By Tanya Connor
The Catholic Free Press

Announcements about the closing of Worcester parish schools were made within the past week so families would be notified as soon as possible, Superintendent David Perda said Wednesday.
The schools are closing because of financial struggles and uncertainty in the face of the coronavirus, after pastors and school leaders and staff tried long and hard to avoid that, he said.
Last Friday it was announced that St. Stephen Elementary at 355 Grafton St., which serves students in pre-kindergarten through grade 8, will close at the end of the school year this June.
Msgr. Robert K. Johnson, St. Stephen Parish’s pastor, made the announcement about the closure after Bishop McManus accepted the recommendation from the school leadership, according to a press release.
On Monday it was announced that St. Mary’s Schools, at 50 Richland St., belonging to Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish, will also close. (See accompanying story.)
Asked if other Catholic schools in the diocese are about to close, Superintendent Perda said, “I hope there aren’t any more; I don’t think there’ll be any more.” But things are uncertain with the coronavirus.
Efforts are being made to help students get into other Catholic schools for the same tuition rates they would have paid at St. Stephen’s and St. Mary’s, he said.
“It’s my job as superintendent to make sure all the students who want a Catholic education are able to get it,” he said.
Students were looking forward to returning to school and “we’re dropping this news on them late in the game.” So, St. Peter Central Catholic Elementary and the new St. Paul Diocesan Junior/Senior High School will try to honor the closing schools’ tuition rates if at all possible, he said. Other area Catholic elementary schools have also expressed interest in helping these students.
Superintendent Perda said he sent a letter to the families of the closing schools with details about their options for Catholic education locally.
Asked if the closures will help St. Paul’s, he said, “This is not something that was done to strengthen one school or another.” The concern was that schools would be viable; otherwise the education they provide could be adversely affected. And the diocese was not in the position to cover schools’ financial deficits.
Asked why the announcements were made now, as schools are finishing for the summer and students are taking exams, the superintendent said, “I think we had already delayed the announcement as long as we could,” while pastors held out hope of increasing enrollment.
“It’s June,” he said. “That’s really late in the game for families. We don’t want to do that to families. It’s not the right way to operate.” So they were informed as soon as possible.
As more people were brought into the conversation, there was a concern about information leaking out to the community, he said, adding that it’s not fair for families to read about such decisions on social media. He said they did not want to disrupt students’ lives during exams either.
Asked if there are any plans to help the staff find other jobs, he said there is “no formal process, not yet anyway.”
Giving reasons for the closings, the superintendent said it was a struggle to prepare a budget that showed that the schools would break even for the current academic year and for next year. In addition, there is uncertainty about next year because of the coronavirus pandemic, as schools wait to learn what state restrictions will entail, he said. A preview of that has come from restrictions already announced for pre-kindergarten, he said.
“Remote learning worked well in Catholic education this year, but there may be some families (that) … want to see what that’s going to look like” next year, before enrolling their children, he said. Yet schools need to make staffing decisions over the summer, and those decisions depend on the number of students enrolled.
 

St. Stephen’s

 
“Despite our best efforts, this has been a perfect storm of challenges, including the coronavirus, unemployment and so much uncertainty in the lives of many of our school families,” Msgr. Johnson said in the press release about St. Stephen’s. “The enrollment numbers were simply not high enough to be able to continue providing an excellent education to the students while being fiscally responsible as an inner-city parish.”
 St. Stephen’s was facing an enrollment of 112 students for the fall, down by 39 from the 2019-2020 academic year, the press release said. The added uncertainty, according to Msgr. Johnson, is that some of those parents could change their minds in the fall if their financial situations take a turn for the worse.
Tuition for St. Stephen’s is between $5,000 and $5,400 per year and 20 percent of the students were receiving financial aid, the press release said.
It said the school was founded in 1924 and its high school was closed in 1971 after briefly being part of the central Catholic schools system.
“We can never forget the rich history and the dedication of all of the sisters, priests, faculty, staff and administration over the years,” said a message on the school’s website from Msgr. Johnson and Joanne Mallozzi, principal.
“St. Stephen Parish, although holding its own as a parish, does not have the finances it had years ago to be able to bear the fiscal burden if there were operational losses next year,” Msgr. Johnson said in the press release. “The diocese also made it clear that, given investment losses and its own financial challenges, it could not cover operating losses at individual parish schools.”
“While it is never welcome news to have to announce that a Catholic school must close, I want to thank the families, faculty, staff and administration who tried to make it work,” Bishop McManus said in St. Stephen’s press release. “In the end, there were no options.”