The Ile Camera
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Parish recommends closure of private school
By Jim Kasuba, Heritage Newspapers
PUBLISHED: March 16, 2007
RIVERVIEW — Add St. Cyprian to the growing list of Catholic schools forced to shut down due to declining enrollment.
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The Rev. William Promesso, pastor at St. Cyprian, praised school staff and parents for making a valiant effort to increase enrollment at the 49-year-old school, but said they fell short of an enrollment goal of 120 students for next year. If the school were to remain open, the enrollment would stand at 85.
The parish is recommending to the Archdiocese of Detroit that its school close at the end of this academic year.
St. Cyprian's Parish Pastoral Council will present its recommendation to Cardinal Adam Maida and the College of Consultors at a meeting tomorrow. While it is possible the archdiocese will not accept the recommendation, Promesso said it's not likely.
In a March 4 letter to parishioners, he said the only other option is to require the parish to take loans from the archdiocese to operate the school every year for the foreseeable future.
"This would put the parish in long-term debt for problems that may never be solved and force the archdiocese to use scarce resources that could be applied elsewhere for greater gain," Promesso said in the letter.
"Furthermore, since there are other Catholic schools within a short distance of St. Cyprian, no one who wants a Catholic school education for their child is being denied the opportunity."
He told The News-Herald Newspapers that the only other option he could think of would be to cut parish staff "down to bare bones" and use the extra money to keep the school open, also something he believes is not likely to happen.
The leadership at St. Cyprian realized at least a year ago that enrollment numbers weren't going in their favor.
"We seriously considered merging our school with the Catholic schools in Wyandotte, but that plan barely got off the ground before it fell apart," Promesso said. "We reached out to schools in Southgate and Trenton, who decided they were not in need of any partners.
"We printed lawn signs, designed a Web page, held meetings, distributed fliers, sent out ambassadors, bought advertising space, and spread the word that St. Cyprian, 'the crown jewel of Downriver,' was committed to another school year. But all of these efforts could not solve the problems of less children per family, population shifts, a 20-year trend of enrollment declines, Michigan's economic doldrums, rising health care and retirement costs, utility increases and a maximum parish subsidy."
Many of the children enrolled at St. Cyprian have enrolled at St. Pius X in Southgate next year. St. Pius' pastor, the Rev. Peter Petroske, sent a letter home to parents and those enrolled from St. Cyprian that his parish was never approached about a partnership.
"I can assure you that had such a request been made, I would have worked through both our pastoral council as well as our school committee to consider the proposal," he said.
Petroske declined to comment on this and other statements he made in the letter, saying only that his letter "speaks for itself."
His letter concluded, "We welcome the opportunity to be part of the healing process for so profound a loss for our neighbors at St. Cyprian."
Promesso said two meetings were held last year at Gabriel Richard High School in Riverview to discuss the future of Catholic schools in the Downriver area. He said he and Petroske have "different memories" of what was discussed there.
"We have been open and honest with the people of the parish," Promesso said. "It's a transparent process. We had meetings every week."
Deanna Cortese, whose daughter, Hannah, is a fourth-grader at St. Cyprian, agreed with Promesso that a failure to increase enrollment wasn't because of a lack of effort, but she does wish parents had been given more time to turn things around.
"I'm disappointed," Cortese said. "It would have been nice to have had more than 90 days to preserve this wonderful school. We were passionate about trying to save it.
"I have never driven away from that school and questioned why I have my daughter there. The quality of the educators there is unbelievable. She has done nothing but thrive over there. The parent and teacher support is getting us through this."
Promesso said St. Cyprian is not alone in experiencing declining enrollment. He cited a statistic he read that 39 Catholic schools in the archdiocese have closed since 2000.
He said it was his understanding that St. Stanislaus Kostka in Wyandotte also is in danger of shutting down due to dwindling enrollment.
The Rev. Walter Ptak, the temporary administrator at the parish, did not return phone calls for comment.
Karen Johnson, principal at St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Elementary School, declined to discuss the issue yesterday. A school secretary said Johnson would be willing to talk "after Thursday," presumably after the archdiocese meets to discuss the school closings.
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