SAN DIEGO — In August of 2025, the month after his installation as the seventh bishop of San Diego, Bishop Michael Pham established the Task Force for Schools.
Diocesan Superintendent Leticia Oseguera views the creation of the task force as representing the greatest impact that Bishop Pham has had on Catholic education in his first year at the helm.
“This is the big one,” she said, “and I think that the bishop is very proud of this work and excited for what it can mean for our Catholic schools.”
The task force came about as part of a process that began about three months earlier, when Bishop Pham was serving as diocesan administrator before being named bishop of San Diego.
At that time, Bishop Pham called for synodal dialogue sessions with principals and pastors on how to strengthen Catholic education in the diocese and transform local schools into “Beacons of Hope” — the overarching theme of those dialogues.
Oseguera noted Bishop Pham’s commitment to continuing the synodal approach that began under Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, consulting lay leaders first rather than simply imposing a diocesan policy from above.
She said that Bishop Pham was eager to hear from school leaders about “their hopes and dreams for our Catholic schools,” as well as their current challenges, and how diocesan support can help overcome those challenges.
Principals and pastors gathered separately in May of 2025 and together that September for dialogue sessions. On the same day as the latter session, the Office for Schools announced the creation of the task force.
“It was important to Bishop Pham that it wasn’t just a listening session, but that it turned into action,” Oseguera said.
The task force, which is composed of the Schools Office staff, two pastors, a representative of the University of San Diego, and two Catholic elementary school principals, came up with short-term goals that are to be accomplished by the conclusion of the current school year and long-term goals to be completed within the next two to five years.
Of the long-term goals, Oseguera said, “Some of them are very ambitious.”
The goals fall under three broad categories, or “domains,” including: Mission & Catholic Identity, Governance & Leadership, and Academic Excellence. The goals were approved by Bishop Pham, who required that they be clear and specific. They were presented to principals and pastors this year on Aug. 4, the second of a two-day Leadership Summit held at Cathedral Catholic High School.
Oseguera said that feedback received during the summit was “very positive,” with principals telling her that this was the first time that they felt that there was “a tangible progress towards improving all of our Catholic schools as a whole.”
Over the past year, the Office for Schools also made a significant change in its professional development opportunities – something that also came as a result of listening to the needs of educators.
The annual convocation, which had traditionally been held in late August, was pushed to October last year and moved a little earlier this year to Sept. 25.
The later date removed the event from the hectic weeks immediately preceding the start of a new school year, so that participating educators could better focus on the event, without being distracted or stressed by everything that had to be done before the first day of classes.
The convocation is now a full-day rather than half-day event, and is focused exclusively on Mission & Catholic Identity. Last year, for the first time, preschool educators were invited to participate; the approximately 1,000 attendees represented preschool through high school.
