Our riverwards have been hit hard by the Archdiocese’s decisions to close Catholic Schools.  The list now grows longer.  Added to our past experiences with the closing of Holy Name, St. Anne’s, Nativity, Our Lady Help of Christians, North Catholic, Ascension, St. Michael’s and Immaculate Conception, we now add to that list those recently announced schools to be shut down by the Archdiocese at the end of this school year.

On Friday, January 6, the Archdiocese held a press conference and announced the recommendations by the Blue Ribbon Commission.  The Commission reports that enrollment in Catholic schools is down 72% since 1961.  Another statistic reported by the Commission is that baptisms into the Catholic Church have decreased 46% in the last twenty years.  They also claim that if they didn’t close schools, the alternative would be reduce programs, increase tuition and cut resources.   “It is a death spiral,” stated the Commission.  With low and declining enrollment, the result is less competitive academic programs.  The only viable solution the Archdiocese sees is to create regional schools and close down school buildings.

Among the schools to be closed as announced on Friday in our readership are:  St. George, Port Richmond, merges with Our Lady of Port Richmond at Thompson Street; St. Laurentius merges with St. Peter the Apostle at 5th Street; St. Malachy merges with Visitation BVM at Lehigh Avenue; Pope John Paul II Regional, Bridesburg, merges with St. Timothy at Levick Street.  In addition, St. Hubert’s High School which many in our community attend, is on the list of school closures.

The repeated theme in the Commission’s report is that they are making these changes (closures and mergers into regional schools) so that Catholic education remains accessible, affordable and that the schools can be financially sustained.

The community reactions to these closures have been spirited and passionate and their opinions differ greatly from that of the Commission.