St. Mary's High School in Westfield, Massachusetts, will remain open for at least another year, after all. Its closure was announced this month, but the Springfield Roman Catholic Diocese is offering help.
In a letter from Bishop Mitchell Rozanski to St. Mary's pastor Frank Lawlor, the bishop said the school will get a one-time $300,000 grant, which comes with some conditions. They include: A minimum size to incoming freshman classes, a reconstituted school board and a resumption of payments to the employee pension fund.
St Mary's was due to close after this school year, amid sagging enrollment and financial challenges. It would have left just one Catholic high school in the four western counties of the state.
Rev. Lawlor said he believes demonstrated support from the community after the original news of the closing may have helped the school receive the grant.
"I'm describing it now as a sleeping giant awakened," Lawlor said. "For many, many years, people had somewhat been taking St. Mary's for granted. And when the depths of our problems became apparent, they rallied and showed the rest of the community how important it was to them, and the bishop took note, I'm sure."
The school's enrollment was at 83 students as of earlier this month. Lawlor said when he notified current students Thursday about St. Mary's remaining open, he said there was a sense of relief.
"This has been a terrible time for the students and their families with the confusion around what they were going to do," Lawlor said. "This at least calms those concerns down, and gives everyone an opportunity to come together and provide a long-term solution to this problem."
Letters From Springfield Bishop Mitchell Rozanski, St. Mary's Pastor Frank Lawlor On St. Mary's High School... by New England Public Radio on Scribd
