STATEMENT BY MSGR. MICHAEL J. HARDIMAN

VICAR FOR EDUCATION

DIOCESE OF BROOKLYN

                                                   NOV. 28, 2005                                                         

            Public interest generated by the decision of a parochial school in Queens to terminate the employment of an unmarried, pregnant faculty member has prompted some reflections on this serious matter.

            Each parochial school provides a personnel handbook that sets out the guiding principles for a teacher in a Catholic school. The introduction calls on everyone in the school community to collaborate in creating “the unique Christian climate that influences the spiritual, moral and cognitive development of our students.”

            A sample handbook is available to schools, which are expected to modify it to adapt to particular local circumstances. In view of the recent experience, I am recommending that each parish, while continuing to enunciate appropriate moral principles and standards of conduct for teachers, ensure the consideration of the circumstances of a particular situation, so that, if warranted, parish and school leadership might explore other options to employment termination, in consultation with others in educational leadership.

            As was stated in response to press inquiries, this was “a regrettable situation for everyone involved.” While a number of comments about the decision reached by the school have been harsh, others have been seen as thoughtful, reflecting an awareness of the fact that no one wins when circumstances like those in this matter come together.

            In her letter to Michelle McCusker, a pre-kindergarten teacher, Theresa Andersen, the principal of St. Rose of Lima School in Rockaway Beach, acknowledged that it was “the most difficult letter I’ve ever had to write.”

            It was a trying situation for the school because of a desire to balance a sincere and heartfelt compassion for the teacher with living up to its commitment to parents to maintain a school environment where, as the principal said in her letter, each teacher demonstrates “an acceptance of Gospel values and Christian tradition not simply as a concept to be taught but as a reality to be lived.”

            The school showed its concern for the well-being of the teacher by offering to continue to provide medical benefits through the parish employee health benefits program until Aug. 31, 2006. The teacher chose not to accept the invitation to remain in the program, informing the principal that she had other means of obtaining such coverage.

            The teacher chose not to appeal the decision to the pastor, her right under the terms of the handbook. She also did not seek to invoke the established Mediation and Arbitration process, which is also provided in the handbook. While it is not listed in the handbook, she could have appealed to me as the Vicar for Education, an additional avenue of redress available to her.

            I do not want to lose the opportunity to say that I am pleased that Ms. McCusker has admirably chosen to carry her child to term.

            Some have suggested that other options to employment termination should have been explored. With a need to act after reflecting on a matter never faced before, and upon suddenly learning of the teacher’s situation for the first time a month after she was hired, the school reached its decision, after consulting with the Office of Catholic School Support Services and Father Peter D. Gillen, the pastor, acting in good faith.

            I have to wonder what I would have done in a similar situation as pastor or principal. I would like to think that my decision would be the result of a prayerful consideration of the many complex aspects of this difficult situation. This would not be an easy decision for me, and I am certain it was not easy for Father Gillen or Ms. Andersen.

            Not everyone has agreed with their decision; had they decided otherwise, not everyone would agree either. As I stated earlier, this incident has produced no winners. Instead, it has inflicted pain on our Church community. It has demonstrated the need to work together to resolve the complex and difficult situations that moral decision-making inevitably entails.

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