About 25 people gathered Thursday afternoon, April 20, outside Good Shepherd Catholic School, 701 Third St., in Hillsboro to protest plans to close the school at the end of this school year on May 26.
In an Aug. 14 written statement, Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski announced that the school, which enrolls 74 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, will cease operations.
“Good Shepherd School in Hillsboro has been providing Catholic education in the heart of Jefferson County for the last 75 years,” Rozanski said. “Over the past several years, however, the parish has faced the growing challenge of maintaining a small school with increasing costs and decreasing revenues.
“After reviewing recent financial projections and consulting with parish leadership about the school’s viability, Pastor Rev. Ryan Weber has determined that continuing to fund the school is not sustainable. For this reason I have accepted (Weber’s) recommendation to close Good Shepherd School at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year.”
Archdiocese spokeswoman Lisa Shea said the Good Shepherd preschool, which enrolls 35 youngsters, makes money and will continue to operate.
Protest
Alicia Donathan of Festus, who has four children enrolled at the Good Shepherd School, as well as one more in its preschool, said she and the other protesters are upset about the impending closure and wanted to let parish and Archdiocese officials know that.
The protest began at 3 p.m. and lasted about 45 minutes, Donathan said.
She said the protesters believe the Archdiocese should have given the parishioners more time to build up its enrollment.
“We know the reason for the decision was financial,” she said. “We question their numbers.
“We celebrated the school’s 75th anniversary this year. We feel the parish school should continue. They should not pull the plug so quickly.”
Donathan said no one from the parish or the Archdiocese responded to the protest.
No additional protests are planned, she said.
Rozanski said the Archdiocese will help the six Good Shepherd faculty members find other work and will help families transfer their children to other Catholic elementary schools.
Shea said the decision to close Good Shepherd School is not related to “All Things New,” the archdiocesan project to combine parishes throughout the entire St. Louis Archdiocese due to declining membership.
Weber issued the following statement about the school’s closure:
“Our parish school has faced ongoing financial challenges,” he said. “While we have hoped for a different outcome, the most prudent decision for our parish is to support our students in other schools. We are dedicated to helping any family who wants to remain in Catholic school do so. I have spoken with area pastors, and they have agreed to accept any of our students. We are even exploring transportation options. We plan to continue offering, and possibly expanding, the preschool program. I am grateful to our current and legacy faculty, administrators, staff, and parishioners who have done so much to keep our school going for 75 wonderful years.”
Sharing a pastor
Under the “All Things New” updated plan released in February, the Good Shepherd Parish, the Our Lady Parish in Festus and the Sacred Heart Parish in Crystal City would share one pastor. Each has its own pastor at this time.
Shea said the proposal has not been finalized and possibly could be altered before a final plan is released later in the spring.
“That can change,” she said. “We keep refining it.”
She said if the parishes end up sharing a pastor, any changes in Mass times would be up to the parishes.
“That would be decided at the parish level,” she said.