The Most Reverend Joseph F. Martino, D.D., Hist. E.D., Bishop of Scranton, has announced today that seven schools in the Greater Pittston area of the Diocese of Scranton are being reorganized for the next academic year in an effort to preserve and strengthen Catholic education for the students and parents in the region.

The reorganization affects six elementary schools -- St. Mary’s, Avoca; Sacred Heart, Dupont; Holy Rosary, Duryea, Wyoming Area Catholic, Exeter; St. John the Baptist and St. Mary’s Assumption, Pittston -- as well as Seton Catholic High School, Pittston.

The comprehensive reorganization plan has been approved by 18 pastors of diocesan churches who support Catholic education in the region, in consultation with Bishop Martino, following significant study and analysis of the schools’ enrollment and facilities. The pastors represent parishes in Region 7 of the diocese’s school structure which encompasses Avoca, Dupont, Duryea, Exeter, Harding, Hughestown, Inkerman, Laflin, Pittston, West Pittston, West Wyoming and Wyoming.

As part of the reorganization, two of the diocesan elementary schools -- one in Avoca and the other in Pittston -- will close. The closings of St. Mary School, 742 Spring Street in Avoca, and St. John the Baptist School, 12 William Street, Pittston, will be effective at the end of the current school year.

In a letter to students, parents, teachers, administrators and parishioners, the pastors noted that the reorganization plan is ultimately designed to preserve and strengthen Catholic education in Region 7 in the face of ongoing challenges, to provide affordable Catholic education for families and the parishes which subsidize the schools in the Region, and to exercise the principles of stewardship by responsibly using parish resources.

Many diocesan parishes have struggled for years to support Catholic schools due to various factors, including an ongoing population decline, decreasing enrollment, the high cost of ongoing maintenance and upgrades to older buildings; insurance costs, accumulated debt over the years, an aging membership, rising educational costs, and difficulty in funding parish subsidies for Catholic education.

The reorganization plan now calls for establishing a uniform tuition based on enrollment at the four remaining schools, using parish income as the base for subsidies to support Catholic education, establishment of a central administrative office to handle all financial matters for the schools, and establishment of an administrative board with direct oversight and management authority for all the schools in the region.

Closure of the two schools will affect a total of 36 employees. Nineteen (19) individuals work at the 86-year old St. John the Baptist School, including nine full-time teachers, three part-time teachers, a full time aide, an administrator, two secretaries and three cafeteria staff. At the 85--year old St. Mary’s School, seventeen (17) individuals will be affected, including 10 full-time teachers, two part-time teachers; a part-time aide; an administrator; a part-time maintenance worker and a part-time food service worker.

The teachers and staff affected by the reorganization will receive severance pay based on years of service and are eligible to collect unemployment compensation; teachers will receive priority for openings in other Catholic schools.

St. Mary’s School presently has an enrollment of 127 students in grades Pre-K through 8; 161 students attend St. John the Baptist School from grades K-8.

As part of the reorganization plan, students displaced by the closings of St. Mary and St. John the Baptist schools will be encouraged to attend one of the four remaining regional elementary schools which can accommodate them.

Registration for the coming school year will open at the remaining schools on Monday, April 19.

END OF SCRANTON DIOCESE PRESS RELEASE