New Catholic schools chief brings experience

Enrollment in Charlotte's Catholic schools nearly doubled under Michael Skube's leadership.
By RON COLE
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- When Michael Skube received his diploma from St. Joseph College in Indiana in 1968, he mulled his options.
Maybe he'd go to graduate school; maybe he'd go into business.
But then a tennis buddy, who also happened to be the pastor of a Catholic church in his hometown of Kankakee, Ill., called.
He had an opening in his church's school for a teacher. Was Skube interested?
Skube's first reaction: Teaching? What do I know about teaching?
"But then I said, 'Sure, as long as you keep playing tennis with me,'" Skube remembers. "I went into the school. I had absolutely no background in education."
Within two months, Skube was hooked.
"I just loved it," he said. "I didn't know a whole lot about it, but I loved the kids."
New post: Thirty-four years later, Skube is bringing that passion to Youngstown. On June 17, he becomes the new superintendent of the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown schools, overseeing 44 elementary schools and six high schools in a six-county region.
After 13 years as the superintendent of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Charlotte, N.C., the 55-year-old Skube said he sees Youngstown as much more than just another step on the career ladder.
"I really feel whatever I do really has to be an extension of me as a person and me in my spiritual and moral life," he said. "This is not a job. It's a mission."
Twelve weeks away from assuming the new post, Skube was at the Youngstown diocese offices over the weekend to meet with staff and begin the transition. He met with members of the local press this morning.
Strength of diocese: "This is a strong diocese with strong schools," Skube, an Illinois native who is married and has a grown daughter, said in an interview last week from his office in North Carolina.
"There's certainly support from Bishop [Thomas J.] Tobin for the schools. There are issues to deal with, but I see those more as opportunities to work with principals and others to see how we can continually improve what we're doing."
Skube, whose father was a construction worker and mother a registered nurse, comes to Youngstown with an array of skills forged from three decades in Catholic education.
He was a principal at two Catholic elementary schools in Illinois before moving to Michigan in 1980, where he was executive director and high school principal of Battle Creek Area Catholic Schools. In Battle Creek, he created a private foundation that raised $250,000 a year for the schools.
Five years later, he went to Muskegon, Mich., as regional superintendent of Catholic schools and high school principal, where he implemented the first balanced budget in seven years, eliminated a $500,000 deficit, turned around declining enrollment and oversaw an endowment of more than $1 million.
In North Carolina: In 1989, Skube took over leadership of Catholic schools in Charlotte, N.C., where he jokes, "They still spell Catholic with a small 'c'".
There are about 240,000 Catholics in North Carolina, representing about 4 percent of the population. In comparison, the six-county Youngstown diocese alone boasts about 262,000 Catholics, about 22 percent of the population.
Despite the low numbers in North Carolina, Catholic schools are on the rise. When Skube arrived in Charlotte 13 years ago, the diocese had 4,100 students in 13 schools. Today, it has 7,500 in 17 schools. Skube oversaw the construction of two new high schools and three new elementary schools; two additional elementary buildings are in the works.
Last fall, with the latest high school building finished, Skube decided it was time to leave and announced that he would be resigning at the end of this school year.
"I've been here 13 years; that's a long time," he said. "It was time to look for other ventures."
A short time later, a friend introduced him to Sister Mary Brendon Zajac, executive director for pastoral and educational services in the Youngstown diocese.
She was leading the diocese's search for a new schools superintendent. The former superintendent, Dr. Nicholas Wolsonovich, resigned last summer to become superintendent for the Archdiocese of Chicago schools.
In February, after a national search, Bishop Tobin announced Skube's appointment.
Skube said it's too early for him to talk about what he sees as the major challenges facing the local Catholic schools.
"We need to look at what is taking place and then develop the plans and strategies of where we're going to go, together," he said.
"When I work with administrators or pastors or parents, I always work with what their needs are, but I always emphasize that we're all in this together."
Skube said he's excited about the support for Catholic schools in Ohio and the potential for educational vouchers spreading in the state.
Voucher program: The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this summer on the constitutionality of a Cleveland voucher program that provides up to $2,500 to parents to send their child to the school of their choice, including Catholic schools.
If ruled constitutional, supporters say vouchers could expand beyond Cleveland to other areas of the state.
Skube said he supports vouchers and school choice, including charter schools.
"Parents should be given as many viable choices of deciding what is best for their child in terms of education," he said. "If the choices are limited, we've said to the parents, there really aren't any choices."
cole@vindy.com