Archdiocese to close three more schools

The Archdiocese of Chicago announced Tuesday that it will shutter three Catholic schools at the end of the current school year, including one that underwent drastic changes last year.

Archbishop Blase J. Cupich approved the closure of St. Agatha Catholic Academy on Chicago’s West Side, and suburban Saint Peter School in Antioch and Seton Academy in South Holland, for financial reasons, according to the archdiocese.

“These closures result from extensive conversations and planning at each of these sites,” the archdiocese said in a press release. “The Archdiocese commends all of the dedicated leaders, faculty and staff of Saint Agatha Catholic Academy, Saint Peter School and Seton Academy for their tireless work to instill a rich Catholic identity into an academically excellent community.”

Following a national trend, Chicago has been closing schools a few at a time for years. Cupich oversaw the closure of nine schools last year just months after he was installed as the leader of Catholics in Cook and Lake counties.

Long in the red, the archdiocese has projected balancing its operating budget in 2016, though a spokeswoman couldn’t immediately say how much closing the three schools would save.

No plans exist yet to help students transition to other Catholic schools but the archdiocese, which serves 82,000 students in 230 schools, promises it will help families find new places.

Superintendent of Catholic Schools Jim Rigg also emailed teachers and staff to let them know his office would soon schedule meetings to help them find new jobs within the archdiocese.

Seton Academy’s leadership and board had known of a risk of closure for the last two years and tried to save the school but couldn’t turn its finances around, the archdiocese said.

Seton’s principal, Earl McKay, wrote on the school’s website that “this difficult decision was made due to declining enrollment trends and fiscal difficulties in recent years.”

“We are sorry to announce that Seton Academy will close at the end of the 2015- 2016 school year,” wrote McKay, who urged parents to consider other area schools soon because Catholic school entrance exams are imminent. Seton is hosting an informational meeting for parents at 7 p. m. Tuesday night.

Both Seton Academy high school and Saint Peter School, an elementary school, are no longer selfsustainable because of declining enrollment, which has fallen to 138 students at Seton Academy and 119 at St. Peter, according to the archdiocese.

St. Peter’s pastor, the Rev. Michael McMahon, recommended his school’s closure to Cupich.

Last year, St. Agatha, 3151 W. Douglas, was transformed into an early childhood center after years as a grade school, but it enrolled only 12 students, the archdiocese said.