It was a difficult morning at Saint Ann’s Catholic school, after students went home Monday with the crushing news that St. Ann’s will close.
The Archdiocese of New York identified Saint Ann as one of five schools it is closing in the city because of dwindling church attendance and finances. All the schools are for students in grades K through eight.
They include the Visitation School in Kingsbridge and Saint Mary in Williamsbridge, both in Bronx, and St. Gregory the Great on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
The fifth school — Saints Peter and Paul, in South Bronx, will transition to pre-kindergarten students, only.
The Archdiocese says all students are guaranteed a seat at other Catholic schools. For St. Ann students, they are suggesting Saint Brendan School — five blocks away, but parents are skeptical.
The Archdiocese says tenured teachers will be re-assigned, but there are no guarantees for non-tenured faculty. The archdiocese says only that it will try to find positions for them, too.
Parents and staff at the school consider the closing one more insult. Two years ago, St. Ann’s church also closed.
It was one of 43 city churches closed in a sweeping consolidation by the Archdiocese, the largest restructuring in its history.
The parents say they will fight to keep their school open.
But they are facing an uphill battle. The archdiocese says keeping these schools open is financially impossible.