St. Joseph Parents Start Scholarship Fund

Parents of students at St. Joseph School in Maplewood have created a scholarship program aimed at increasing enrollment at the school and keeping it open for the 2010-2011 school year.

Laura Farrell, a journalist and a parent of a student at St. Joseph School, reported on Patch on Wednesday, May 26, that Fr. Michael Saporito had given parents a month to raise funds and increase enrollment in order to stave off the announced closing of the school.

On Friday, May 28, Richard Khavkine of the Star-Ledger reported the details of Saporito's plan: in order for the school to remain open, enrollment would need to be increased about 25 percent for the 2010-2011 school year. That means that 155 students must register with a $300 deposit by June 16, and another 55 must register by July 2.

Parents of St. Joseph students will be meeting again tonight at the school to discuss strategies, but their first line of attack is the scholarship program which is called The St. Joseph School Scholarship Fund. Donations can be made online through the Scholarship Fund for Inner City Children or through the mail. In order for the funds to go toward St. Joseph School, donors must designate the "St. Joseph School Scholarship Fund" in their contribution, according to Gerry O'Connor, a Maplewood resident who runs the fund.

Scholarships will be given in amounts of $1,000 per student for low-income children to attend St. Joseph School. Organizers say that no amount is too small. In addition, if St. Joseph School is closed despite the parents' and community's efforts, the money raised through the scholarship fund will not be returned but will go into a general scholarship fund that will help lower-income students attend parochial and private schools.

Proponents to keep St. Joseph School open have also started a Save Saint Joseph School Facebook group.

According to South Orange Maplewood Board of Education President Mark Gleason, about 40 pupils of St. Joseph School are eligible for the South Orange Maplewood School District. The district reported that, as of May 26, only one parent had contacted the district inquiring about registration for the fall. The district has already faced difficulties with overcrowding at Tuscan and South Mountain Elementary schools this past school year and made some controversial rezoning/redistricting decision.

Gleason expressed confidence to the News-Record that the potential school closure would not place a burden on the public school district and that he felt that the St. Joseph families would seek other Catholic school alternatives for their children's education.