Springfield Diocese Bishop Mitchell Rozanski (Photo courtesy Springfield Diocese)
WESTFIELD – St. Mary’s Parish School Board member Rich Labrie met with Springfield Diocese Bishop Mitchell Rozanski on Wednesday to discuss the abrupt announcement of the closing of St. Mary’s High School on Monday.
During that meeting, Labrie reviewed a number of potential actions both the parish and the diocese could take that could prevent the closing. Some of those steps included a modified and improved marketing plan and a new transportation plan, both aimed at increasing enrollment, and some type of financial support from the diocese.
Labrie reported that the meeting went well and that St. Mary’s would hear back within a few days what the Bishop’s thoughts were.
On Friday it was learned that, while no final resolution has been established, Bishop Rozanski will be meeting with the Parish’s School, Advisory and Finance Committees on Saturday March 24. This meeting is closed to the public.
In a statement from Bishop Rozanski’s office they informed us that, “Some twenty years ago this issue came up and the parish clearly understood then that if it elected to continue with the high school, it would be a parish responsibility.”
“This past Thursday Bishop asked Fr. Lawlor to convene a meeting for him to meet solely with members of the St. Mary’s parish, finance and school boards.”
“Bishop has also issued a letter to be shared at all Westfield Catholic parishes this weekend.”
One of the many frustrations for the supporters of St. Mary’s is that the Westfield school was not given equal opportunity that other schools within the Springfield Diocese were given before the decision to close other schools.
In June 2017, St. Joseph’s High School in Pittsfield closed but not after several years of enrollment initiatives and a nearly $800,000 investment by the Springfield Diocese. It was finally announced in October 2016 that the initiatives were not fruitful and that the final bell for St. Joseph’s high school would toll at the end of that school year. That was an eight month notification for the students, families, faculty and parishoners.
Fr. Frank Lawlor announced this past Monday that St. Mary’s High School in Westfield would close in three months without any prior notification to the school or parish community or any attempt at increasing enrollment.
