|
Published: October 10, 2007
Another one bites the dust
Archdiocese of Los Angeles closing Catholic high school in face of money problems, declining enrollment
Citing “a decade-long decline in enrollment combined with increased operating costs” and the “severe financial challenges” it faces, the Los Angeles archdiocese has “accelerated the decision” to close Daniel Murphy High School.
In Oct. 8 archdiocesan news release, the “severe financial challenges” were not spelled out, but the archdiocese has already said it would sell as many as 50 non-parish properties to cover its up to $373-million portion of a $660-million settlement with victims of molestation by priests.
Thus far, the archdiocese has announced that it will sell its Wilshire Boulevard Archdiocesan Catholic Center (the chancery offices) and a small convent in Santa Barbara to help cover the settlement costs.
 Daniel Murphy High School, located at Third and South Detroit streets in Los Angeles, was opened in 1926 as Los Angeles College, a junior seminary. In 1953, when the seminary moved to San Fernando, the site became a college preparatory school for young men, called St. John Vianney High School. Dominicans ran the school from 1956 to 1981, when it was taken over by the archdiocese. The original brick buildings (except for the chapel) were replaced by a new complex in 1966, and the school was renamed after Daniel Murphy, a Los Angeles businessman and philanthropist who gave substantial sums to the local Catholic Church. Murphy died in 1939.
In the news release, archdiocesan spokesman Tod Tamberg cited decreased enrollment as a major reason for the decision to close the high school. “Despite efforts to increase student enrollment over the past ten years, the student population has continued to decline, and is now down to 231 students,” said Tamberg. “A further decline in enrollment would have resulted in the cutting back of the curriculum, negatively impacting the school’s ability to offer a quality education to the students.”
Parents and students received news of the impending closure of the school on Friday via a letter from the archdiocese. One parent, Rod Freer, told the Los Angeles Times that the news was a shock to parents and students alike. Freer said he hopes to organize parents to fight the decision.
Most Catholic schools, said Freer, are more expensive than Daniel Murphy, which charges a $5,100 yearly tuition. Tamberg, however, says that the archdiocese’s “first priority will be to assist [teachers and students] in finding other Catholic high schools in the area in which to teach and learn,” and that the archdiocese is establishing a fund to help students with financial need who wish to transfer. Other area Catholic high schools are Cathedral, Salesian, Verbum Dei, and Loyola high schools in Los Angeles and St. Bernard High in Playa Del Rey.
“Sometime in early 2008 discussions will begin about the various future options and alternative uses for the school property,” said Tamberg.
Posted Wednesday, October 10, 2007 7:08 AM By Jim
The Church in LA continues its slide into oblivion, as it reaps the fruits of rampant contraception as well as homosexuality in the priesthood.
|
Posted Wednesday, October 10, 2007 8:51 AM By Stephen
Clearly, St. John Vianney watched over his school better than did Daniel Murphy! But the loss of Catholic high schools is always a bad thing for the Church and the whole community. Unfortunately, that enrollment is terrible. Either Catholics need to be really convinced of the strength of a Catholic education, or the school itself needs to be better so as to attract more. Or perhaps it should be completely moved to a different area. My Catholic high school education (one of the other listed schools) was the most important part of my many years of education. The problem here has been the lawyers and other suit-happy people who have left the archdiocese millions short o cash. Those people are the ones who chose to close the school demanding their $660 million. On the other hand, if they will be considering "alternative uses" for the property, how does that go with selling "as many as 50 non-parish properties" to fund the settlement? Will the savings in not having to support the high school be enough to help the diocese in itself without sale of the property? Let's hope the other high schools are not additional archdiocesan targets.
|
Posted Wednesday, October 10, 2007 10:27 AM By GL
I won't be popular for this, and take full responsibility for my opinion, mistakes and any naivete written herein, but as a 1983 graduate of Daniel Murphy High School, and after doing some internet research this morning after learning of the potential closure, it seems clear that: closure of Catholic schools at all levels (K-12) is an international problem (U.S., UK, etc.). There is a plethora of literature about school closures over the past decade at least, with no geographically area left particularly left unscathed, and Detroit certainly among the hardest hit. It also seems clear, that at the highest levels of the church (think Vatican), some serious decisions need to be made as to 1) personal clergy responsibility & ethics 2) church operation and ethics and 3) allowance of priests to marry and form meaningful family bonds and relationships as are found in many other Christian denominations. The question seems to be how much continued abuse will tolerated by parishoners, how much "bleeding" needs to occur across the board and ultimately, how much monetary support the church receives each week, at the plate, which in turn supports the status quo. Just think as you open your wallet/checkbook about where your tithe will go. Will it support a starving child, a family in need in the U.S. or across the world? Will it support the BEST that the church has to offer? Or will it continue to support victim recompensation (necessary and important) and a church which continues to hide and divert those who perpetrated Crimes against children and, indirectly, parents who entrusted them with their life, education and safety? You decide, and think who You are supporting as the plate passes. Lastly, and more importantly, what do you think Jesus would say if he were here? More importantly, what would he do?
