At least 24 archdiocese schools appeal closings

The Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia fighting proposed closings and mergers have held candlelight vigils, organized rallies and marches, and served up spaghetti dinners.

As part of their fund-raising campaigns, they have created Facebook pages, set up Twitter accounts, and sold everything from T-shirts to hair tinsel in school colors.

They also have made presentations with enrollment data and financial projections to archdiocesan officials.

Now, they await word of their fates.

Nearly half the 49 schools targeted for closure challenged a blue-ribbon commission's recommendations. They will find out mid-February whether their efforts and formal appeals persuaded Archbishop Charles J. Chaput to spare them.

"We're cautiously optimistic, but we have no idea what is going to happen," said Kathryn Ott Lovell, a 1992 graduate of St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls and a member of the school's board of advisers.

On Thursday night, the school in Holmesburg sold St. Hubert's merchandise in the cafeteria. The $8,781 raised at "Brown & Gold Night" boosted the Save St. Hubert's campaign total to $768,397.

On Wednesday - which happened to be the middle of Catholic Schools Week - was the deadline for schools to file appeals. The archdiocese won't say how many did.

"We are not releasing the number of appeals that were made," said Kenneth Gavin, a spokesman for the archdiocese. "Even though the appeal meetings are over, no final decisions have been announced. Everything is under review."

An Inquirer survey found that, of the 45 Catholic elementary schools slated to be closed in June and consolidated with other schools, at least 21 filed appeals. Many schools set to be the site of mergers appealed as well.

Some elementary-school principals did not respond to phone calls or declined to comment.

Three of the four targeted high schools filed challenges. Only West Catholic did not.

The appeals poured in after the commission's recommendations were announced Jan. 6 for restructuring Catholic education in the five-county archdiocese. Because plans call for renaming and altering the combined schools, the recommendations affect 81 elementary schools - nearly half of the 156 open now.

On the day of the announcement, Chaput said that, while he had faith in the commission, he would review cases in which schools believed decisions were based on incorrect information.