March 10, 2008

EAST NEW YORK, HOLLIS SCHOOLS SET TO CLOSE

Faced with declining enrollment and increased operating costs, St. Fortunata School in East New York and St. Gerard Majella School in Hollis will close in June.

Enrollment statistics indicate that in the current school year, St. Fortunata’s School has 142 students in kindergarten to eighth-grade. It represents a precipitous decline since fours years earlier when 314 students attended the school, which opened in l957.

At St. Gerard Majella School, established in 1923, the last four years have shown a rise and dip in enrollment. The population stood at 204 students in 2003/2004 and it increased by eight pupils two years later. Today, however, there are 177 students, a drop of 35 in two years. 

It is a longstanding principle for parish schools in Brooklyn and Queens that when one’s enrollment from grades K-to-8 goes below 225 students, it is identified as at-risk of closing.

Meanwhile, the escalating costs of operating the schools have placed a heavy burden on the respective parishes, according to financial data developed by each of them. At St. Gerard Majella School, tuition is $3,725 per child but the per-pupil cost is $6,848. The parish does not have the financial resources to bridge the gap. The same holds true at St. Fortunata’s, where the cost to educate a child stands at $4,815, but the tuition is $3,750.

Dr. Thomas Chadzutko, the superintendent of Catholic School Support Services, said that schools in neighboring parishes will have seats to accommodate children from the schools who wish to continue to receive a Catholic education.

He also said that plans are under way to assist the faculty members who wish to teach at another Catholic school in Brooklyn or Queens. They will be placed on a priority list that will be sent to principals.

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 3/10/08