BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Just one week after St. Andrew's Country Day School announced it would be closing in June, the school's superintendent released a statement that is not sitting well with community members.
Superintendent Dr. Tim Uhl released the following statement on Friday:
Dear St. Andrew’s School Parents:
I’d like to follow up our meeting from last Friday with information and suggestions for next steps. First, thank you for expressing your concerns about the closure of St. Andrew’s and displaying your passion for the school. I know this is a difficult time for many of you, especially the students. We need to make decisions to support them and to lessen the difficulty during this transition period. Unfortunately, that does not mean keeping St. Andrew’s school open past June. Over the past few years, many ideas have been discussed and suggested to bring in more enrollment and to provide more revenue for the school. But the outflow of so many families after last year (a reduction from 168 to 72 students in one year) was impossible to overcome without a huge subsidy from the parish. After all, it’s nearly impossible to operate a school with only 54 students in grades Kindergarten through 8th grade. But with its own financial struggles causing the parish to close, keeping St. Andrew’s School open proved impossible. St. Andrew’s Country Day School is a ministry of the parish and thus when the parish closes, all ministries also close. One question that came up during the meeting seems to be the focus of so much anxiety. “Will St. Andrew’s stay open to the end of the school year?” The Bishop has shared that he would like the school to remain open until the end of the year. This will require all of us working together to do what is best for our students. This means we need all students to stay, all families to continue with their tuition commitments, and bingo revenue to continue uninterrupted. Therefore, the guarantee of the school staying open until June 30th is entirely dependent on you, the parents. There is room at all local Catholic schools who are prepared to welcome you. Our hope is that you will reach out to those schools and enroll for the fall. Please keep in mind the April 1st deadline to notify your local public school district about your transportation needs for this fall. We understand that the closure may present challenges for some families. Please be assured that we have resources available to you. Your feedback and engagement are valuable to us as we navigate these challenging times. Thank you for your continued partnership in ensuring the well-being and academic success of our students.
Sincerely, Dr. Tim Uhl, Superintendent
"You have to work or we're going to close the school. They're giving us the guilt trip like we did something wrong," said parent Kevin Brick. "So, we have to pay and our children have to pay for the sins of the church. The diocese isn't very transparent or truthful, so you don't really know what to expect from them. But I'm going to stay here at bingo to make sure my child can have at least until the end of the school year."
Many say bingo has been held for almost 30 years at St. Andrew's and helps the school financially.
"Why would you close it down? That's not fair to us," said community member Betty Belling. "We're bringing in the money, where's the money going? Nobody knows."
"Bingo brings them a lot of money. We're here three days a week. This is like my family," said community member Chris Mikulec. "I just wanted to say I think that it's a shame that they didn't work around this."
Brick says he and other parents will be busy in the coming months.
"I'm very stressed. My wife is very stressed," he said. "I really hope we don't have to scramble for what to do before the end of June."
