Latest news with #ErieCatholicSchoolSystem
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Fight to save Blessed Sacrament School continues
The fight to save a local catholic school continued, with concerned families taking the battle countries away. In February, the Erie Catholic School System announced that Blessed Sacrament School would be shutting down after a continuous decline in enrollment. Blessed Sacrament families protest school's closure Since then, concerned parents haven't been able to secure the bishop's blessing to give the school back to the parish, but that hasn't stopped them from finding other ways to push back. Now they're taking the fight to the Vatican, with parents sending a letter to the Catholic headquarters stating their case. Cakery Cafe at Copperleaf set to close later this month 'There's no question. We're definitely confident in this fight. We love our children. We don't want to see them get ripped away from their home. Blessed sacrament is different from a lot of schools,' said William Grenaway, a concerned parent. Grenaway said they still have many questions left unanswered by the Catholic School System. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sen. Dan Laughlin urges funding to save Blessed Sacrament from closing
After the closure of Blessed Sacrament School at the end of the academic year was announced in mid-February, State Senator Dan Laughlin has chimed in on the closure. Laughlin called the anticipated closure of Blessed Sacrament a huge blow to the community, and that it caught him by surprise. Pennsylvania has shown continued commitment to education, over the last 10 years, boosting spending on education by nearly 50% and revamping a new formula for equitable funding, helping the poorest districts in the Commonwealth. Schools have seen massive amounts of support. Well, public schools that is. Dozens gather outside Blessed Sacrament School to protest closure In an open letter published by state senator Dan Laughlin, he believes private schools like Blessed Sacrament are being overlooked. 'It hurts to see a good school like that get shuttered and that's kind of what prompted the thought process of me putting that letter out,' Senator Laughlin said. Blessed Sacrament School has been around since 1939 and in its prime, supported more than 1,000 students. School officials said their current enrollment is 178. A number that has declined by 50% since it joined the Erie Catholic School System in 2017. 'It's unfortunate how this went down' City, county officials explain property tax bill delays While he has fought for fair funding for Erie Public Schools, Laughlin said it's also worth investing in programs that give taxpayers more of a choice as to where they want their child to be educated. Laughlin said just like in most businesses, competition in education could be a good thing. 'Education is an industry in Pennsylvania and it is across the country. Every industry is better when there's competition. You have to have a level playing field, granted you don't want an unfair advantage for one or the other,' he explained. The Commonwealth offers a program called the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Scholarship which helps students attend non-public schools. North East Wine Fest holding logo competition However, that program's funding is capped and in 2021 and 2022, more than 63,000 applications of low-income families wanting to attend a private school were turned away. Eliminating an enrollment and tuition revenue opportunities from schools like Blessed Sacrament. Laughlin is asking for an increase in that funding's cap, or for it to be removed. 'There are schools just like Blessed Sacrament all across this state that are struggling as well,' he said. 'I think having options for kids and a little bit of competition, granted at a level playing field, I think you would start to see better outcomes.' Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Last year, a $100 million scholarship program was passed by the Democrat-controlled house and the Republican-controlled Senate to help students attend schools that fit their needs but it was vetoed by Governor Josh Shapiro. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Dozens gather outside Blessed Sacrament School to protest closure
Over 50 people came to the Blessed Sacrament Catholic School Monday evening, waving signs and chanting out against the school's closure. Blessed Sacrament School has been open since 1939, but now that long history is coming to an end. The Erie Catholic School System announced the school will be shutting down at the end of the school year, and parents and students aren't happy. 'I love BSS. I've like grown up here basically,' said Richard Hulsinger, 6th grade student at Blessed Sacrament School. 'I'm sad because I'm going to miss all the staff and my friends.' Protest held following closure announcement of Blessed Sacrament School 'It's frustrating. It's scary. Nervewracking. Devastating to the children. They've established friendships,' said Angela Proctor, Blessed Sacrament parent. Parents said they received an email on Friday giving them the news, which told them that continuously declining enrollment is the reason for the closure. But Monday evening the Blessed Sacrament Community came together to fight the closure — and the bitter cold didn't slow them down. Dozens of people lined the street on 26th Street, waving signs, chanting with megaphones, cars passing and honking, all in support of trying to save their school. The school closure would force 178 students to find education elsewhere, and now parents are faced with the question of what to do next. 