Archdiocese to close 13 schools
The Archdiocese of Baltimore will close 13 schools at the end of the academic year, officials told employees and parents Wednesday.
They include one high school, the Cardinal Gibbons School in Morrell Park, and 12 K-8 schools. While the archdiocese extends from Baltimore and surrounding counties to Western Maryland, all of the schools to close are in Baltimore or Baltimore County.
The city will lose 9 of its 30 Catholic schools. They are St. Bernadine Catholic School, Fr. Charles Hall Catholic Elementary and Middle School, St. Katharine School and Queen of Peace Cluster, Mother Mary Lange Catholic School, Our Lady of Fatima School, St. Rose of Lima School, Shrine of the Sacred Heart School, St. William of York School and Cardinal Gibbons.
The county will lose four of its 27 schools. They are Ascension School in Halethorpe, St. Clare School in Essex, Holy Family School in Randallstown and Sacred Heart of Mary School in Dundalk.
The reorganization will displace 2,152 of the system's 22,700 students. Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien has promised a spot at a different school to every student displaced by a school closing.
The reorganization will also displace 325 teachers, administrators and staff. It is not clear how many will lose their jobs in the system.
Comments
I am very disappointed by this decision. My son has been a student @ Gibbons since 6th grade. He is now a junior. The archdioces didn't have any trouble with parents spending money on a class ring that is now meaningless.
Posted by: kathy | March 4, 2010 4:32 PM
Kathy - I am sorry for you and especially your son, however, the archdiocese has nothing to do with class rings, the schools handle that independently. I can honestly say I wasn't surprised Gibbons enrollment is nowhere near capacity and not enough to cover the costs of running the school. There is no painless way to do what the archdiocese had to do.
Posted by: ravensfan | March 4, 2010 6:13 PM