Schools

Parents Rally to Save La Salle

A letter campaign, petition and rally are all underway to save the Catholic school.

The community at school is mobilizing to keep the school open after that it will be one of six Long Island Catholic elementary schools to close this June.

Parents Rick Pinto, Kim Alloca, Tim Carney, Anthony Scuderi, Michelle Bartone and Heather Funk have formed a committee with plans to save La Salle through a rally, letter-writing/calling campaign to the Diocese and a petition.

The group has launched the website www.savelasalleregional.org and pages on Facebook and Twitter. The site contains a form letter for parents to send in, flyers to pass out and a petition to sign. A rally is scheduled for Jan. 7 at noon starting at the Village Green and proceeding to the front of the school. 

Find out what's happening in Farmingdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"So far on the website alone 100 people have signed the petition and there are parents still out collecting their own petitions, so we'll have the final number at the rally," Pinto said. "We've gotten no response yet from the Diocese, but I know they've gotten our letters, phone calls and emails."

The Diocese has publicly stated that the decision to close is final. The school's enrollment, 184 students for 2011-2012, has declined 41 percent over the past decade and tuition this year was $4,366, a $682 increase from five years ago, according to Diocese records.

Find out what's happening in Farmingdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As part of the Diocese's Strategic Plan to chart a future for Catholic education on Long Island, enrollment, the age of students in the area, the financial situation of the school and reviews of each school building, its technology and other programs offered, were all analyzed before the decision to close was made, Bishop Murphy said.

The form letter the group has written for parents to send in states that based on criteria the Strategic Plan analyzed, La Salle is still a strong elementary school evidenced by enrollment and profit being steady and other factors. The full letter is located in the gallery to the right.

"My daughter Stephanie is devastated by the closing of her school. She is in fourth grade now and she has been there since nursery school," said parent Victor Calderone. "It's not just a school to us but a family. We are the only Catholic school and the other schools are near capacity. We were given no warning and all we ask for is a chance."

La Salle was formed when St. James in Seaford, St. Martin of Tours in Bethpage, 's in Farmingdale and St. Pius X in Plainview all faced low enrollments in 1994 and merged into one regional school. There were originally campuses in both Bethpage and Farmingdale, but the Bethpage campus closed several years back.

Judy Picone's son Christian is in third grade and has been attending the school since pre-k. She said that they have faced the reality of having to look at other options for next year.

"We did look at other Catholic schools, with tears in my eyes," she said. "It was very hard."

Will you attend the rally on Saturday? Tell us in the comments.


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