Diocese won't reverse six school closures

The Diocese of Rockville Centre said Wednesday that despite protests from parents it will not reverse its decision to close six Catholic grammar schools, dashing families' hopes for a "Christmas miracle."

Diocesan education officials spent Wednesday meeting with principals and parent leaders to explain the decision, but parents said they remain undeterred and will continue campaigning to keep their schools open. Nearly 1,000 students from kindergarten to eighth grade would be affected, according to diocesan figures.

"We are not backing down," said Joseph Malerba, a member of the school board at St. Ignatius Loyola School in Hicksville. "The school is 104 years old, and we'd like it to be around another 100 years."

Diocesan spokesman Sean Dolan said the church acknowledges the decision to close the schools next June is painful, but the move was made after an 18-month study of all the schools in the diocese.

"The decision is not going to change in terms of the status of the schools," Dolan said.

The diocese closely studied enrollment patterns at the schools, Dolan said. That, along with factors including an expected decline in the general grammar school-age population on Long Island in coming years, led officials to decide they had no choice but to close some of the diocese's 53 grammar schools.

"It's one of the most difficult decisions the bishop has had to make," Dolan said, referring to Bishop William Murphy.

But parents vowed to fight back. "The diocese is under siege. There are so many people upset," said Terry Dennelly, a parent leader at Prince of Peace in Sayville.

"We really believe it is worth fighting for," said Annemarie DeTommaso-Rodgers, head of the Parent Teacher Organization at St. Catherine of Sienna in Franklin Square. Added school board member Rebecca Novoa: "I feel they [the diocese] are missing the heart of Franklin Square and the potential of the school. . . . I believe nothing is final until the doors are closed."

The schools slated to shutter in June also include Sacred Heart School in North Merrick, St. John Baptist De LaSalle Regional School in Farmingdale, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Lindenhurst. The closings were first reported by Newsday on Dec. 6.

Parents have held rallies and candlelight vigils, written letters, launched petitions and called the diocese asking that church officials reconsider their decision. The latest rally was Wednesday at St. Catherine of Sienna.

Parents at Sacred Heart said they consider their school a model of academic excellence and that in the past three years the school has built a new gym, doubled fundraising to $123,000 last year and increased enrollment. "They didn't have the facts they needed to evaluate our school," said one parent, Susan Carroll.