By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BENSONHURST — Despite a campaign that included obtaining pledges of more than $100,000, marches and even a YouTube appeal, Most Precious Blood School in Bensonhurst received word from the Diocese of Brooklyn Thursday that the school close its doors this June.

“We’re closed. We got the word this morning from the Diocese,� said Lori Pedone, parent of a seventh-grader. “They had us come to the rectory basement. When they told us to come there instead of meeting inside the school, we knew that was it.�

Pedone had tears streaming down her face as she recounted the steps the parent leadership had taken to keep the school’s head above water. “We had $100,000 in pledges and an anonymous donor pledged another $100,000. But they reviewed our plan and didn’t feel it was viable, given the economic times.�

Javier Lopez, a parent leader and member of the Most Precious Blood School advisory board, told the Brooklyn Eagle, “The bishop felt that the pledges were not monetary donations. He also felt that the plan was not satisfactory in addressing enrollment and finances.

“There’s high emotion,� he said. “People are upset, angry, sad. Most people don’t want to go to another Catholic school because they fear another closure. The only thing safe is a public school.�

Ms. Pedone said the school’s enrollment was 220 children -- but only 172 not counting pre-K and junior pre-K. “They wanted us to get to 260.�

Some Schools May Stay Open, Others Converted to Charter Schools

Most Precious Blood is just one of 14 Catholic schools in Brooklyn and Queens, announced Saturday, facing closure or merger. (See list below) Lopez said that the Diocese planned to post online the full list of schools that were to be closed – and a few that were to remain open – at 7 p.m. yesterday evening (past press time).

Four of the closed schools could be converted into publicly funded charter schools under a partnership announced by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio this past Saturday – a partnership the bishop was thankful for. “He’s throwing out a life preserver, and I’m going to grab it,� he said at a news conference.

If the first conversions work out, Mayor Bloomberg and Bishop DiMarzio said, the program “would be broad enough to encompass other parochial and private school conversions in New York City.�

Lopez worries about the fate of the four Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy nuns who have been teaching at the school for more than 40 years. “They left their families over 42 years ago to come and serve us — we are their family now, and to lose them 42 years later would be heartrending to the community and the Sisters.�

Presumably, the nuns would be sent back to Italy – a place they haven’t seen in more than 40 years.

In spite of the bleak outlook, Pedone said that parents “haven’t given up hope yet. The parents are looking into several options that have been presented to them. We’re praying that God will smile and our prayers will be answered.�

UPDATE:

Late Thursday, Bishop DiMarzio issued his final decisions regarding the closing or mergers of Catholic schools in Brooklyn and Queens:

* Eight elementary schools will close at the end of the current school year, in June, 2009. They are: Flatbush Catholic Academy (Brooklyn), St. Vincent Ferrer School (Brooklyn), Most Precious Blood School (Brooklyn), St. Benedict Joseph Labre School (Queens), St. Catherine of Sienna School (Queens), St. Aloysius School (Queens), St. Ann School (Queens) and Blessed Sacrament School (Jackson Heights, Qns).

* St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School (Brooklyn) will be permitted to reopen in September, 2009, and is invited to seek designation as a diocesan mission school.

* Our Lady of Perpetual Help School (Brooklyn) will be permitted to remain open as a parochial school.

* In the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, Saint Jerome School, St. Therese of Lisieux School and St. Catherine of Genoa School will remain open as parochial schools while beginning a planning process to create a single, regional academy in September, 2010, that will utilize all three of their current sites.

* The Bishop has also accepted the alternative proposals offered by the leadership of Our Lady of Angels School (Brooklyn) and St. Anthony of Padua School (Queens), seeking the conversion of these schools into independent Catholic academies. It is expected that these two new academies will open in September, 2009.

* In the Windsor Terrace section of Brooklyn, the proposed merger of Immaculate Heart of Mary School (Brooklyn) and Holy Name School (Brooklyn) will not occur in the upcoming school year. Instead, each school will remain as a parochial school while lay leaders from each parish will form a Task Force to bring these two school communities closer together.

* In Flushing, St. Michael School will remain open as a parochial school while Mary’s Nativity School will be the site for a new Catholic academy to open in September, 2009.

* Three parochial schools accepted the invitation to become Catholic academies. They are Our Lady of Grace School (Queens) which will reopen in September, 2009 as Ave Maria Catholic Academy, St. Anastasia School (Queens) which will reopen in September, 2009 as Divine Wisdom Catholic Academy, and Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal School (Queens) which will reopen in September, 2009 as Notre Dame Catholic Academy of Ridgewood.

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