Cash-strapped D.C. Catholic schools will get an infusion of millions of taxpayer dollars over the next three years from a lease arrangement involving schools that are converting to public charters, The Examiner has learned.

Seven formerly Catholic schools have gotten the green light to switch to public charter schools in the fall, a move that qualifies them for $2 million in local tax dollars annually to cover facilities fees.

The funds will be paid to a board that will operate the new charter schools, and the board plans to pay out those funds to the Washington Archdiocese as rent.

The archdiocese will use half of that money to subsidize four schools that are hanging onto their religious affiliation, according to figures from the archdiocese finance office. The rest will go to the new charters.

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“We’re like any other landlord and can do what we want with rent money,” said archdiocese spokeswoman Susan Gibbs.

Others, though, are worried about the deal and its larger implications.

Lee Glazer, a D.C. parent and activist who has raised concerns about the charter system for years, said it’s an entirely inappropriate use of local dollars.

“They’ve basically created a direct pipeline between taxpayer money and the Catholic Church,” she said. “What it also shows is that there are charter schools that are not really putting the windfall of money they get back into educating their students.”

Facilities fees are paid so that charter schools, which historically have problems finding sites, can secure and maintain their buildings.

The parish schools in D.C. could use the funding boost. Prior to the deal to change the seven schools to charters, archdiocese officials projected a $7 million budget shortfall for next year that would have grown by another $56 million over the next five years.

Mary Levy, a longtime schools budget expert with the Washington Lawyers Committee, said the lease setup does not seem in any way illegal.

Got a tip on the Catholic school conversion? Call Bill Myers at 202-459-4956 or e-mail bmyers@dcexaminer.com.