Our school needs a miracle!

[mmunoz]

Our school is located in San Bernardino, Ca. it is St Anthony School. The school has been open for 51 years. On July 5 the parents were told that the school had closed. As you can imagine the students were devestated, as well as the parents. The Bishop told us that Father decided to close the school and we are not really sure why. Our school is self sufficiant and we have never depended on the church for support. The newspapers reported it was due to low enrollment but that is not the case. The bishop told us that if we raised $150,000 and increased enrollment to 150 students, we could keep the school open. We have enrolled 130 students and are still recruiting students. We have raised $37,000 in donations. We are working very hard to keep our school open. If you can please help our school in any way, please do so. Our school address is 1510 W 16th St, San Bernardino, CA 92411 or save save-st-anthony-school.com

Thank you!

 

[svid2]

Sending prayers your way. Please make sure everyone prays hard. God bless.

 

[KCT]

May God’s will be done.

 

[themeginthemoon]

Many prayers your school’s way! You guys can do it !

 

[Catholic90]

**http://www.st-anthony-school.com/
**

SAN BERNARDINO: Diocese rejects plan to keep school open

10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, July 19, 2011
By BRIAN ROKOS
The Press-Enterprise
The Diocese of San Bernardino on Tuesday rejected a plan that supporters of St. Anthony Catholic School say would have allowed the financially struggling school to stay open.

The K-8 school on San Bernardino’s west side had suffered from declining enrollment, forcing it to take heavily from its reserves, and the diocese announced that it would close.

Patricia Vesely, superintendent of the diocese’s 30 schools, then met with supporters July 7 and gave them a week to come up with a plan to increase enrollment and raise money.

Ken Gasca, president of the school board, said Tuesday that in that week, supporters had secured enrollment commitments from the families of 130 students – an increase of 48 – and raised $13,000. Lois Carson, who helped found the school, and the Rev. Jim Graham presented the plan to Bishop Gerald Barnes on Monday, Gasca said.

The Rev. Walter Miller, pastor of St. Anthony Church, called Gasca on Tuesday to say that the diocese had decided to close the school. Gasca said the Rev. Miller did not offer an explanation.

“We’re not sure what happened with that deal,” Gasca said.

John Andrews, a diocese spokesman, could not be reached for comment.

“That is a totally disheartening decision,” said City Councilman Rikke Van Johnson, whose ward includes the school that his wife, Sharon, attended. “I don’t know what’s motivating their thinking but they obviously didn’t take into context the importance of the school to the community.”

Supporters said the students, mostly blacks and Hispanics, leave St. Anthony better prepared for high school than if they had attended public school.

But there were not enough students. St. Anthony had 270 students 10 years ago, 200 two years ago and 155 at the end of this school year, Andrews said last week. He said families of 82 students had placed deposits on the $3,200 annual tuition for the fall.
Andrews also said last week that the school would have a budget shortfall of $200,000 if 82 enrolled, and a shortfall of $107,000 if 114 enrolled.

Gasca said supporters planned to meet Tuesday night and consider their options.

 

[SamH]

Our school is located in San Bernardino, Ca. it is St Anthony School. The school has been open for 51 years. On July 5 the parents were told that the school had closed. As you can imagine the students were devestated, as well as the parents. The Bishop told us that Father decided to close the school and we are not really sure why. Our school is self sufficiant and we have never depended on the church for support.

I figured there was more and there was:

The K-8 school on San Bernardino’s west side had suffered from declining enrollment, forcing it to*** take heavily from its reserves***, and the diocese announced that it would close.

==========================

But there were not enough students. St. Anthony had 270 students 10 years ago, 200 two years ago and 155 at the end of this school year, Andrews said last week. He said families of 82 students had placed deposits on the $3,200 annual tuition for the fall.
Andrews also said last week that the school would have a budget shortfall of $200,000 if 82 enrolled, and a shortfall of $107,000 if 114 enrolled.

Running a school is expensive and if they only had 130 students committed to the coming school year (when they operated at a “loss” with 155 last year) I could see why they said it wasn’t enough to keep it open.

 

[mmunoz]

What the newspapers have reported is really not true, it is only the diocese version. Even though the newspaper reported that the school was closed, we are still working very hard to keep it open. Far too many catholic schools have shut down and as I have been investigating, there is no help from the diocese. We did our budget with the 130 students and there is only a small deficit, so we are hoping the bishop will show us some compassion, since he has declared, “The Year of the Youth” St Anthony School is our youth and our future leaders.