FITCHBURG — Saint Anthony School will close after the end of this school year, Rev. Leo-Paul LeBlanc said Tuesday.
Citing decreased enrollment, LeBlanc said the elementary and middle school will not reopen next fall after 66 years educating members of the city’s Catholic community.
“The numbers of enrolled students simply cannot support the financial responsibilities that would be necessary to operate and provide a quality education we have prided ourselves on for our students,” LeBlanc wrote in a letter sent to parents on Tuesday.
This year, about 144 students attended Saint Anthony, LeBlanc said. Just 19 families said they would be sending their children to the school for the 2017-18 school year, LeBlanc said.
The church affiliated with the school, St. Anthony of Padua, is not closing and will remain open for regular services.
Members of the church community who were informed of the school’s closing were bereaved to learn of losing the parish’s educational arm, LeBlanc said.
“We’ve had the luxury of being able to pray in school, to talk about God and Jesus,” he said. “I think that produces wonderful students that have the values of commitment to education and to treating people fairly.”
Saint Anthony’s annual tuition was $4,100 for one child, $7,100 for families sending two children, and $8,800 for families sending three children to the school, according to enrollment literature.
Enrollment at Catholic schools like Saint Anthony has fallen since the 1970s, LeBlanc said. The cost of a parochial education rose, in part, because fewer nuns joined the sisterhood, where they taught lodging and living accommodations instead of a salary.
Ten salaried teachers worked at Saint Anthony this school this year. LeBlanc said economic factors including inflation have upped the price of gas, electricity, and other expenses, making paying the bills more difficult.
“It’s a struggle for Catholic schools to stay open,” said LeBlanc, who joined the parish two years ago. “It’s hard for parents to be able to afford a good Catholic education.”
The pastor and the finance committee reviewed Saint Anthony’s financial situation at an emergency meeting on Sunday.
Despite efforts from teachers, who spent time this year calling parents in an effort to retain students, LeBlanc said it became clear the tuition payments and other sources of income would not cover expenses.
LeBlanc said he made a recommendation to Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester Bishop Robert Joseph McManus that he close the school after the meeting Sunday.
“It is a sad time, and certainly one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make,” said LeBlanc.
The drop-off in student enrollment led school officials to “desperately” search for ways to shore up the institution’s fiscal situation, LeBlanc said.
One such option entailed reducing the number of grade levels offered at the school from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, down to pre-kindergarten through third grade.
Officials also considered combining grade levels to create “multi-age” learning environments, a plan LeBlanc said was “not well received by our parents.”
The closure leaves behind just one Catholic elementary school in Fitchburg; St. Bernard’s Elementary School on Summer Street. Two Catholic elementary schools remain in Leominster, St. Anna School and St. Leo School.
The bishop is expected to accept LeBlanc’s recommendation this weekend after he returns from a meeting of U.S. bishops in Indianapolis, said Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Delma L. Josephson.
“I have no reason to believe the bishop would not take everything the pastor is saying into serious consideration,” said Josephson.
Mayor Stephen DiNatale attends St. Anthony of Padua Church, which is located near the school that both of his two children attended for periods of time.
DiNatale said he was saddened to learn of the impending school closure. He said operating religious schools, which provide a spiritual component not legally permitted in public school settings, is becoming more challenging.
“The missing piece is the spiritual side,” said DiNatale. “Parents want their kids to be well-rounded, and the spiritual component is important to these folks.”
