Latest on the Catholic School Closings

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Last year Bishop Martino, head of the Diocese of Scranton (located in Northeastern Pennsylvania), announced that many of the local Catholic schools would probably have to be closed or consolidated due to rising financial costs of operating these schools and declining enrollment. The Bishop hired an outside consulting firm, Meitler Consultants to provide a recommendation on how to make the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area Catholic schools financially profitable. In November of 2006, Meitler Consultants gave their recommendation to the Bishop, which was finalized at the beginning of 2007.

The Catholic School closings in Luzerne County will be as follows: St. Boniface in Wilkes-Barre, Sacred Heart in Wilkes-Barre, Pope John Paul II in Nanticoke, and Sacred Heart in Dupont. Consolidating/combining to a new elementary center in Kingston, PA will be the following three schools: St. Aloysius, Regis Elementary in Forty Fort, and Sacred Heart in Luzerne.

One of the biggest changes will be the Catholic High Schools in Luzerne County-all four of the current High Schools (Bishop Hafey, Bishop O'Reilly, Bishop Hoban, and Seton Catholic) will be closing. A new centralized Catholic High School will be housed in what was formerly the Bishop Hoban High School in Wilkes-Barre. Just this week, it was announced that the name of the new high school will be Holy Redeemer High School.

In Lackawanna County, the following schools will be closing: Holy Rosary Academy in Scranton which will combine with All Saints Academy in Scranton, St. Anthony in Dunmore which will combine with St. Mary Mount Carmel, and St. Mary's in Old Forge.
There will be an individualized program for students with special needs established at All Saints Academy in Scranton.

The high schools in Lackawanna County (Bishop Hannon and Bishop O'Hara) will also be closing, and a new single location will serve Lackawanna and Wayne counties. This school will be named Holy Cross High School.

Many parents and students are extremely upset about these changes, as the schools have been in existence for quite some time. Some of the parents put forth proposals to save their schools, however, these were not deemed practical by Bishop Martino. Some of these parents are so disillusioned that they will not choose to continue in Catholic education and will put their children into public or other private schools.

The Diocese of Scranton also set the tuition rates for 2007-2008. For Lackawanna County Catholics, the first child's tuition will be $2700, second child $2000, third child $1800, and fourth child free. The high school tuition will be $4500 for the first child and $3500 for the second child. Rates are higher for non-Catholics. In Luzerne County, the elementary tuition is the same, and the high school tuition is $5000 for the first child, and $4000 for the second child.