A solution for Alleman

On June 30, Barb Ickes' article about Alleman High School appeared on the Dispatch-Argus' front page. The article included criticism of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria, and Alleman Principal Sara Stroud. Ickes reached out to Stoud for comment. Stroud did not respond.

Ickes wrote, "Enrollment at Alleman has decreased from 443 students in 2018-2019 to 381 last year. Enrollment for the upcoming years is at 330 students."

A number of my friends, close to Alleman, had told me that (1) the 2021 freshman class would number about 60; (2) 38 students expected back would not return; and (3) 17 Illinois families would be sending their children to Davenport's Assumption High School instead. More recently, I have been told that total enrollment this year is at about 280.


In an effort to verify what I had been told, I emailed Stroud, asking, "Are the following facts substantially true?

1. The 2021 freshman class will number 60; only 10 are boys.
2. 38 students expected back are not returning.
3. 17 families are sending their children across the river to Assumption HS.
4. The former Alleman School Board was dissolved around the time Ms. Gau was terminated."

She replied:

"We have 70 students in our freshman class with 37 boys and 33 girls enrolled. More applications continue to come in; as of today. ... 5 students transferred to Assumption this summer."

I followed-up with a fifth question:

"What will Alleman total enrollment be this year?"

Mrs. Stroud replied:

"Our enrollment is still in flux but we are very pleased with welcoming 14 new students to our school! We are also very excited to partner with Partners in Mission to write our strategic plan this year where enrollment is one of 8 domains of focus, with academics being one of our most common topics of conversation amongst families most recently. The future is bright for Alleman and when we are positive, optimistic and rely on truth while allowing the Holy Spirit to flow, only greater progress will be evident!"

Since that non-answer, I have been told by three sources that attendance this year is "about 280.'


On Oct. 7, I wrote to Stroud telling her that, and asking, "Is that true? If not, please correct me."
I have received no reply.


From 443 students in 2018-19, Alleman's enrollment for the 2021-22 year appears to be somewhere between 330 and 280.

So, why are numbers important? Because fixed costs must now be paid by fewer student families. And because numbers are important for all extracurricular activities from football to theater; good programs draw students.


After the Ickes article, Bishops Jenky and Tylka wrote a July 3, 2021 letter, advising the Catholic community that a "strategic planning process" was being initiated, and "The strategic planning process will allow the school communities to provide the 'valuable feedback' needed to develop goals and objectives for the future sustainability of the schools...."

They further advised that they have hired a Boston-based consulting firm, "Partners in Mission," to provide "'valuable feedback' needed to develop goals and objectives for the future sustainability of the schools."

It is one thing to develop a long term strategic plan for the future sustainability of the schools in the diocese. It is an entirely different thing to deal with complaints that the Alleman leaders appear to have lost — or perhaps never earned — the confidence of a substantial number of donors and parents paying tuition to send their children to Alleman.

If the goal is to deal with the problem, rather than conduct a post mortem, the solution is obvious: Involve the Alleman community.

There are many distinguished Alleman graduates — men and women — who have proved their worth — both in their parishes as well as in the larger community: doctors, veterinarians, CPAs, lawyers, teachers, bankers and business owners, parents, etc.

Let the Alleman community pick its own lay board from among these Alleman grads. Trust the dedicated Catholic men and women chosen to act in the best interests of Alleman and the church. Reject the unsupportable notions that Peoria is infallible and that the Alleman community lacks competence to educate its own children.

Allow that board to run the school, to hire and fire all Alleman personnel, to raise sufficient funds to run the school properly, and to exclusively control all Alleman funds raised. Funds donated for Alleman must be entirely free of diocesan invasion.

I would suggest that a model can be found in my high school, Notre Dame College Prep, Niles, Ill.

In 2006, the Congregation of Holy Cross ended their sponsorship of Notre Dame. Ownership was assumed by a board of lay people on Jan. 1, 2007.

The Archdiocese of Chicago placed the Catholicity of the school under the oversight of the Notre Dame Education Association, an Association of Christian Faithful, composed of the lay board and other members. Under this new leadership, Notre Dame continued to grow and prosper.

If this diocese wants to climb out of its self-dug hole, the quickest and most permanent way of doing so is to treat the loyal Catholic laymen as full-partners in the education of their children. Follow the NDCP/Chicago Archdiocese model.

For me, writing this op-ed is not a journalistic exercise. My daughter was Alleman's 2004 salutatorian. I am a donor, and a great admirer of Father Mirabelli. I cared enough to serve at Alleman from 2002 to 2018 as a volunteer theatrical director. I don't want to see Alleman fail. I believe that fine Catholic high schools are more critical today to the welfare of American society that at any time during my lifetime.

Copyright 2021, John Donald O'Shea

First Published in the Moline Dispatch and Rock Island Argus on October 15, 2021