By Eileen Buckley
Buffalo, NY – Another local Roman Catholic grade school will be forced to close its doors.
St. John De LaSalle School on Buffalo Avenue in Niagara Falls will be closing when the current school year ends in June. As the Buffalo Catholic Diocese continues reshaping parishes and closing some schools as part of a major restructuring effort, the Board of Pastors of the Niagara Falls Catholic Schools Network has decided to shut down the school due to poor enrollment and finances.
Catholic Diocese of Buffalo spokesman Kevin Keenan says only 76 students currently attend.
"There are just eight students in the third grade. In the two pre-school classes, 22 students are in each of those classes," Keenan said. "Had this decision not been made by the Network, the deficit for next academic year of about $125,000."
The Niagara Falls Catholic Schools Network consists of 14 parishes in Niagara County.
"The network came together about nine years ago. The idea was to set uniform tuition and uniform pay for the teachers at the Catholic schools in the Falls," Keenan explained. "So when the students attend the other schools, they will still be paying the tuition that they paid at St. John De LaSalle school."
The school has just 10 full-time and five part-time employees. They will have a chance to be considered for jobs at other Catholic schools.
As for students from St. John's, Keenan says they will still have three other nearby Catholic schools options.
"That will leave the Network with two Catholic elementary schools with classes Pre-K through 5, and also a middle school St. Dominic Savio School."
Graduating fifth graders are encouraged to enroll at Saint Dominic Savio. Our Lady of Mount Carmel School and Prince of Peace School are pre-K through 5. Registration for those schools will begin on Monday for the 2006-07 school year.