By Sophia Chang
“Once we heard, everybody mobilized,” he said of parents and faculty at the Broad Channel school, who have formed a team to develop a financial blueprint to keep St. Virgilius's doors open. Spataro was one of 50 parents who attended a private summit Saturday at Midwood High School in Brooklyn to brainstorm ideas to help raise funds to keep their local Catholic schools open for the immediate future.The diocese announced Feb. 9 that two dozen schools in the city would be closed due to declining enrollment, with most students to be absorbed by neighboring parishes after the academic year ends.At the summit representatives and parents from each threatened parish were informed that they have 30 days to develop a viable five-year financial plan for their school's future, parents said. The conditions were reportedly put forth by Monsignor Michael Hardiman, the vicar for education in the diocese, during the closed-door meeting organized by U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Kew Gardens). The news media was barred from the session.”He has given us an opportunity to put together a business plan,” said Spataro, who has two children who attend St. Virgilius. “Our parents association is very strong. They raised $100,000 plus every year. We're seeking to do even more with an after-school program, corporate sponsorships.” “We have a lot of ideas on the table,” said St. Virgilius Principal Diane Phelan. Other parents said they have been angered by the diocese's lack of information.”We're angry and upset, and we just don't know what to do,” said Maria Marrocco, who has two children at Blessed Virgin Mary Help of Christians School near Woodside. “We're playing with our children's lives.”Weiner said he organized the summit to call upon public and private creative forces to unite for the schools.”If we had a business threatening to leave the city, we would move heaven and earth to do what we can to save it,” Weiner said. “The neighborhood parish school is a part of the identity of a neighborhood.”While acknowledging the drop in enrollment at these schools, Weiner also said the enrollment patterns are susceptible to natural increases and decreases and should not be reason to close the 26 parochial schools in Brooklyn and Queens.”Our public schools are bursting at the seams to absorb additional students. In the 1970s it was the parishes bursting at the seams and the public schools were empty. We go through ebbs and flows,” Weiner said. “We don't want to wake up 10 years later and say we don't have enough schools.”He also called upon the mayor to tap into his formidable fund raising resources to help save the parochial schools rather than discussing acquiring the facilities for public schools.”We also have a message for Mayor Bloomberg: you have done a remarkable job raising private funds for public schools,” he said. “Now is not the time to be buzzing around trying to buy the sites.”Borough President Helen Marshall told a Queens Chamber of Commerce meeting that she had been in talks for two months to buy the diocese's under-utilized school sites to relieve overcrowding in local public schools.The schools slated for closure are: St. Teresa's School at 50-15 44th St. in Woodside; Queen of Angels School at 41-12 44th St. in Sunnyside; Blessed Virgin Mary Help of Christians School at 70-31 48th Ave. in Winfield; Ascension School at 86-37 53rd Ave. in Elmhurst; Our Lady of Mount Carmel School at 23-15 Newtown Ave. in Astoria; Holy Cross School at 56-01 61st St. in Maspeth; St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr School at 90-01 101st Ave. in Ozone Park; St. Virgilius School at 16 Noel Rd. in Broad Channel; and St. Pius X School at 147-65 249th St. in Rosedale.Reach reporter Sophia Chang by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