|
Posted Wednesday, October 10, 2007 11:53 AM By The good Cardinal
Sorry folks, I had to make a decision between my opulent digs and the schools and convents, no way God would want me to live in a moderate house, or Heaven forbit to share with others. Sure I spent 300 million on my masterpiece, but that was donated money, you could not expect me to feed the hungry, provide shelter and food for the poor over pleasing our Lord with a beautiful Church that I will be remembered for. This as you know is not the end, as a matter of fact it is only the beginning, but remember the more you give, the more quickly I can pay of the Lawyers who really soaked US. Woe is he who fails to give.
|
Posted Wednesday, October 10, 2007 10:21 PM By simone dubois
GL if what you propose were true then there would be less sexual abuse amongst non-catholic denominations due to their married clergy but sadly, it ain't true... the married clergy of other religions, particularly christians and jews have more not less difficulty with abuse and homosexuality. The main difference is you don't hear about it... however consider this, if you were Satan, who would you attack? The family and the priesthood, it seems. No priest, no Eucharist, that simple. It ain't celibacy he hates as much as he hates the Church... he can't get at God directly so he goes for the Bride...our battle is with the rulers of this present age of darkness, powers and principalities.
|
Posted Wednesday, October 10, 2007 11:07 PM By John
Daniel Murphy HS would have closed if there were no sexual abuse scandal. You can't run a high school with a good curriculum and pay teachers on the archdiocesan salary scale with so little money coming in.
Catholics just don't support their schools as they did in the past. At the elementary school level you can find plenty of kids in a CCD program but the parish school with empty seats.
My parents sent me and my siblings to catholic schools at a sacrifice, but that no longer happens in large enough numbers.
There is no "quick fix" and I am afraid more will close.
|
Posted Thursday, October 11, 2007 1:21 PM By MG
Did you see this story latimes.com/news/local/la-me-nuns7sep07,0,1506149.story?coll=la-home-center ? It's shame the Church is first going for what seems to be the least profitable agencies and considering less the services they provides Catholics in its many forms. I agree with GL. And though I agree that closures are inevitable where school attendance is down, I feel the church continues to be irresponsible in its choices on how to spend its funds (stained glass window projects, etc ). Whether or not the Catholic church has more abuse cases than other religions is irrelevant. It's a shame and those involved should not be protected from the law and should certainly not be provided shelter above other active members such as the nuns in the story above. It's shameful and irresponsible. Oh, another fund raising effort is that the Archdiocese is calling families for pledges. My parents, devout Catholics in their 70s on a very fixed income, have promised $200 to the church over the course of a year -- this does not include their weekly donations at mass each week. The Catholic Church needs to prioritize and could use a reminder of the humility which began the church and is preached to parishioners on a weekly basis.
|
Posted Friday, October 12, 2007 5:16 AM By kurt gladsky
Unfortunately Catholic high schools have become a place where morality is not enforced. At my former Catholic high school, Calvert Hall College, a good friend of mine recently allowed her daughter to attend one of Calvert Hall's "mixers." A mixer is a dance wher girls schools students are invited to come to an all boys school dance.Drinking alcohol,"dirty dancing," and boys groping girls, where all witnessed by my friends daughter.Since the Roman Catholic heirarchy is morally bankrupt,should we expect better from those in charge farther down the Catholic church food chain? Probably not. Kurt Gladsky Founder: Greater Baltimore Survivors Network Of Those Abused by Priests
|
Posted Friday, October 12, 2007 7:23 AM By Grisha
Catholic Schools thrive in affluent suburban communities with lots of children, but whither in urban areas. It seems that w/ less than 200 or so students, an elementery school isn't viable. One big factor to the decline was the drop in vocations. To attract good lay teachers, schools need to pay a competatve salery.
|
Posted Friday, October 12, 2007 9:27 AM By Joyce
I am very sorry to learn the extent of the problems in this area of California. I live in St. Louis, Missouri. Within the county and city of St. Louis there are about 30 Catholic High Schools. Most of which have a tuition of $9000 per year. These schools actually turn away students - they're full! We are doing well in St. Louis. I hope your area recovers and fully heals from the tragic turmoil you all have encountered and endured.
|
Posted Friday, October 12, 2007 9:29 AM By Joyce
I am very sorry to learn the extent of the problems in this area of California. I live in St. Louis, Missouri. Within the county and city of St. Louis there are about 30 Catholic High Schools. Most of which have a tuition of $9000 per year. These schools actually turn away students - they're full! We are doing well in St. Louis. I hope your area recovers and fully heals from the tragic turmoil you all have encountered and endured.
