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A man prays near crosses outside Annunciation Church in Minneapolis Aug. 28, 2025, following a shooting the previous day. A shooter opened fire with a rifle through the windows of the school's church and struck children attending Mass Aug. 27 during the first week of school, killing two and wounding two dozen others in an act of violence the police chief called "absolutely incomprehensible." (OSV News photo/Tim Evans, Reuters)

Catholic schools’ new year sees safety, security and budget impacts after school shooting


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OSV News Filed Under: Feature, Gun Violence, News, World News

CHICAGO (OSV News) — As the new school year starts in multiple Catholic districts across the country, 2025’s deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during the parish school’s all-school Mass has kept safety and security on the minds of some Catholic school officials and archdioceses with sizable Catholic school districts.

A former student at Annunciation Catholic School opened fire through the stained-glass windows of the church Aug. 27, 2025, while Mass marking the beginning of the school year was being celebrated. Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, died in the pews and two dozen people including three adults in their 80s were injured.

The shooter, 23-year old Robin (formerly Robert) Westman was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the church parking lot. It was believed to be the first time in recent school shooting history a Catholic school was the target.

In the aftermath, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara indicated the tragedy could have been much worse had not the church doors been locked. The shooter planned to trap Massgoers by barricading the exits before entering the church — but O’Hara said Westman shot through the windows after discovering he couldn’t enter the building.

“The Annunciation shooting really shone a light on the school Mass,” said Gregory Farno, chancellor of education at the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Farno told OSV News that the vulnerability of school Masses had to be addressed, while safety at the archdiocese’s approximately 40 schools has always been a top concern.

He said, “We looked at what should best practices be? And what is most effective? And through that, we developed, I would call it a fairly comprehensive list of practices that we felt strongly should be examined by each and every one of our schools and parishes.”

Some measures include locking some church doors while also keeping within fire and safety exit codes, and doing thorough ocular safety checks inside the churches just before Masses.

“We could come up with a solution that maybe costs a significant amount of money, like 24/7 surveillance. But realistically, can our communities all afford that? Probably not. So we had to also understand what the realities are,” Farno said Aug. 19, one week before the start of their new school year.

While not giving too many details — for security’s sake — on the new safety measures, Farno did confirm to OSV News that the schools’ budget has been augmented for bigger ticket items like security personnel. He also said the district was pursuing grants, and doing fundraising, as needed.

Budgeting for security and safety measures at schools can be particularly burdensome, according to Kenneth Trump, a school safety and security analyst (with no relation to President Donald Trump). He told OSV News the safest place to be after a school shooting is where it happened.

“Because everyone’s thinking about school safety,” he said. “But six months or six years down the road, is there that same level of awareness, commitment, concern, diligence and making it a priority? And we can say that safety is a priority, all that we want in our rhetoric — but ultimately, the question is: Is it reflected as a priority in our budgets?”

Trump said, “For example, ‘school safety’ spending might include cameras, access control, weapons detection systems, panic buttons, radios and other communications technology, school resource officers or security staff, mental health professionals, threat assessment programs, emergency preparedness training, security assessments, consultants, and other services.”

The budget burden can become significant.

“Some are one-time capital expenditures,” he said. “Others involve annual licensing, subscriptions, maintenance, upgrades, training, staffing or replacement costs that continue year after year.”

Trump, a Catholic whose children went to Catholic school, said Catholic schools have a “double-edged sword” where parish-based locations have a strong sense of community, but at the same time this could make for lax attitudes and thinking that “it can never happen here.”

Logistically, he said, parishes that hold school Mass grapple with being welcoming while also balancing the need for “reducing risks and having some basic security measures in place to protect the school side.”

Other Catholic school districts of large archdioceses around the country were cautious about sharing information on safety or security plans with OSV News heading into the new school year.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles said they do not discuss safety or security protocols. But it also added in an email to OSV News: “Our Catholic schools review and assess their security protocols and procedures on an ongoing basis according to the needs of the school to ensure the safety and well-being of our students, families, staff and visitors.”

The Archdiocese of Chicago said in a statement it does not discuss “specific security measures or procedures,” but emphasized safety is a priority.

“The Archdiocese conducts physical security assessments of churches, schools and other parish properties and works closely with local law enforcement and other federal, state, and local emergency response partners to identify areas where additional security measures may be appropriate. We also provide parishes with active-shooter preparedness training, security presentations and guidance to help parish leaders and staff understand how to respond to potential threats and secure their buildings,” said the statement.

“The Office of Catholic Schools also reviewed and updated its safety guidance and trainings during the summer before the tragedy in Minneapolis,” it added.

The Archdiocese of Boston said it also does not discuss safety protocols but confirmed, in an email, having “a robust training program for schools and parishes and (providing) a number of services and support throughout the year. We are constantly evaluating and enhancing our training and safety programs all year.”

While attention was on the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis schools after the shooting, at the state level the Minnesota Catholic Conference continued to push for state funding that would help support safety and security measures at Catholic schools.

Jason Adkins, the Catholic conference’s executive director, said that nonpublic schools in Minnesota have been seeking state levy funding to cover school safety measures, since the 2023 Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, that could include building improvements, security personnel and crisis counseling for students.

“We renewed that request in 2025 in advance of the 2026 session, but even after the Annunciation tragedy, the coalition of public school associations is resolutely opposed to expanding school safety funding in meaningful ways that support nonpublic school students,” Adkins told OSV News.

“We think it should be considered a matter of public safety to protect all students, and not a struggle between public and private schools over school funding,” he said. “We are disappointed that public school groups continue to put politics ahead of the safety of all kids, which was the principal reason the legislation failed to move forward in 2026.”

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