religious studies from Villanova and educational administration from Fordham.

Archbishop Alfred Hughes offered Finnerty the job Thursday after he interviewed her, said the Rev. Neal McDermott, who heads the archdiocese's Department of Christian Formation. She was the unanimous recommendation of a search committee who interviewed three of 11 applicants, he said.

McDermott said the committee was impressed with Finnerty's experience. He also called her "a moderating influence" able to bring disparate camps together.

In addition, "so many of our principals and high school presidents are women -- I think she'll work well with them," he said. And he noted that she is a member of the Ursuline order -- the most senior Catholic educators in the city, having come to New Orleans in 1727.

With her appointment so fresh, Finnerty said she has much to learn before offering an analysis of the school system's major problems. In the parochial school system, individual schools are loosely connected to the archdiocese, which sets specific policy, education and employment guidelines while leaving schools with considerable administrative leeway.

Even in its storm-damaged state, the New Orleans system is much larger than the Wilmington system Finnerty is leaving.

The Wilmington diocese, which covers parts of Delaware and Maryland, has about 39 Catholic schools and 15,000 students. Even with 24 local schools closed, the New Orleans archdiocese said it runs 83 schools with 42,000 students in eight civil parishes around metropolitan New Orleans.

Broadly, Finnerty said, her main goal will be to help all schools maintain their Catholic identity while achieving academic excellence.

Since the storm, Catholic schools, especially in New Orleans, have maintained an aggressive open-door policy to all students, regardless of ability to pay. The offer was made in the face of a chronic shortage in public school openings.

Asked whether she would continue the policy, she begged off answering, saying she was not up to speed on local conditions.

. . . . . . .

Bruce Nolan can be reached at bnolan@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3344.