|
Posted Friday, October 12, 2007 4:22 PM By Stephen
Some dioceses are sure to separate support of schools from the parish income. It used to be that parishes supported elementary schools attached to them. Now, many have been separated. I believe that supporting Catholic schools is as important as supporting the parish itself. Indeed, it is part of it. I believe we should bring back to Catholics the importance of supporting their schools. In fact, we should bring to Catholics (talk about it from the pulpit) supporting the Church itself. Except for specific drives, it isn't done much. And if St. Louis and other areas can be successful, find out what they're doing and get it done everywhere. Catholic schools, PROPERLY RUN, are critical for all of us.
|
Posted Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:19 PM By DJones
Unfortunately, the only thing the Archdiocese is interested in is the almighty dollar. They're not interested in providing a good Catholic education. Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the Archdiocese claims "Despite efforts to increase student enrollment over the past ten years, the student population has continued to decline, and is now down to 231 students,". As an insider, I'm here to tell you that's not the case. Enrollment is down is because absolutely nothing was done to promote the school. No recruitment program was in place to visit local grammar schools to promote DMHS to incoming freshman. If you talk to parents, they'll tell you they heard about Daniel Murphy by word of mouth. Before the decline there was a successful recruitment campaign and classrooms were full. Several years ago, the Archdiocese placed a principal at the school who, in my opinion, single-handedly caused the decline of the school. He stopped all support for sports programs and blocked communication between the school and its strong alumni base. At the time I thought this principal didn't have the wherewithal and experience to run a high school. In hindsight, it looks like he was sent to DMHS by the Archdiocese with a purpose – to close the school. A Catholic high school, properly run and promoted, can support itself and function in a profitable manner - provided the Archdiocese doesn't dip into school coffers to subsidize its lawsuit losses. Once again, the Archdiocese has turned students into victims.
|
Posted Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:22 PM By DJones
By the way, the principal that was sent to Daniel Murphy by the Archdiocese to set up the school for failure has now been shipped to St. Bernard in Playa Del Rey. According to the Archdiocese' own numbers, St. Bernard is down some 400+ students in enrollment. I've got news for you, St. Bernard, you're next!
|
Posted Tuesday, October 16, 2007 2:49 PM By GL
Kudos to DJones.
|
Posted Tuesday, October 30, 2007 3:32 PM By David Thomas
Hola
We all are part of the Daniel community in some way. The Archdiocese has made some terrible mistakes in the past on how they handled the Priest child abuse scandal. The sad part is that it appears they are continuing with the same trend, hurting todays and future children to cover mistakes of the past. I personally talked to Daniel Murphy’s School Principle, and she stated that she repeatedly tried to reiterate to the Archdiocese that Daniel Murphy HS is financially solvent and has been running in the Black for many years -- my son was on a waiting list to attend the freshman class in 2005.
I often tell my kids, that you should not just listen to people’s words; but also, look more attentively at their actions.
The Cardinal, repeatedly stated how protecting the children from harm was one of his top priorities; but his actions differ. How many fundraisers has the cardinal attended to gather funding to build the new Cathedral? Now compare that to the effort to Cardinal has put into trying to keep Daniel Murphy from closing. What I find shocking is that I do not recall hearing any attempts from the Archdiocese reaching out to our community, seeking solutions to keep Daniel Murphy High School open.
If we all choose to stand together on this issue, we can prevent a terrible injustice from occurring.
God Bless,
|
Posted Thursday, November 01, 2007 7:03 PM By Marie
My son is a sophomore at Daniel Murphy. I have 3 children and they all go to catholic schools. At first, I wasn't sure about my son attending Daniel Murphy. I did not really heared a lot of things about the school, except when I finally attended the open house. Honestly, this is the most organized open house I attended. I was really impressed. The feeling the you get in a small school like this is very rewarding. We fell inlove with the school and it is very sad that it will close it's doors at the end of the school year. I heared that there are plans to sell the property due to the big amount of money the archdiocese needed to pay the settlement. But that is not fair. Why does innocent children need to suffer in exchange of satisfying the needs of other victims. Harm had been done and money cannot erase it. So why the need for this huge amount of money? Are we saying that money can cure what had been done? Why innocent boys who are merely trying to live their dreams are being sacrificed now? It is true that there are other schools that they can transfer to, but that is just like forcing people to leave their home and sending them somewhere they don't really feel like going. This is were our sons want to go. This is their home with their friends. I struggle every month to be able to afford sending my kids to catholic school because I strongly believe in catholic education. But what he is going through now is terrible. Instead of concentrating on school works, we are spending our time searching for other school. Now I am not sure if this will be the first and last time we have to go through this. I have 2 other kids and I wonder now how stable catholic schools are??
|
© California Catholic Daily 2007. All Rights Reserved.
|