By Joe Winter
Catholic Herald Correspondent

Independent high school proposed

HUDSON -- Plans to build a 750-student, independent Catholic high school near Hudson moved forward late last month, despite concerns of local Catholic officials about their lack of input from this side of the St. Croix River.

On March 29, people packed the St. Patrick School gymnasium to view a site plan and hear needs assessment data and one man's vision of an arts magnet school. They also heard pleas to slow down and gather more opinions.

The original organizer of the schools is Kevin Berntson, who would be president of the school. Berntson said he has worked in Catholic school education for 35 years, in various positions, including instructor, dean, assistant principal and counselor at schools in California, Belgium and England. He said in 1987 he became a member of the Providence Religious Community of Quebec, Canada, and was a dean for one year at Cretin High School in St. Paul.

He said he has master's degrees in Catholic school administration from the University of San Francisco, and in psychology from Mt. St. Mary's College in Los Angeles, and is finishing a doctorate in in art history from the University of Kent, in Canterbury, England.

Berntson and members of the board of directors say the high school could be open in a year or two. The new school, Holy Cross College Preparatory, might open with a charter class housed at St. Anne School in Somerset as early as September, they announced late last month.

Ann Mitchell, principal in Somerset, said in an interview the day before the meeting, that while she supports most of the vision being offered for the new high school, she was stunned by a press release that was distributed.

Mitchell said Berntson recently asked, briefly, if the grade school could be used, and her response was noncommittal. The next she heard of the matter was after the release was distributed, saying space was available in Somerset.

Taking high schoolers would strain the space required for the younger students, said Mitchell, who expressed concerns about the proposal. Berntson's plan -- which she called "his model" -- is moving way too fast and there are too many unanswered questions, Mitchell said, adding this is a concern for others, as well.

"Two years after (starting the charter class), we need to have a building in place," Mitchell later said. "We want it to succeed, so we have to (plan well)."

Local officials also have questioned the organizers' estimate of a $40 million price tag for the high school, the $10 million in funds needed to even begin construction, and the $8,000 tuition, she said.

"A lot of you have the same question: When (will the school open)?" Mitchell said when moderating the information session in Hudson. "What has been given is their answer, not ours. If a miracle occurs between now and June, it can happen. But it will take a miracle."

"I don't know if I want to risk opening up the floor for more questions, because we don't yet have a lot of answers to those questions," Mitchell said, adding that there will be forums for that purpose, one of which likely will be in early June.

Berntson said he has met with Hudson Mayor Jack Breault to discuss land use and cost, as well as zoning issues concerning a new building. Five Hudson parcels have been considered by Berntson, who said that 40 acres would be needed and that he had plans to view about six more.

The board of directors, calling themselves the All Saints Guild, consists of six alumni of what is now known as Cretin-Derham Hall: four from the Cretin class of 1969, one from the Derham Hall class of 1969, and one from the Cretin class of 1978. None are from Wisconsin.

Mitchell was to be added as a board member, but lamented that her name was left off the press release.

Berntson said in an e-mail that there are additional board members, and that Mitchell was one of them, and that she was present when the decision was made to submit the press release.

Berntson said he gave Bishop Raphael M. Fliss a 60-page prospectus. "The response was that this is a poor diocese," Berntson said, adding that organizers then decided to form as a school independent of any diocese.

However, a fact sheet issued at the Hudson forum said the school "will operate with guidance from the bishop and superintendent of the Catholic Diocese of Superior."

Phyllis Schlagel, diocesan superintendent of schools, declined to comment on the proposed school at this time.

The high school would serve students from both sides of the St. Croix River. It would have a football-soccer field and two baseball fields, an auditorium, a gymnasium, a display gallery and eventually four small independent living units. The school would be what was initially called an arts magnet school

and would include advanced placement classes, and a grade 13 optional culinary arts diploma, with emphasis on culture and spirituality.

The school would have a sports program for both boys and girls, the Silver Shamrocks, beginning with soccer, basketball and baseball/softball. A chaplain would be on duty. The name, Holy Cross, is derived from the French term St. Croix.

Pat Dougherty, the principal at Somerset before Mitchell, said she has long felt that such a school would be a natural extension of the four Catholic grade schools in western St. Croix County, which could serve as feeder programs.

"I think this is wonderful. It is exciting," Dougherty said of the Catholic high school concept.

On a scale of one to 10, Mitchell said, interest is a nine and financial considerations a one. It was last spring when local people started considering a local Catholic high school, "and the rumblings have just kept getting louder," Mitchell said.

A consensus was formed last spring among the principals of the four St. Croix County Catholic schools -- prior to the Berntson proposal -- that a needs assessment should be done for a local Catholic high school, which could be built in five or 10 years, Mitchell said.

At about the time planning started at the local level, Mitchell was told by a parishioner that someone else, that being Berntson, had already done much of the legwork. That led to a 45-minute phone conversation between the two, where ideas were kicked around.

Both agreed that this school should be inclusive of everyone, including people of all faiths and socio-economic backgrounds. "We do not want this to be an elitist school," Mitchell said.

The Hudson meeting, which drew largely St. Patrick parishioners, had been scheduled far in advance of Berntson airing his ideas. The session took plenty of time listing data from an earlier survey.

When families were asked which programs would be needed to prompt enrollment, the leading answers were sports (66) and foreign language (52).

In the Minneapolis-St. Paul Archdiocese, tuition ranges from $5,600 to $12,308. Twelve respondents said they would be willing to pay less than $6,000, 37 exactly $6,000, and 16 up to $8,000. Thirteen percent said they would ask for tuition assistance.

The school philosophy is based on the principles of St. Vincent de Paul, who was an advocate of the poor, Blessed Emilie Gamelin and Venerable Cardinal John Henry Newman of England.

Gamelin was known for her compassion, especially for those who are ill or suffering, and founded a religious order for women that much later admitted men as associates, with Berntson being one of them. He often refers to himself as "Br. Kevin," but has been known to wear a priest's collar.

However, an e-mail message to that order of sisters, based in Quebec, resulted in a response that they had no record of an affiliation with Berntson. Also, an thorough Internet search for the order to which Berntson says to belong, the Providence Religious Community of Quebec, revealed no listings.

Berntson said he does not hold consecrated vows, but lives a simple religious lifestyle committed to the values of his community, and sometimes wears a collar as a public sign of that -- which he says is not exclusive to priests.

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© Superior Catholic Herald, 2004