Parents fail to save last JP Catholic school

This article needs a different headline.

The parents worked very hard and raised an amazing amount of money trying to keep their beloved school open. Despite their tremendous efforts, church officials decided to close the school. The OLOL parents did NOT fail. The church hierarchy decided that this closing, which is collateral damage from the church abuse crisis and the millions it has cost, was financially necessary. This is especially disappointing considering the additional $200,000/year donation and the 2 teacher commitment. A lot of good people wanted to keep this school open.

Best of luck OLOL students.

Good Luck

The parents of OLOL did not fail. The Archdioese, Father Brendan Buckley & the Catholic Schools Office failed OLOL & it's families. What an amazing accomplishment raising that much money in such a short period of time - imagine what we could have accomplished had we known about the deficit as soon as Father Brendan knew...if, in fact, the numbers are even accurate - which we have quesitoned & debated but no one could substantiate, because they did not audit the books and claimed to be "new" to the process - PLEASE! I have been part of the Home & School board for nearly 8 years and every year we contributed a large sum to pay for bills. There lack of understanding of the real numbers is what actually failed us. Not once did Father Brendan extend himself to us or share the financial situation with us in early September. He should be ashamed of himself...why are they turning away such a large sum of money now which would take care of more than the current deficit they claim there is and gives us a good head start for next year (especially with a tuition increase & a local college's support of 2 teacher salaries for 3 years?). They must have a better financial offer for use of the school or parish center which takes up a whole city block in one of the most green, diverse and upcoming neighborhoods in the city - just look at all the new construction around there! Yes, make no doubt about it - I'm so PROUD of our families for rallying and raising such a large sum of money in these hard economic times - I will miss each and every one of them and the amazing faculty - who Father Brendan is now putting on the streets with no jobs - SHAME SHAME SHAME!

Father Brendan never once showed his face to my children at this school. He never once came to say hello to the kids in my class. They do not even know who he is. I am not saying Father Brendan is the devil, but he SHOULD be ashamed at himself with what a truly apathetic job he did as pastor of this school this year. Most of the kids don't even know who he is, especially the younger ones. Why did he take the job if he didn't want to be part of a school? Or maybe he had no choice, maybe he was forced to take the job? I don't know, but either way....he should have risen to the challenge to be a leader in the school who the kids could have looked up to. Now all he is is a big joke to them. Nice job, Father Brendan. He made the excuse that the reason he never showed his face to the kids at our school was that "he was hit with a half- a- million dollar deficit on his first month on the job!"(i know 10 teachers who can attest to this)...Oh really? What does THAT have to do with getting to know the kids of your school and being someone they could look up to? NOTHING. Way to extend yourself to the children, Father!!!

Please....enough with the hate, bitter words, and personal attacks. - it solves nothing and actually hurts the people we are supposedly trying to help.

Sad et al,

What is truly sad is the parents having to admit the lack of pastoral support. Not only did the pastor never meet with the parents but neither did Bishop Hennessey. What happened to the Catholic faith? The anger and hurt is real. The families are real and what hurts is how easily they were ignored. They were not only ignored but even more sadly vilified by those who just seemed incapable of seeing them for who they are – parents who love their children and community; families that find strength in a small Catholic School that teaches their children about love and respect along with academics; families that struggle on a daily basis with the hard economic realities of our times but stretch themselves to the limits to bring any level of security to their children; Catholic families along side their brothers & sisters of other faiths coming together for a common purpose. In the words of Mother Teresa “each one of them is Jesus in disguise.”

How often we say to our children “What would Jesus do?” I don’t think his answer would be to close a school at a time when it is needed most. The Good Shepherd didn’t abandon that one sheep thinking that he could let it go in order to care more about the sheep that stood with the flock. We teach the story of the Good Samaritan to send the message that when times are tough we will find a way to help - you won’t be left dying on the side of the road or ignored simply because we may not all be the same. Sadly, that message is diminished when we close yet another Catholic School; deny children the opportunity they deserve and abandon a community. It is sad when our children will no longer receive that message on a daily basis. These messages were meant to be lived each day of our lives, not merely on a Sunday. Yet, sadly we don’t seem to understand this.

What is sad is that we have reached the point where we hide behind the excuse of money instead of confronting the real issues head on and working with the people to solve them. Not just a select group of people, but the many who too often are not invited to the table or silenced through fear and retribution. Tough times require us to be bold and strengthen our ministries, not cut them out. Where is the leadership? Why do they hide instead of standing up for what is right? When and by whom was it decided that revitalizing Urban Catholic Education would only apply to a select few?

There is much faith in God. Unfortunately the same can not be said for the leadership of the Catholic Church. They allow fear instead of faith to rule them – too afraid to relate and see people, too afraid that there is not enough money. When they let go of the fear of the first, the second will follow. That is what is sad and creates a barrier to those who do great work in the name of God as a personal calling whether they be religious or laity.

May God bless the beautiful families and their children. Please know your struggles are real and there a many who forever stand in solidarity with you.