A decision is expected probably within the next couple of weeks about whether Venango Catholic High School in Oil City will close at the end of this school year.
That was the word Friday from Venango Region Catholic School interim president Ray Feroz and the Erie Diocese following a mid-year review meeting Feroz and Venango Region board chairman Bob Puleo had Thursday with diocese officials.
Feroz told the newspaper Friday he and Puleo updated the diocese panel, including Bishop Lawrence T. Persico, about the status of the goals the diocese had set for the school system, which also includes St. Stephen Elementary School in Oil City.
The diocese said in a letter written after Thursday’s meeting and sent to Venango Region Catholic School “community members” that Persico and his team will take the next week “to fully review the ideas and suggestions presented.”
The letter also says “the question to be answered is whether or not the current configuration is sustainable for the future or if adjustments need to be made to preserve Catholic education in the region.”
One of the options Feroz said he and Puleo presented Thursday is not making any change at all to the current schools configuration that has grades 7-12 at the high school and K-6 at St. Stephen.
“But when we look at the numbers, it’s not a very attractive option because it’s not sustainable into the future,” Feroz said.
Another option he and Puleo presented to the diocese is to “consolidate all the grades into one building.”
“They were interested in the option of elimination of the grades 9-12. What would that cost? How would that be done? Scenarios were discussed as to if that was done in this building (the high school) or if that was done at St. Stephen. Every possibility was reviewed and discussed,” Feroz told the newspaper.
“And what they’re (the diocese) going to do is look over that stuff,” Feroz added. “It’s going to take some time because they had additional questions, for example, pertaining to costs. Costs that we need to get answers for.”
The diocese’s Catholic Schools Office outlined several goals last June that needed to be met in order to secure the future of a Catholic high school in Oil City.
Feroz and Puleo reported Thursday to the diocese that none of the goals have been met.
One goal was to reach a minimum of 40 students in grades 9-12 and a minimum of 20 students in grades 7-8. As of Thursday, those enrollment numbers stand at 32 for grades 9-12 and 15 for grades 7-8.
Another goal was to have $600,000 in hand by the end of 2023 to ensure the school could meet its ongoing financial obligations, the letter says. The reserve, as of Jan. 9, was $348,642.
Feroz explained that Catholic schools don’t receive state funding, so they make their money through tuition, fundraisers and grants.
The school system is holding its annual reverse raffle fundraiser tonight at the Seneca fire hall, and Feroz said the raffle is budgeted to make about $15,000 for the system.
“We don’t want to keep raising tuition on people, so the fundraisers and the donations are just critical for a Catholic school. That’s why we have a lot of fundraisers,” Feroz said.
He said the full cost for one year of tuition is $3,860 at St. Stephen and $5,750 at Venango Catholic.
The final goal was to find a permanent president for the school system by Jan. 1. But the letter points out the “selection of a permanent president has been delayed by the lack of progress in the other two areas.”
“What they’re saying there is they are understanding that we haven’t selected a permanent president because there’s some uncertainty. You know, who would want to walk into a job where one of the options might be that we wouldn’t hire a president, we would just use a principal?,” Feroz said.
“How can you hire somebody when they’re not sure about their future?,” he added. “So they (the diocese) have been OK with me continuing as the interim until they (the board) can hire somebody, which would then take place after whatever decision is made.”
“We’re (Feroz and Puleo) feeling positive that we had a fair hearing and that they’re asking good questions. We understand that you can’t have a solution that’s going to cause the schools to go bankrupt,” Feroz said.
“There are a lot of possibilities as to what could be done and I think they (the diocese) really are going to look at all of those,” he added. “So we feel good about that. But where it ends up, who knows?”
He also mentioned that Persico and his panel “listened attentively.”
“We cannot emphasize enough that we recognize the heroic efforts the community has made in order to keep a Catholic high school in Oil City,” the letter says.
“We also acknowledge the dedication and generosity of administrators, faculty and staff at Venango Catholic and are aware of the many sacrifices that have been made by families and other stakeholders in the community,” the letter continues.
The diocese said it is “committed to a prayerful discernment about next steps” and anticipates sharing a formal response in the first week of February.
