The Michigan Catholic
Published March 23, 2007

Detroit — St. Stanislaus Kostka School in Wyandotte, Our Lady of Loretto School in Redford Township and St. Cyprian School in Riverview will close at the end of the current school year.

At St. Stanislaus, the proposal to close was brought forth by the parish council and the current parish administrator, Fr. Walter Ptak. At Our Lady of Loretto, the proposal to close was made by pastor Fr. J.J. Mech and the parish council. At St. Cyprian, the proposal to close was made by pastor Fr. William Promesso and the parish council.

The parish representatives last week brought their proposals to Cardinal Adam Maida and the College of Consultors, a body of priest advisors, who ultimately honored their requests to close their respective schools.

The decisions by St. Stanislaus, Our Lady of Loretto and St. Cyprian bring the total number of school closures in 2007 to five — including previously approved closures of St. Albert the Great School in Dearborn and St. Angela Catholic School in Roseville.

No more school closings are expected this year.

St. Stanislaus' parish council, after merger talks with nearby Catholic schools were ruled out, decided that keeping the school open was not financially feasible for the parish of less than 600 members. The school's enrollment over the past several years had hovered slightly above 100.

Our Lady of Loretto, also K-8, had seen more of a sharp decline in enrollment over the past four years, and currently has an enrollment in the 140s. Both Our Lady of Loretto and St. Cyprian schools had surveyed school parents to gauge viability for the future. Neither school could garner enrollment of more than 85 students for the 2007-08 school year.

The closing schools, along with the archdiocese's Catholic Schools Office, will work with parents to find other locations for their children to continue their Catholic education.