NY Archiocese eyes school mergers, closures

The Archdiocese of New York is studying ways to save Catholic education and plans to release a list of schools next month that may have to merge or close.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan's strategic plan, Pathway to Excellence, will serve as a road map for maintaining and growing Catholic education and Catholic schools in the archdiocese, spokesman Joe Zwilling said .

The New York Times reported that as many as 30 of 216 archdiocese schools may be affected because of falling enrollments. But Zwilling told The Associated Press no list exists at this point. "It's wrong to say there is a predetermined number," he said.

"When there is an initial list of schools that are 'in trouble' or in difficulty, parents, principals and pastors will be given an opportunity to respond before any final decisions are made," he said, adding that Pathway to Excellence will be released sometime next month.

Last year the archdiocese, which includes Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and seven upstate counties, closed two schools and merged another two in June, Zwilling said. In the past five years it closed or merged nearly two dozen schools, he added.

Dolan has said that all parishes should support all the schools in the archdiocese instead of just their own.

In a column in Catholic New York on Sept. 9, Dolan also said that a view that Catholic schools are only the duty of parents who have children attending was "non-Catholic."

"If we do not consolidate or close some of our schools, all will suffer. If we prudently merge some, all will be helped. New ones can open; others can be expanded," he wrote.