Feb. 6, 2008

Two Schools Set to Close in June

Our Lady of the Cenacle School in Richmond Hill and St. Finbar’s School in Bath Beach will each graduate its last class in June and will not reopen in the fall after several years of declining enrollment and increasing dependency on diocesan and parish funding to remain operational.

The decisions were made public at separate meetings with teachers and parents. Auxiliary Bishop Frank J. Caggiano addressed the St. Finbar’s parents’ meeting, attended by about 100. Dr. Thomas Chadzutko, Superintendent of the Office of Catholic School Support Services met with Our Lady of the Cenacle’s parents.

When assessing a school’s future, a principal factor that guides diocesan school officials is a long-held benchmark that states that when enrollment from kindergarten to eighth grade falls below 225, it is considered at-risk of closing, said Dr. Chadzutko.

St. Finbar’s current enrollment for those grades is 124, the lowest among Catholic schools in the Brooklyn West Vicariate. The K-to-8 enrollment at Our Lady of the Cenacle is 179, fewer by 35 students than the prior year.

Scheduled to close in 2005, St. Finbar’s School was granted a reprieve after parents presented a business plan that was intended to establish viability over a three- to-five-year period. Despite the enthusiasm of parents to expand the student body and counter the fiscal challenges in the two years that followed, achieving those goals remained elusive.

At the time the business plan was written in 2005, the school had 138 K-8 students, a decline of 22 from the prior year. The enrollment was bumped up by 14 pupils to 152 in 2006, but dropped by 28 when classes began last September.

Meanwhile, it is expected that the Diocese will subsidize the school an amount between $120,000 and $160,000 for this school year. The subsidy last year was $119,000. Bishop Caggiano explained to the parents that the parish will not have the funds to continue to subsidize the school, which was established in l964.

Tuition per child is $3,750, but the actual cost of educating a student is almost double that amount at $7,326, according to statistics from the Office of Catholic School Support Services.

At Our Lady of the Cenacle, founded in l950, tuition this year is $3,340, while the per-pupil cost is $4,644. The parish does not have financial reserves to subsidize the school. In fact, this year the parish will require an operating subsidy of more than $90,000 from the Diocese.

Dr. Thomas Chadzutko assured the parents of both schools that seats will be available for their children in other Catholic schools. Plans are also underway to assist the faculty members who wish to continue employment in a Catholic school, he said. They will be placed on a priority list that will be sent to principals of other Catholic schools in Brooklyn and Queens.

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2/6/08