Long Island parents renew hope for Catholic schools

As parents of students at six Long Island Catholic grammar schools slated for closure prepared to protest Saturday, some said they see hints that Bishop William Murphy might be open to reconsidering the decision.

In his weekly column in the Long Island Catholic, Murphy called the school reorganization plan "not perfect," but said the diocese so far hasn't been persuaded to alter the plan.

"We continue to listen and to monitor, with the help of the pastors, the reactions, arguments and counterarguments regarding specific schools," Murphy wrote in the column, co-written by Sister Joanne Callahan, superintendent of diocesan schools.

"To date we have not been convinced that the legitimate upset and the pain has been translated into any proposal that would change our decisions," he wrote.

But diocesan spokesman Sean Dolan said Friday that the column doesn't signal any change in the diocese's plan.

"The decision, based on extensive research and analysis, to close the six schools this year is final," he said.

However, parent groups, who expect hundreds to protest at noon in Rockville Centre in front of St. Agnes Cathedral and Murphy's nearby residence, view the bishop's comments with optimism.

"We're hoping it is a softening of heart," said Terry Dennelly, a spokesman for parents at Prince of Peace Regional School in Sayville, one of the threatened schools.

"We believe this is offering a different tone; more conciliatory. We feel he got incomplete information, and if he had all the information up front that he is now getting from the parents who know the schools the best, he might have come up with a different decision," Dennelly said.

Dennelly said parents were unfazed by Dolan's comments. "It's not going to deter us" from fighting to keep the schools open, he said.

The diocese says it is shuttering the schools in June because of declining enrollment and a desire to strengthen the overall Catholic school system. The other schools are: St. Ignatius Loyola School in Hicksville; St. Catherine of Sienna School in Franklin Square; St. John Baptist De LaSalle Regional School in Farmingdale; Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Lindenhurst; and Sacred Heart School in North Merrick.

Most of Murphy's column is devoted to defending the decision, announced Dec. 6. "We understand the hurt and disappointment of all involved in the six schools," Murphy wrote.

But, he added, "we wanted to stop the annual attrition of one school after another closing. We wanted to look ahead and see the schools as a whole, reinforce elementary education as a whole and, where possible, eliminate costly schools in favor of guaranteeing spaces for children in fewer buildings but with no decrease in the seats available to them."

The strategic plan, he said, "while not perfect, has given us a set of criteria to be implemented as we go forward."