Four Pittsburgh-area Catholic schools will close their doors in June, a result of a decades-long decline in enrollment coupled with dwindling financial support.
The Diocese of Pittsburgh announced Sunday that St. Titus School in Aliquippa, St. Elizabeth Seton Regional School in the West End, Bishop McDowell Regional School in Baldwin and St. Valentine School in Bethel Park will close at the end of this school year.
"Closing any Catholic school with its long tradition of educational excellence in a community is always painful," the Rev. Kris Stubna, diocesan secretary for education, said in a statement. "We celebrate the tremendous efforts of so many people in keeping these schools viable for so long. But the changing demographics and declining school-age population make it impossible for these schools to continue."
Two preschool programs will remain in operation as Bishop McDowell Early Childhood Center and St. Valentine Early Childhood Center, the diocese said.
The announcement is part of ongoing downsizing at parochial schools. At their peak in the 1960s, almost 13,000 Catholic schools nationwide enrolled about 5.25 million students. Today, there are 7,800 schools with nearly 2.4 million students. In the six-county Pittsburgh diocese, about 25,000 students are taught by 1,800 teachers in 112 schools.
In June, the diocese shuttered Transfiguration Catholic School in Russellton and St. Michael School in Elizabeth Borough.
Significant financial support for St. Titus and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Regional from a major benefactor ends in June after many years, the diocese said. Enrollment continues to decline, and it has become impossible for the schools to operate with a balanced budget. St Titus has 85 students in grades kindergarten through eight, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton has 170 students in those grades, Stubna said.
Enrollment at Bishop McDowell Regional School has declined over the past several years, from 137 in 2003-04 to 65 students in K-8 this year.
At St. Valentine School, enrollment went from 164 students in 2005-06 to 84 this year. Enrollment is expected to continue to decline, which would force the tuition to go from $2,800 per student to as much as $5,965.
Regina Klase said financial considerations prompted her and her husband -- a teacher at St. Louise de Marillac School in Upper St. Clair -- to transition their three sons from St. Valentine School to the Bethel Park School District in 2007 when the eldest, Kenny, now 15, graduated from eighth grade.
Twelve-year-old Alex attended "St. Val's" through fifth grade, while Anthony, 8, completed kindergarten there. Klase said she appreciated the smaller class sizes and the availability of instructors to parents.
"It's sad. You lose that family atmosphere," said Klase, one of about 200 parishioners at the noon Mass yesterday. "But I understand it. It comes down to dollars and cents."
The Rev. Alan E. Morris, St. Valentine parish administrator, said the loss is akin to a death in a family.
"Teachers are taking it sorrowful, the staff takes it sorrowful, the kids cry," he said after Mass. "You're talking about over 55 years of being a solid part of this parish community."
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