By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Five Manhattan Catholic schools were placed on the chopping block this week with the release of the New York Archdiocese's list of "at risk" schools that have been flagged to lose church funding.
St. Joseph of the Holy Family and All Saints in Harlem, Sacred Heart of Jesus in Midtown, Our Lady of Sorrows on the Lower East Side and Good Shepherd in Inwood all made the list, along with 27 others in the surrounding boroughs and counties.
Declining enrollment and rising tuition were cited as the key factors in determining which schools were considered "at risk," according to a Tuesday statement from the Archdiocese.
"We need to allocate our resources where they can do the most good, and support schools that can sustain themselves over time,” Dr. Timothy J. McNiff, the archdiocese's superintendent of schools, said in the statement.
An upcoming round of meetings with pastors and principles will help determine which schools will have their funding terminated before New York's Archbishop Timothy Dolan makes his final decision in January 2011.
In Manhattan there are currently 57 Catholic schools, including the five on the "at risk" list, according to Franc Davies, the archdiocese's associate superintendent for Communications and Marketing.
