TOWN OF TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Diocese of Buffalo is planning to shut down St. Andrew’s Church and its school, St. Andrew’s Day School, in the Town of Tonawanda on or before June 30.
The church and school are located at the corner of Sheridan Drive and Elmwood Avenue.
A source close to the parish told 7 News Senior Reporter Eileen Buckley that the Diocese initially informed the school Thursday night of its plans to close the school at the end of the academic year.
"St. Andrew’s Parish and Country Day School will be closing," replied Father Bryan Zielenieski, vicar for Renewal & Development, Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.
Father Zielenieski spoke at a meeting with school families Friday afternoon to announce the closing.
"This is a difficult, a difficult day for St Andrews, a difficult day for the Diocese, it is not what anybody wants," Zielenieski noted.
But school families who emerged from the meeting were outraged.
“I’m like, beyond livid and heartbroken," declared Katie Condon, school parent.
A letter dated January 24 was sent by Principal Pamela Giannantonio to school families after the Diocese held a meeting with the school. The letter noted the “financial deficits” the school is facing.
“Thank you for your commitment to joining the meeting last night. Our apologies that the audio didn't go as planned. Prior to last evening's meeting we performed multiple test runs to ensure that technical issues would not occur. When the Diocese arrived, they would not use our laptop with the established Zoom link, nor would they put Zoom on their device. They also would not share the slide show to our laptop where the Zoom link was established and tested. We understand a lot of information was presented to everyone and that part that cannot be ignored, no matter how much we look at it, it is the discussion about and the financial deficits we face. The board and parish trustees intend to provide a comprehensive and detailed rebuttal with plans to move forward. We were also given information last night that was brand new to us, as a school board, that we now need to review.”
The letter also outlined two initiatives the school was exploring to generate revenue: a daycare startup and possible rental of campus space.
According to the source, leaders were informed in December by the Diocese that the school was in “tough shape” and the parish/school was placed on a so-called “warning list.”
In a release, the Diocese said:
"The parish and the school have been plagued by financial challenges over the last few years, and in recent months, the financial crisis reached an untenable stage. The decision to close both the parish and the school was reached by clerical and lay leadership of the parish and in close consultation with the diocese."
Bishop Michael Fisher also released the following statement:
“The decision was very difficult, but necessary to continue to provide for the pastoral and educational needs of the faithful and our elementary school students. We will rally together with the family of Parishes in Tonawanda, Kenmore and Grand Island to both welcome and satisfy those needs within our other parishes."
Tempers flared as one parent emerged and asked the Catholic Schools Superintendent Dr. Timothy Uhl to answer her questions. Rosalie Koch has two children who attend and enrolled her son after he was bullied at a public school.
"He has never felt more welcomed until he came here and it's just disgusting. And then for him to run away and have no comments when I came running out after him, I think is disgusting. I'm sorry. It's heartbreaking for these kids because you can't give us answers, so how am I, as a parent, supposed to explain to my children when I don't even know the answer to what I'm explaining," remarked Koch.
School families who attended the meeting told 7 News they were initially told the school would close at the end of the year but later were told it could close even sooner.
"You're not going to give these children a chance to get into other Catholic schools and the question asked by other parents was, who else is going to close? Why are we going to send our kids someplace else that they're going to close," commented Sue Wagner Rennie, school grandparent.
"Our goal is to see the school year through the end of June — that is our number one priority and that's what we're committing," responded Zielenieski.
One of the St. Andrew’s students was screaming and crying after learning her school would close.
"It is ripping my heart out. I love Catholic schools. I love Catholic education. This is a very difficult day for me. This is not what I want to see either for all schools such as St. Andrew’s yet we have the harsh reality before us dwindling enrollment, financial commitments that we have to be responsible about," reflected Zielenieski.
School families told 7 News they received an email Thursday night telling them the Diocese had called for an emergency meeting for Friday.
"We've been lied to and lied to by the Diocese," Condon stated.
There are currently an estimated 7,200 students enrolled in 36 Catholic elementary schools across Erie, Niagara, Genesee, Chautauqua, and Cattaraugus counties. The Buffalo Diocese closed 10 schools in 2014 as part of its 'Faith in Tomorrow' reorganization.
At the peak of Catholic school participation in 1960, an estimated 80,000 students were enrolled in some 200 elementary schools throughout the diocese.
