Jan 19, 2009 12:19 am US/Eastern
5 Catholic Schools To Close At End Of School Year
Schools Will Close In June 2009
MIRAMAR (CBS4) ―
On the same weekend that the Archdiocese of Miami began their annual ABCD appeal for charities, at least two churches had grim news for their parishioners: they will close their catholic elementary schools in June.
In another sign of our economic times, the Archdiocese of Miami will be closing at a handful of schools in South Florida at the end of the school year due to a revenue and enrollment shortfall. The Archdiocese faces million of dollars in stock market losses and declining donations.
Sacred Heart Catholic School parents and alumni in Homestead held an impromptu rally outside the parish offices to protest the end of a 55-year tradition. "I don't knock any other school but this is a family and you hate to see families go, lamented Joyce Ackerman, whose children attend Sacred Heart."
Nicole Seymour, who graduated from Sacred Heart told
CBS4 News Reporter Joan Murray, "Not only would Catholics lose a valuable education but Sacred Heart contributes a lot to this community."
Sources familiar with the plan told our news partners at The Miami Herald that Archbishop John C. Favalora will announce the closing of St. Francis Xavier, Corpus Christi and Holy Family schools on Thursday.
Some closings have already been announced. Sacred Heart principal August Silva wrote a note to the 100 families that send students to the school. "It is often said that God has a plan," the letter said. "At this point, we do not know what the future holds, but we can only pray that this end may be temporary and the beginning of a new venture."
In an open letter to his parishioners Sunday, Pastor Alejandro Roque of St. Stephen Catholic Church, located at 2 thousand South State Road 7, said the St. Stephen Catholic School in Miramar will close its doors for good in June 2009.
St. Stephen and Sacred Heart are among more than a dozen schools that the archdiocese subsidizes with annual contributions. They are schools that they say they can no longer afford to support.
In his statement Roque wrote:
For years now the Archdiocese of Miami has been subsidizing it by way of a loan in order to assist with mandatory teacher's benefits and debts that the school tuition was not able to cover. This past April and November 2008, with the Stock Market collapse, those Archdiocesan funds are basically gone and we will only be able to receive assistance until the end of our current school year - June 2009.
In order to remain open, Roque said the 53-year-old school would need to enroll 250 students in grades K through 12. Tuition would also have to be raised to $5 thousand per year. Roque said currently only about 170 students are enrolled in St. Stephen and 'that number keeps dropping because many parents cannot afford the tuition due to the economic situation'.
Roque said up to this point they've done all they could to cut expenses, but it has not been enough to keep the school in the black.
During this past year, we also cut the salaries of Teachers, Staff (Church and School), the Sisters and Clergy as well as cut out extra expenses (like the professional lawn maintenance service) and even laid-off employees that helped with the upkeep of our school and church premises… yet it has not been enough! The truth is that, with the economy the way it stands and the fiscal projections that are being given by the experts, things will get worse before there is a turnaround in the economy. I, too, recognize that our Church and School will never be able to increase the student numbers necessary and to provide those additional funds from such an increase in tuition -- it will never happen!
St. Stephen associate pastor Father Jonathan Closner said, "The archdiocese will make every effort to find the displaced students a place at another catholic school in our area."
Roque encouraged parents who wish to continue to enroll their children in a Catholic education school to make arrangements with St. Bartholomew's Church and School, also in Miramar, which has offered to accept St. Stephen students space permitting.
The closest Catholic school to Sacred Heart is Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. The Cutler Bay school is 12 miles away. The students have closer options in public and charter schools in South Miami-Dade; many parents say they are less attractive options.
Sacred Heart parents plan to make a vigorous fundraising effort to avoid closure. Julie Rivero said, "We honestly believe we can do it. We just need everyone's backing."
(© MMIX CBS Television Stations. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this report)
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