My understanding is that Fr Phillips as of about 2011 deferred expanding the school until the parish went into the proposed US ordinariate (changed at the last minute to a North American ordinariate when the Canadian bishops apparently did not approve a separate one there). This was to avoid having the parish finance the expansion via the archdiocese but then owe the money while in the ordinariate. However, Fr Phillips's personal agenda intervened when it became plain that Msgr Steenson could potentially reassign him, and he kept the parish out of the ordinariate in March 2012. It's worth pointing out that according to another visitor, none of this was made public to the parish at the time.
A visitor explains the school expansion as planned:
The main function of the new building was to add facilities for the high school: another gym, a theater stage/auditorium, additional classrooms and locker rooms. With the loss of 135 students, the need for new classrooms disappears. The school can no longer participate in the Archdiocesan CYO program so there are no longer any lower school sports which also lessens the need for a new gym/locker rooms. If I am not mistaken, there is a classroom or two finished in the new building so it is not just vacant.However, when the parish stayed out of the OCSP, Fr Phillips proceeded with financing the expansion via the archdiocese. The visitor quoted above explains some of the issues and uncertainties involved:
I don’t know how they worked it out with the Archdiocese, but because they had to have at least half the money up front before they could even begin construction, it is possible that they built out all they actually had money for and the rest of the financing agreement was cancelled leaving them with a completely dried-in building and the ability to finish build-out on the inside one classroom/section at a time.Whatever the specifics, the bottom line is that work on the the expansion stopped after the transfer to the OCSP in 2017, and except for a couple of classrooms, it remains empty and unused. The other visitor, however, believes that the parish does owe money, possibly a substantial amount, to the archdiocese, referring to "the debt the parish is in". Again, no information has been made public, but a remark by Fr Perkins at the time of the transfer called the process "like untangling fishhooks", which suggests financial obligations of some complexity. UPDATE: The second visitor comments,
I would think that the note would have been transferred from the Archdiocese to Houston. But the parish is fully responsible for it, just as before under the Archdiocese."like untangling fishhooks" - This sounds like it refers to the complex [dis]-organizational structure in which Fr. Phillips, with James Orr, used to control every aspect of everything.
The first visitor continues:
The Atonement Academy’s enrollment numbers have been a fairly closely held number over the last few years, I suspected to hide dropped enrollment. People I know there when asked are a little cagey about what the enrollment numbers are. At the peak of the Atonement Academy enrollment was right at about 535 students from Pre-K4 through 12th grade(this was around 2015-2016). The school has since added Pre-K3 so they have potential extra kiddies. All the sites I can find advertising the school are using numbers from 2016 or before. I did, however run across a job search site that lists current (2018-2019) student enrollment at 400 (you have to scroll to the very bottom in section titled “About The Employer”). That would be about a 25% drop and confirms what I suspected, they lost a lot of people. It looks like they are trying to/got back into TAPPS (Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools), which is a good thing(why they left TAPPS in the first place is another story).The other visitor comments,
When the school building was conceived the enrollment already had leveled off. A small building addition would have been more sensible.So it sounds as if the expansion originally envisioned by Fr Phillips was a bit too grandiose from the start; there's been a serious enrollment loss following the transfer to the ordinariate; we don't know what the financial picture is; but the parish and school are trying to claw their way back, although without any sort of published plan. The first visitor comments,
If they can put the Fr. Phillips/Dn. Orr scandals behind them, they have a good fighting chance of being pretty successful. Again, not necessarily because of the draw of the DWM Mass or even their parish, but because regular Catholics have so few options for Catholic schools, especially in Northwest San Antonio. I have noticed that with some of the new personnel, they have focused on hiring teachers with relevant degrees and they have changed the recruiting message somewhat to be more inclusive, not exclusive. The new school logo is not so fussy; the new catchphrase is very succinct: Catholic + Classical. They have the bones to build a great little school if they can survive long enough to weed out the last remnants of the resistors and let go of the “We hate Archbishop Gustavo” sentiment. I hope they make it.I would say, though, that when the Archdiocese of Los Angeles appoints a pastor to an important parish with one or more schools, it is able to draw from a talent pool that includes priests with this additional leadership experience. I don't believe Fr Lewis at OLA has this in his background, which would be a drawback.
I have more thoughts on schools in the ordinariate, but I will defer these, as this post is plenty long for today. I will appreciate any additional information, corrections, and clarifications to this account.
