Parents devastated over school's closing

Parents of students at Stella Maris, the oldest Roman Catholic school on Long Island, stood proudly on the steps of the school in Sag Harbor with an oversized check for $50,000 they had raised in just a few weeks to save the historic institution.

Two days later, diocesan leaders gave them the bad news: The prekindergarten to eighth-grade school would be closing at the end of June anyway.

For at least 128 years, since around the time nuns from Europe arrived to staff it, Stella Maris has served as a source of pride in the community.

"My kid runs into the building; she wakes up on the weekends wanting to go," said Janine Rayano, whose daughter, Ava, 5, is a pre-K student who would have attended kindergarten in the fall.

Now, parents are shocked, anguished and angry that they weren't given more time to rescue the school. The planned closing has resulted in the resignation of principal Jane Peters, some board members and parent association leaders.

Parents say that until April 12, they didn't know their school was in desperate straits.

"If the school was in trouble, why didn't someone speak out?" said Elizabeth Linker, a parent from East Hampton who helped organize the fundraising. "It's really heartbreaking the school is closing. I haven't spoken to a person who isn't devastated."

"We are in the Hamptons," said another parent leader, Pat Conigliaro. "There is money to be raised and it really wasn't a lot of money."

Officials at the Diocese of Rockville Centre said the school, with 127 students enrolled this year, had accumulated a deficit of $480,000 and needed the parents of at least 102 students to commit to attending in the fall to stay open. Diocesan spokesman Sean Dolan said just 44 had signed up by the deadline in early May. Five grades had three or fewer students enrolled for September.

"Unfortunately, there is no way that a school can operate academically or financially with so few students," said Bishop William Murphy, of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, in a letter to parishioners.

Stella Maris is one of four schools closed in the last year by the diocese, which runs 51 elementary schools.

Last year, officials also announced they were forced to cut church jobs throughout Long Island, and that nearly half the 133 parishes in the diocese were operating at a deficit despite steady donations, in part because of an increase in requests for the church's services.

Dolan said the school administration and board, as well as the pastors who oversee Stella Maris, have been aware of the financial troubles for months and have been working to resolve them.

The school's demise has jolted the community, and provoked acrimony among school and parent leaders. All declined to comment. In his own open letter to parishioners, the Rev. Michael J. Rieder, executive pastor of Stella Maris, called for healing and reconciliation.

"As sad as it is to see any Catholic school close, the sadness is magnified at Stella Maris by the apparent division in the Body of Christ that is this school community," he wrote. "Lashing out at brothers and sisters in need, as has happened here recently, does not fit into the picture of who we are as Christians in a Catholic school."

The school dates to 1859, when the first classes were held in the sacristy of St. Andrew's church. The original two-story school building opened in 1883 and was run by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, an order of nuns based in France.

By 1964, the building was demolished when the present school opened in a new structure across the street. In 1992, with enrollment declining, the school merged with Most Holy Trinity School of East Hampton, and was renamed Stella Maris -- Latin for "Star of the Sea."

The school, where parents pay about $5,000 in annual tuition, draws students mainly from five parishes in Montauk, East Hampton, Bridgehampton, Shelter Island and Sag Harbor. One Sacred Heart of Mary sister still works there. Without it, the nearest Catholic elementary school is Our Lady of the Hamptons Regional Catholic School in Southampton.

"It's really, really sad," Conigliaro said. "It's a wonderful place that's not going to exist anymore. It creates good people and for that it's been priceless for our community."