February 19, 2010

Dear Saint Bernard’s Alumni and Friends,

On Monday, February 22, we will celebrate the 119^th anniversary of Saint Bernard’s School.  Sadly, this will be our last celebration of a venerable institution that has touched the lives of so many people during its life span. 

The administrators of the high school, several school board members, and I met with Archbishop Nienstedt and his staff on Tuesday of this week to discuss the school’s future.  We reported the challenging news that the school is facing a shortfall of $350,000 this year and a projected deficit of $279,000 for the 2010-2011 school year. Many factors have led to these financial difficulties, including declining enrollment, increasing need for financial aid, and decreasing contributions from both the parish and other donors through the development office.

In reviewing these projections during its January meeting, the school board made the recommendation that we either cover the shortfall before our scheduled February meeting with Archbishop Nienstedt or recommend to him that we close the high school at the end of this academic year.  This recommendation was accepted by the parish finance council and the pastoral council.  In the past several weeks we were able to raise $140,000 in pledges before meeting with the Archbishop, but this was not enough for us to change the recommendation.  So with great sadness the Archbishop has agreed with the recommendation of the school board to close Saint Bernard’s High School at the end of this academic year. Along with the Archbishop, we had hoped that by eliminating the grade school shortfall last year, we would be able to maintain the high school.  We were not able to do this because we have no reserves to help us over the hard times. 

We have tried very hard over the past fifteen years of my pastorate at Saint Bernard’s to overcome enormous obstacles outside of our control.  The demographic here in the North End has changed dramatically, resulting in fewer and fewer of this neighborhood’s residents choosing Catholic schools. Having been greatly affected by the closing of a number of its once reliable, inner-city feeder schools, Saint Bernard’s is not alone as it absorbs the impact of the shifting structure of urban Catholic education. Since 1997 we have struggled with a declining enrollment that affected both the grade school and the high school. A large part of this decline has been due to a decreasing number of school-aged children and an increasing number of charter schools. Finally, at the time of our greatest financial need, the economy took its worst turn since the Great Depression.  All of these challenges have added up to an insurmountable reality that contributes to closing our high school.

 We want to express our sorrow for all who will be affected by this decision.  Our alumni and friends have been such an important part of the history of this institution.  We ask for your continued prayers and support during this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Father Michael Anderson