Eastbayri.com

Parents, students and alumni at Our Lady of Fatima High School are mobilizing in hopes of saving the private Catholic school in Warren, which is scheduled to close at the end of the year.

“At the very least, we want people to know that this school is a gem that’s slipping through our fingers,” said parent Beth Melfi of Swansea, who has a junior daughter, senior son and a third son who graduated several years ago.

“This school, there’s nothing else like it,” she said.

Yet, school officials sent an e-mail letter to parents on Thursday explaining that declining enrollment and finances are to blame for the closure, scheduled for June. The school’s operators, the Sisters of Saint Dorothy, can no longer subdize the money-losing school.

“It is clearly evident that the two issues of enrollment and lack of financial stability do not allow for continuance,” the letter reads. “While this is am extremely emotional and painful decision, we trust that you see its necessity. We would also value your continued support throughout this difficult time.”

The financial writing has been on the wall for some time, and parents were told at a meeting in October that the school needed to right its financial ship in order to stay alive.

Since then, said Ms. Melfi, “we heard nothing. The Sisters aren’t business people; they love the school but they just couldn’t do it. What they need to know though is that we (the parents) should be in the loop. We are a resource.”

Ms. Melfi and other parents met with representatives from the Sisters Thurday night, and brought up the idea of keeping the school alive, away from Sisters control, for a year. If parents and other supporters could “buy time” by raising enough money to keep the school open even one more year, she said, it is possible that a more viable long term solution could present itself. One thing’s clear, she said: “Continuing to throw money at it is not the answer. We need to look at increasing enrollment, restructuring.”

The school currently serves about 70 students, about 20 of whom are seniors.

There was no word from the Sisters as to whether the idea is acceptable. However, parents and alumni have scheduled a rally at the school for 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20. Ms. Melfi said she hopes it’s packed, and that those who love the school attend and bring their friends.

“We really think the school is worth fighting for,” she said. “The kids served here can’t be served at any other school) in the state. This is devastating.

Officials at the school declined to speak on the record about the closure.