http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/01/18/archdiocese_plans_to_close_small_chelsea_grade_school/

 

Archdiocese plans to close small Chelsea grade school

 CHELSEA -- A 78-year-old Catholic grade school will close in June, thelatest in a string of closings of small Catholic schools in EasternMassachusetts, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston said yesterday.

 

The archdiocese said enrollment has been falling for some time atthe Our Lady of Grace School, which sits on the Chelsea-Everett line.

Theschool, which has pupils from preschool through eighth grade, had 278students 10 years ago; today the enrollment is 177, and schoolofficials projected that it could drop to as low as 145 next fall. Atthe same time, expenses have been rising, according to an archdiocesanspokesman.

There is room for the pupils at other Catholic schoolsin the area, including one in Chelsea, as well as in Everett, Malden,and Revere, said the spokesman, Terrence C. Donilon. The school's 12teachers will be placed on a priority list for hiring by other Catholicschools, Donilon said.

"Established in 1929, the school has arich legacy of service to its parishioners and its neighborhoodcommunities," Donilon said in a statement.

"Every possible effortwas made to continue that tradition," he said, "but changingdemographics and finances have regrettably and sadly prevented thatfrom happening."

The parish associated with the school has agrowing population of Haitian immigrants, and the school has a diversepopulation that includes children from white, Haitian, and Asianfamilies, Donilon said.

Staff members were told of the closing yesterday, and parents were told at a meeting last night.

As he left the church , one parent, Daniel Viggiani, said the closing was not a complete surprise.

"Thefinancial situation of the Catholic Church in Massachusetts has beenpretty well publicized. It's just part of a chain reaction," saidViggiani, whose son attends prekindergarten at the school. "It lookslike it's back to public school."

Some of the parents and students leaving the meeting were visibly upset, having just learned of the closing.

"Ijust wish there was something we could do," said a tearful woman whoidentified herself only as Laura, the mother of two children at theschool.

Most parents praised the school 's faculty and staff, andsaid they will look for other area Catholic schools with openings fortheir children.

Representatives from the archdiocese at themeeting handed out lists of such schools, and although parents weretold their children would get first chance at the openings, they didnot seem hopeful.

"Am I going to have to put my son in adifferent Catholic school after the next two years?" asked Dean, afather who attended the meeting.

Donilon said about 70 parentsand teachers attended last night's two-hour meeting, and most were notpleased with the decision. "They were upset, and understandably so.Those parents . . . care a lot about Catholic education. We had somegood discussion, and they had some very good comments."

Susan,whose third-grade niece attends the school, was saddened by the closingand said the closure will scatter a close-knit community. "My husbandcooked for the spaghetti suppers. We're going to have movie night onFriday," she said. "We had a lot of good questions, but they didn'thave any good answers."

Archdiocesan officials have beenauthorizing the closing of several parish schools a year in response todwindling enrollment, particularly in older cities. Catholic schools inthe archdiocese now educate about 49,000 students, down from 153,000 in1965.

Catholic schools have traditionally encouraged the faithamong the young and helped boost the academic and professionalprospects of poor children who otherwise would go to struggling publicschools.

The archdiocese has acknowledged ignoring many of the findings of a strategic plan in the early 1990s for its schools.

InOctober 2005, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley appointed businessman JackConnors Jr. , a prominent critic of archdiocesan leadership during theclergy sex abuse scandal, to lead a panel to examine the future ofCatholic education in Greater Boston. O'Malley has pledged to take thepanel's recommendations seriously.

O'Malley and Connors have saidthat more schools will probably need to close, that school fund-raisingwill need to increase dramatically, and that schools will need to shareresources and knowledge.

Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.