'I have two children here. We're not guaranteed they'll be able to go to the same school next year if this one closes. They may not have room for both of my kids at one school,' said Tasha Johnson, a parent. 'Now the parents have to get together and figure out what's going to happen to see if we can keep our kids together in another school,' said Proctor. But the fight isn't over yet. Proctor said the community is holding out hope for Blessed Sacrament. Penn State Behrend hosts 10th annual STEAM Fair 'Do you think there's hope for the school?' asked reporter Tyler Gallagher. 'I think so. If we have this positivity going, then yeah,' replied Hulsinger. 'We have faith. We have faith, absolutely,' said another parent. Even with an uncertain future ahead, parents and students are committed to 'save their school.' The Blessed Sacrament community will be meeting with the Erie Catholic School System Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the school cafeteria. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Protest held following closure announcement of Blessed Sacrament School
A Friday evening announcement of a local Catholic school closing has left many community members devastated. Faculty and staff received news on Friday via email that Blessed Sacrament School will be closing its doors at the end of the current school year. The Erie Catholic School System said this decision was based on a drop in enrollment numbers since the school joined the system around 2017 — The decline was over 50%. One parent said she was shocked by the news. Church of Nativity hosts International Cuisine Fest as way to celebrate diversity 'It was first a shock, obviously. You start to run through those feelings of shock and sadness. We are a very tight school community but I think too once we really start thinking about the reasons and what was told to us, we started to look a little harder,' said Colleen Hanson, a parent of students at Blessed Sacrament School. Hanson said one of the things that was noted was that the school is not pulling enough children within the 16502 zip code, which is also the zip code of the school. 'All schools have access to different things. We have talked recently about some schools have a busing [system], they can use that for various events. Our school does not have access to that. So we pay the same amount, but we don't have the same access to the same things,' said Hanson. Another parent said the school teaches valuable aspects that should be accessible to all children. 'We give them a sense of structure and stability and some of our kids don't have that. This should be offered to everyone in Erie. This should be something that the city kids have as their safety net, and it should be available to everybody,' said Christina Erven, a parent of students at Blessed Sacrament School. The pastor of the Blessed Sacrament Parish said the decades-old school closing is a huge loss not only for Erie but for the Catholic community. 'What we're doing is, we're looking at, is putting out people that can't afford or won't be able to go to another Catholic school,' said Father Philip Pinczewski, pastor at the Blessed Sacrament Parish. He said this decision is not what the parish is about as gospel people. Tickets available for annual Erie's Best Coffee fundraising event 'The board of directors looks at numbers, corporate talk, but not about the heart, the relationships or the gospel,' said Pinczewski. 'The relationships that are forged in school come over to the parish too, so it supplies and gives life to the parish. So the board didn't look at that and of course, I had no input into it.' Hanson said the school closing will impact families in this area of the city and will have a lasting effect in keeping those families together. 'One of the biggest concerns is that I have heard through the meeting that they had with the faculty and staff is that there is no guarantee that families will be able to stay together. So for me as a working mom it's going to be virtually impossible with the limited school transportation,' said Hanson. 'I think that this is the ideal Catholic school. This is what we truly are and I wish that we would just have a chance, even one more year, to be able to get our enrollment up, to be able to even make other plans to break off and may go back to our church,' said Erven. A meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 18 at 6 p.m. in the school cafeteria with the Erie Catholic School System. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Blessed Sacrament School to close after school year
An Erie Catholic school that first opened its doors in 1939 will be closing at the end of the current school year. The Erie Catholic School System announced Blessed Sacrament School will shut down citing what they called 'continuous decline in enrollment.' According to a statement released Friday afternoon, the number of students at Blessed Sacrament was at its peak in the mid-1950s when there were more than 1,000. The current enrollment is 178. 'It was actually devastating. We found out via email. Myself and other parents thought there would be a meeting or something. We were completely blindsided by the news. We weren't expecting this at all,' said Ana Aponte, a parent of a Blessed Sacrament School student. Regarding the decision, the board chair of the Erie Catholic School System said: 'Our mission remains the same,' said Ann Carlin, 'but we need to respond to the realities of today.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
