Her school on South Third Street is one of five South Philadelphia elementary schools that will close and consolidate into a new regional school, the former Stella Maris on Bigler Street.
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput and a 16-member blue-ribbon commission that recommended the closures said that as painful as school closings are, these are a critical component of a comprehensive plan to halt declining enrollment and rising deficits to ensure Catholic education remains viable.
Roman Catholic dioceses across the country have been grappling with the same problems of declining enrollment and rising school deficits and have come up with similar plans in the last few years to deal with them. Experts on Catholic education point to the Archdioceses of New York, Washington, and Baltimore, as well as the Diocese of Brooklyn. The Diocese of Camden closed several Catholic schools a few years ago as part of a restructuring plan.
"The major point is that Philadelphia does not look to be alone," said Michael J. Petrilli, executive vice president of the Fordham Institute in Washington, which has studied Catholic education.
Rising deficits
Philadelphia's plan is aimed at addressing widening deficits at many of the schools - the annual average was $319,162, a 25 percent increase since 2001. The archdiocese and parishes have spent $751 million to support the schools over that time. Commission Chairman John J. Quindlen has estimated the closings could save the archdiocese as much as $10 million a year.
"We cannot sustain unsustainable schools," Chaput said Friday when the commission's report was announced.
