CV NEWS FEED // Catholic schools in New York are struggling to remain afloat as financial resources dwindle.
According to a local report, Catholic schools in Western New York are fighting to stay open since the Diocese of Buffalo was “forced” to stop providing financial support.
To combat school closures, a new local charity organization, the Catholic Children’s Learning Corporation (CCLC) has launched a campaign to raise awareness of financial hardships that need to be overcome by the diocese and its partners to promote Catholic education.
CCLC President Michael LaFever noted in the report that prior to the Diocese’s bankruptcy filing, it had given “over $13 million a year” to Catholic schools. “That’s gone,” he added.
The Diocese of Buffalo filed for bankruptcy last year following an influx of child clergy sex abuse cases that flooded courts after the 2019 Child Victims Act lifted the state’s former statute of limitations. The diocese made a $100 million contribution to settle almost 900 child sex abuse cases.
After the closure of a local Catholic School in Tonawanda, LaFever met with the Bishop Micheal William Fisher. “When I met with the bishop,” LaFever said, “I emphasized that that can’t happen again.”
“We just can’t close the school and tell parents to find another school,” he added. “It’s beholding on us, the educators, and people of the diocese to do a better job about that.”
Parents of children at Catholic schools “really do feel betrayed and ignored,” LaFever said. “And that’s really unfortunate. We’re going to try and do better, and my organization has always said to the diocese ‘we’re ready to help, we’re ready to be a part of the solution.’”
CCLC will soon launch a capital campaign to raise $3 million to help keep the 30 remaining local Catholic schools, according to the report.
The post Catholic Schools in New York Fight to Stay Open appeared first on CatholicVote org.