Diocese to close West Chicago school, consolidate others

At least one Catholic school in DuPage County will close and others will be consolidated under a plan released late Thursday by the Joliet Diocese.

Among myriad moves, the plan, as outlined in a multi-page report from Bishop J. Peter Sartain, calls for the closing of St. Mary School in West Chicago at the end of the school year.

The diocese pledged to help families from that school enroll at other Catholic schools, especially St. John the Baptist in Winfield and St. Irene in Warrenville.

The plan also calls for a feasibility study this fall to decide whether to open a new school at the St. Mary site to specifically serve the needs of the parish's immigrant population.

In addition, the report recommends consolidating schools serving Addison, Bensenville, Itasca and Wood Dale.

As outlined by the bishop, the area would be served by St. Philip the Apostle in Addison, Holy Family at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Bensenville, and a multi-parish school created for the 2010-11 school year by consolidating Holy Ghost in Wood Dale and St. Peter the Apostle in Itasca at the Holy Ghost site.

St. Alexander School in Villa Park, which parishioners feared was on the diocese chopping block, will be saved, at least for now.

It should "continue as long as it is able to provide quality Catholic education and is financially viable ..." according to the report.

But the school must meet still-to-be-developed benchmarks, the report says, and the decision will be re-evaluated by Feb. 1, 2011, to determine if it remains open.

Sartain's report calls Catholic schools "a treasure in our country and in our diocese," but indicates many of them are struggling because of declining enrollments, demographic shifts, financial woes and aging facilities.