Archdiocese of Detroit Refuses Offer to Keep Harper Woods Notre Dame Open

[d_j]

A group of local Detroit area businessmen approached the Archdiocese of Detroit with an offer to keep open one of the many schools that the Archdiocese unexpectedly slated for closure in June-05. The men offered $4,000,000 on a $1.2M debt, to also include the $2M that the Archdiocese paid the Marist Fathers in 1997 for assuming ownership of the school, and more. (The Marists still run it, and have kept up capital improvements.) The Detroit Archdiocese refused to talk to this group, and refused to even look at their offer.

freep.com/news/education/save9e_20050509.htm

Last night, it was shown on the local Fox2 News Problemsolvers and the AoD changed their tune and stated that now it wasn’t about money, but rather about “demographics” and declining enrollment, even though this group has a plan to beef up enrollment, assume responsibility, cover costs, and build a $40M new school within 5 years.

Why won’t the Detroit Cardinal, Adam Cardinal Maida, acknowledge these people, meet with them, and let them try? If it’s about the kids, something is wrong here. Notre Dame is a college prep school that successfully provides a Catholic education. Most years, all students attend college after graduation.

What’s going on in the Detroit Archdiocese? Has the leadership lost sight of what’s important to our Catholic youth? How can they say no? (Local rumor has it that the Archdiocese has already sold many different schools and their buildings to charter schools.)

It sure makes one wonder about what’s really going on.

 

[Siena]

We are having a similar problem in Cincinnati. The rich new suburbs are building new schools, and the remaining poor inner city schools are reciving aid, but the schools of the baby boomers are closing down one at a time w/o any attempt by the archbishop to aid them. I really think some bishops actually see the schools as a liability, they don’t want to be bothered with “all that”, if you can take care of yourself, fine, and if you are a good “fundraising face”, fine, but forget anything else. Sad and pathetic.

 

[d_j]

Now, the AoD has muddied the waters by saying that the closing is because the Marist fathers said that they “couldn’t continue in their current location” due to declining enrollment. This is just half-true.

The “Communication’s Director” of the Detroit AoD has actually begun spinning the truth to suite his needs, and it disgusts me. The statement was from a letter that the Marist Provincial wrote earlier this year attempting to get an inside track on donated AoD land to move the school in a few years due to a declining enrollment trend at the current location. The Marists do not wish to close the school, but the AoD has sent letters home to ND parents stating that they indeed do wish to close it, and used the out of context statement above as the reason for doing so.

This all comes from one of the guys who elected our new Pope? It’s scary. I have no confidence nor respect for such people.