Alumni file suit to keep Towson Catholic open
The fight over the fate of Towson Catholic High School escalated Tuesday when the alumni association filed suit against the school's parish and its pastor over the abrupt closing of the school, Baltimore Sun colleague Mary Gail Hare reports. The group is seeking an injunction to keep the school open at least another year.
"This closing is a slap in the face to the alumni and to anyone who ever loved this school. We were ready to remedy this through various options, but we could not get the archdiocese to the table," said alumni association president Paul Mecinski, who announced the lawsuit at a rally last night.
He added, "If students want to come here, we want to keep this place open."
The suit was filed Tuesday in Baltimore County Circuit Court by the alumni association's lawyer, Richard Grason VI of the law offices of T. Bruce Hanley. Attempts to reach Grason were unsuccessful last night.
Mecinski said the parish broke its contract with the students because parents had already paid tuition for the coming school year.
Sean Caine, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said he had not seen the suit and only learned of it at the rally.
"Keeping this school open is not an option at all," he said. "Even if money is raised, that would not address the question of decreasing enrollment."
Mark Graber, professor of law and government at the University of Maryland School of Law, has said an injunction might be difficult but is possible, given that many parents had paid their deposits and begun making tuition payments for the new school year.
"If they have put down money, the parents have fulfilled their part of the contract with the school, in the understanding that there is going to be a school," Graber said.
