Parishes react to school closings

In Dorchester, they're relieved. In Brighton, they're pleading for time. And in South Boston, they're talking about independence.

Days after the Archdiocese of Boston announced that three additional parochial schools -- in South Boston, Brighton, and Everett -- will be closed this year and two schools in Dorchester will merge, parents, principals, and pastors began the difficult work of planning, pleading, and fighting their demise.

Parish members have been seeking advice on retaining assets. One school hired a lawyer and started fund-raising. Another began studying the best way to merge two schools. Little has been spelled out, and parents and politicians are calling hasty meetings to figure out strategies.

"They say you can appeal, but how do you do it?" asked Janice Carthas, principal of St. Peter's School in South Boston.

The three additional schools that are folding are trying different tacks -- one is asking for a year's delay, another is hoping to join another parish or start an independent academy, and a third is accepting its demise.

The Archdiocese of Boston has said it is closing, in all, nine parochial schools this year. But several parents said they fear more will close in the coming year. Councilor Jerry McDermott, a parishioner at Our Lady of the Presentation in Brighton, said he was sure more closings are in store.

Parents from Presentation's school said yesterday they had asked the archdiocese to postpone its closing for a year. Parents could then explore partnerships with other churches or institutions, such as Boston College, said McDermott, whose children attend the school. The stay would give parents more time and more options to choose schools.

The archdiocese would consider appeals, said the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne, spokesman for Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley.

South Boston parents took immediate steps to turn St. Peter's School into a private or charter school. Parents opened a bank account to collect funds for Peter Academy. They had a lawyer prepare an injunction to stop the archdiocese from taking the $200,000 that parents had raised earlier for the school.

"We feel the money the parents paid for tuition and the fund-raising is for the good of the children," Carthas said.

Coyne said bank accounts are part of a church's assets. The money would be used to retire any debt, and the remaining amount would be transferred into a general fund.

Parent leaders also began discussing whether St. Vincent's Church in South Boston could take over St. Peter's School, said parent Nancy Burns. The school would continue to operate independently, using money from tuition and fund-raising.

The archdiocese's reconfiguration plan also called for dissolving St. Margaret's and St. William's parishes and schools in Dorchester and merging them under a new name. The merged school would hold about 350 students, said Michael Marcinkus, St. William's principal.

Immaculate Conception School in Everett has been through such trials. Parents tried to prevent the closing after the archdiocese signaled in January that it could happen, said principal Katherine Kinnally. Parents raised $10,000 and recruited students beyond the 140-pupil minimum their pastor said they needed. Parishioners learned last week the school would close anyway.

Kinnally said other schools would be wise to take note. The archdiocese "is not going to reconsider," she said. "Allow the staff and the children to grieve."

Secretary of State William F. Galvin filed legislation Wednesday requiring any public or private school to give parents 100 days' notice before locking its doors.

Coyne said the archdiocese would avoid announcing future school closings late in the school year. He said officials were aware that they had vowed not to close schools late in the year last year, after the archdiocese was lambasted for announcing on the last day of school that St. Augustine's School in South Boston would not reopen.

Suzanne Sataline can be reached at sataline@globe.com.