CHICAGO — The Chicago Archdiocese announced Wednesday that it was closing six schools in the city by the end of the school year.
“This restructuring is the result of our ongoing efforts to strengthen and support sustainable Catholic schools over the long term,” Thomas McGrath, Chief Operating Officer for Catholic Schools, said in a written statement. “Although difficult in the immediate term, we know taking these steps will increase access for families and students to excellent Catholic school education, now and in the future.”
The archdiocese said the following schools would close outright at the end of June:
• St. Hyacinth, 3640 West Wolfram St.
• St. Ladislaus, 3330 North Lockwood Ave.
• St. Turibius, 4120 West 57th St.
• St. Rene Goupil, 6340 South New England Ave.
Another school that will close to current families is Saint Agatha Catholic Academy, 3151 W. Douglas Blvd., which will become an Early Childhood Center, officials said.
Two other schools in the city will merge: St. Dorothy School, 7740 S. Eberhart Ave. and St. Columbanus, at 7120 South Calumet Ave. The school will be named the Augustus Tolton Catholic Academy and be located at St. Columbanus.
Schools in Skokie and Matteson will also close.
The principal of St. Hyacinth, Christine Huzenis, said teachers were told Thursday afternoon and that "there were many tears and questions," adding "this decision was not taken lightly."
In a letter to parents, Huzenis said that Cardinal Francis George made the decision "due to our history of dependence on the the Archdiocese for financial support." She said with an enrollment under 200 students "we cannot financially continue to sustain Saint Hyacinth Basillica School.
"We have considered many options but none are sustainable for the long term," she said, vowing "to ensure that we continue on this path of providing top quality Catholic education for your children for the rest of the year."
She also vowed to help find new schools for the students.
The Archdiocese of Chicago educates more than 82,000 Chicago area children in 240 elementary and high schools.
In a column in the archdiocesan newspaper George calls the Catholic school system "vital" to the Chicago area, especially to people with "limited means." In many of the schools, the majority of students qualify for free or reduced lunches.
However, the expenses "have risen significantly over the past decades, and the cost of a Catholic education is now beyond what many families can afford," George said. The archdiocese has spent $165 million from local parish contributions and Archdiocesan assets over the past five years to subsidize the schools, he said, but "the archdiocese simply cannot sustain our current funding levels."
He said the archdiocese faces continued operating deficits but made a point of saying that the deficits are not related to "misconduct settlements."
George cited some schools have low enrollment because of the inability of parents to pay but in other cases, low enrollment is the result "inadequate implementation of best practices in academics, marketing and tuition management."
An aging population also has hurt, saying that in 20 percent "of our school communities, the school-age population declined by 15 percent or more from 2000 to 2013."
He said he believes "a more appropriately sized network will enable us to strengthen our system and serve our children more effectively."
Meanwhile, another endangered Catholic school, St. Cornelius, 5252 N. Long Ave., sent a letter saying $245,000 had been raised so it "can continue carry on the strong tradition and mission of providing a quality Catholic education in the Jefferson Park neighborhood."
