Broad Channel School Saved, Others Hope To Follow

Parents leading the fight to keep floundering Catholic schools open have reason to celebrate this week as they received news that St. Virgilius School in Broad Channel will stay open.
“We’re ecstatic that it’s going to stay open,” said Stacy Spataro, Parent Association President. “It came at the perfect time.”
The school is one of 26 that had been slated for closure throughout Brooklyn and Queens. But after a month of demonstrations, summits and financial strategizing, St. Virgilius was saved.
“For the first time in a month parents of Catholic schools students have something to cheer about,” said Congressman Anthony Weiner, who helped lead the fight. “Through a lot of hard work and even some tears we’ve managed to save three schools [St. Virgilius in Queens, St. Finbar and Sacred Heart/St. Stephen’s in Brooklyn].”
The Brooklyn Diocese ruled to keep St. Virgilius open after a Business Plan was submitted to and approved by Monsignor Michael Hardiman, Vicar for Education.
According to Spataro, whose husband John was on the Business Plan Committee, under the new financial guidelines, tuition at St. Virgilius (per student) will increase from $3,000 per year to $3,450. In addition, an after-school program will be implemented in order to provide working parents with an alternative to child care. And transportation provided by the Office of Pupil Transportation will allow children from as far away as the Rockaways to attend St. Virgilius, meaning that the school’s area of service will be increased from a three-mile radius to five.
All these factors, as per Spataro, will help to increase student enrollment at St. Virgilius.
“Last year, we kept tuition down to attract people, but it was the fear of closure that kept them from enrolling,” she told The Queens Courier. “But we polled the people in town, and the number of parents considering St. Virgilius is increasing.”
With the victory at St. Virgilius, parents at the other schools slated to close are hopeful that they will see the same results.
Among these, Holy Cross in Maspeth, St. Teresa’s in Woodside and St. Stanislaus in Ozone Park have formulated plans to stay open.
According to Lew Simon, the Democratic District Leader who was instrumental in the fight for St. Virgilius, St. Stanislaus is currently working on the specifics of their Business Plan.
Many people are upset that there is no decision yet,” said Simon. “But I’m keeping my fingers crossed and I look forward to working united with the parents and children to keep the school open.”
Weiner, too, has pledged continuing support in the fight to keep the doors of Catholic schools open.
“We’ll keep fighting to do everything we can to save the rest of them too,” he said.
toni@queenscourier.com