Hoboken Parishes to Cosponsor Catholic School The six parishes of Hoboken and Weehawken have announced a plan to have a cosponsored Catholic elementary school in Hoboken. The plan stems from a three-year study by Our Lady of Grace, St. Ann, St. Francis, St. Joseph, St. Lawrence, and Sts. Peter and Paul parishes to determine the best way to provide quality Catholic education to the changing population of the area. The plan, announced to parish communities over the weekend, calls for two K - 8 sites for the Catholic school complex. A name for the new cosponsored configuration has not been determined. The new school will have one principal, one tuition, and one registration date, to be announced in the future. The school will be located in the two buildings that currently are Pope John Paul II Interparochial School and Sts. Peter and Paul School. Pope John Paul II School has been a cosponsored facility since 1990 when St. Ann, St. Francis and St. Lawrence implemented their plan. Before 1990, St. Ann and St. Francis had independent parochial schools and St. Lawrence did not offer a parish school to their community. The following year, St. Joseph School joined the cosponsorship configuration and moved their students to Pope John Paul II Interparochial School that is located at 555 Seventh St. Since then, Hoboken has had three Catholic schools, Pope John Paul II and two parish schools, Our Lady of Grace and Sts. Peter and Paul. After an extensive study of the demographics of the area, the financial situation of the schools and parishes, and of the plant facilities the new cosponsorship plan was devised. Dean for the Hoboken / Weehawken area, Fr. Kenneth Herbster said, "the future of Catholic elementary education in our deanery requires this bold innovative action at this time." Under the plan, Hoboken, known as the One Mile Square City, will have two, K-8 school sites that are easily accessible for all children who wish to attend a Catholic school. Those sites were chosen after extensive consultation with the parishes and the schools and professional assessment of the buildings. Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese, Sr. Dominica Rocchio, said "the greatest responsibility is to children, not to buildings. The parishes needed to assure that children continue to receive the best Catholic education available and that is what the plan hopes to accomplish under this new cosponsorship configuration." The Our Lady of Grace School building is the oldest of the three buildings in Hoboken and projected costs for the next 10 years show that it would be the most costly to renovate and maintain. Pastor of Our Lady of Grace Church, Fr. Richard Carrington, outlined the parish deficit at a meeting with parents last week. "Long before I arrived at OLG, our parish was operating under deficit spending. Since my arrival in May 1989, only in fiscal year 1990 did we operate in the black," he said. In 1994 Our Lady of Grace operated at a deficit of $68,640, in 1995 the deficit was $98,182, in 1996 it was $69,853 and in 1998 it was $128,037. Fr. Carrington also sited dropping enrollment as a factor in his decision to enter in to the cosponsorship plan. "Part of the parish financial problem is directly tied to lower student enrollment. Fewer students means less tuition to cover school expenses. The parish is obliged to fill the gap," he added. He explained that in 1989 Our Lady of Grace had 240 students in 10 grades and that this school year there are 171. Of the students currently enrolled 47 percent live outside of Hoboken. This cosponsored school will join more than 20 other elementary schools in the Archdiocese that today operate in a cosponsorship configuration.
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