Diocese to close one school, build another
3:05 PM Fri, Mar 14, 2008 | Permalink
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PROVIDENCE -- The Diocese of Providence’s Catholic School Office today announced that St. Leo the Great School in Pawtucket will close at the end of this school year because of declining enrollment and increasing operational costs. However, the office also announced that it's keeping open two other schools that have struggled with enrollment -- Burrillville’s Father Holland School and Warwick’s St. Kevin School. And the office announced that Immaculate Conception Parish in Cranston will build a new school to replace the Cranston/Johnston Catholic Regional School. A decision on Sacred Heart School in East Providence, which has also struggled with declining enrollment, will be announced next month. Parents were notified of St. Leo's closing through a letter sent home with students yesterday afternoon, according to a release from the Diocese of Providence's Catholic School Office. Faculty and staff were notified yesterday afternoon and will receive priority application status at other Catholic schools in the state, the diocese said. In a letter to parents, Father Kevin Fisette, pastor of St. Leo the Great Parish, said efforts would be made to place students in other Catholic schools. The school will host an open house at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday during which area Catholic schools will discuss their programs. St. Leo the Great needs a minimum of 165 students, but reported 92 paid registrations for the 2008-2009 school year. In 2004, there were 318 students enrolled. The school can accommodate up to 400 students. According to the diocese, the new school at the Immaculate Conception Parish in Cranston will replace the Cranston/Johnston Catholic Regional School and will become the Immaculate Conception Catholic Regional School. The 42,000-square-foot school will serve a maximum of 325 students in kindergarten through the 8th grade. Proceeds from the sale of the existing Cranston/Johnston Catholic Regional School will go toward the estimated $9.2-million construction cost of the new school. Construction will begin this spring with a targeted completion date of August 2009. 
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So the Catholic Church is following the money. What else is new?
Any day now we'll be reading that they're reviving the old custom of selling indulgences, and they ought to make a bundle in Cvanston.
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I don't understand the Catholic Church. How can you close one school, that's already standing, and spend 9 million on a new school in the same state. Seems quite silly to me. Really wish they would have given St. leo's a second chance. No other Catholic school in pawtucket can really compete with St. Leo's, and I won't be sending my daughter to any of them. This is what turns me off about the Catholic Church, they are the richest organization in the world, and they can't afford to help out st. leo's?? whats wrong with this picture? guess they're spending too much on lawyers???
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funny you publish the comments bad mouthing the church, but not the real reasons the school failed to get enough enrollment....the two other schools are full every year.
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I think the diocese needs to begin to read the Bible and remember what their Religion is about. They should be embarrassed that they let finances rule their decisions instead of trying to build the catholic faith. I am sure they can just add one more collection to the masses to cover the costs of the school.
We are already collecting for everything els, my last collection envelope was for retired priests who were paid a salary all of their lives and lived rent free. I wish all of the elderly benefited like they do.
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It greatly saddens me that my alma mater will be closed and apparently neither the diocese nor the parish made any real efforts to keep the school open. I receivedt the best education there--a fine foundation for adulthood. Yes, it's all about the money. So what will the parish do with the empty school? Tear it down like the convent? Sell it off for the money? Such a shame.
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well if you know so much about the school closing, why don't you share with the rest of us?
We are all saddened, and the Church plays a big part in this, so how can we not blame them?
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