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St. Hyacinth Familes Call School Closure a 'Great Loss'

By Erica Demarest | October 30, 2014 6:00pm
 Scott Sablich, 8, and sister Isabella, 6, leave St. Hyacinth Basilica School on Thursday afternoon.
Scott Sablich, 8, and sister Isabella, 6, leave St. Hyacinth Basilica School on Thursday afternoon.
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DNAinfo/Erica Demarest

AVONDALE — Parents at St. Hyacinth Basilica School in Avondale said they were blindsided Wednesday when the Chicago Archdiocese announced the school was closing.

"The way it was done was horrible," said Jackie Scibor-Gost, who has daughters in fourth and eighth grade. "I went to pick my kids up at 2:30. I was sitting in the parking lot, and all of sudden, there were news crews everywhere. I heard [the Cardinal] was closing schools, but I didn't know it was our school."

Cardinal Francis George announced Wednesday plans to close six Catholic schools in the city at the end of the 2014-2015 school year. Among them was St. Hyacinth, a 120-year-old elementary school at 3640 W. Wolfram St.

Though several parents said they received phone calls and emails Wednesday, Scibor-Gost said she first heard about the closure on the news. She had to tell her kids in the car.

"That's not the way I wanted to tell my daughter that she doesn't have a school next year," Scibor-Gost said. "We should've been notified so I could tell her on my own terms."

Principal Christine Huzenis wrote a letter to parents Wednesday explaining that Cardinal George decided to close the school due to low enrollment. With fewer than 200 students, St. Hyacinth could not support itself financially, she said, even with help from the archdiocese.

"As you can imagine, I am still processing this information and this great loss myself," Huzenis said, adding that she didn't know the closure was coming. "I informed the staff at a meeting this afternoon and there were many tears and questions."

Parents immediately took to Facebook, creating a group called "Save St. Hyacinth School." By Thursday, it had more than 300 "likes."

"It's really surprising to hear the school is closing while the church is thriving," said Mike Heneghan, a St. Hyacinth parishioner with two sons in the school. "It's shameful the archdiocese doesn't see the potential growth in the neighborhood, the possibilities. We're letting 120 years of history go to waste."

Heneghan, like every other parent interviewed, said he didn't know where he'd send his kids next year.

"The cardinal is dying and making decisions that will affect all of our futures," Heneghan said. "It's a careless use of power."

Tuition at St. Hyacinth currently costs $4,400 for one child, but there are discounts for families with multiple kids. For example, two children cost $5,900. Three kids will cost $7,200, and four kids cost $7,400. Heneghan said nearby Catholic schools cost significantly more.

"It's a huge concern," Scibor-Gost said. "We're a middle-class family. My husband works; I stay at home. One of the biggest draws at St. Hyacinth was the tuition rate. ... I have three kids and one income. The other schools they want us to go to are almost double the price. I don't know where we're going to go. I don't know what we're going to do."

Scibor-Gost, who broke down in tears discussing the closure, said she pulled her kids out of public schools because the classes were overcrowded. She called the closure "a shock, such a bomb on all of us."

As kids trickled out of school Thursday afternoon, 8-year-old Scott Sablich said he was really sad St. Hyacinth would be closing.

"It's really fun here," the third-grader said. "I like reading and art. ... My dad's thinking he'll transport me to another school."

Scott's 6-year-old sister, Isabella Sablich, said she wanted St. Hyacinth to remain open at least until she hit second grade because she thinks that teacher is really cool.

St. Hyacinth is hosting a community meeting inside its gym at 6 p.m. Monday. Huzenis said she and representatives from the Office of Catholic School will attend.

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