Newark
Catholic Elementary School to Cease Operations St. Columba Elementary School in Newark will cease operation in June 2000. The Catholic elementary school, located at 24 Pennsylvania Ave., was founded 118 years ago to serve the parishioners of St. Columba Parish and their children. Msgr. Paul D. Schetelick, V.E., dean of Deanery 20 of the Archdiocese of Newark, and Sister Dominica Rocchio, SC, archdiocesan superintendent of Schools, jointly announced the closure on Thursday, May 11 in a letter to parents of children who presently attend St. Columba School. The reason for the closure is the Archdiocese's inability to fund an estimated $1.4 million in necessary capital and other improvements to the school's physical plant and operation in order to assure a safe and modern educational institution. The need for these improvements was determined recently following a lengthy examination of the physical environment of St. Columba by the Archdiocese. "Catholic schools, with few exceptions, are directly responsible for meeting all of their financial obligations," the letter to parents stated. "Yet even with regular tuition increases and fundraising, St. Columba has for a number of years not been able to meet the full extent of its costs. For at least ten years, the Archdiocese has provided a growing level of direct support to the school for the basic costs Ð salaries and materials." Since 1990, direct support from the Archdiocese for basic operations at St. Columba School has totaled some $1.5 million. For the 1999-2000 school year alone, direct support from the Archdiocese will be approximately $250,000, and could reach $300,000 for the 2000-2001 school year because of a continuing decline in tuition revenue. "The Archdiocese is simply not able to fund over the next 12-24 months some $1.4 million in improvements at St. Columba, as well as subsidize basic school obligations, without drawing much needed money away from other Catholic ministries," wrote Msgr. Schetelick and Sister Dominica. The Archdiocese, therefore, "cannot in good conscience try to keep St. Columba open at the expense of other viable efforts in the Archdiocese." Presently, enrollment at St. Columba School is 260 students in grades K through 8. Only 50 students from the immediate area attend the school. The majority of students come from surrounding communities or from outside of the City of Newark. Sixty percent of the student population is not Catholic. Parents of St. Columba students will be given an opportunity to meet at St. Columba with representatives of other Newark Catholic schools in the coming weeks to discuss their programs and facilitate the registration and transfer process, should they decide to continue attending an archdiocesan school. Fourteen other Catholic elementary schools operate in the City of Newark. A process already exists to assist teachers who wish to continue teaching in Catholic schools. A representative of the Archdiocesan Schools Office has begun meeting with teachers to explain their options, and assist them with the transition.
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