St. Mary's School Demonstration 'Rather Peaceful': Police

POMPTON LAKES, NJ — Members of the St. Mary's School community hosted a demonstration outside the school on Wednesday, May 20, in response to the news the school would permanently close.

Former Pompton Lakes council member Chris Barranco, who attended the demonstration, said roughly 60 people were present, and the group was "pretty successful" at maintaining social distancing guidelines.

However, after starting as a larger group, Barranco said the demonstrators were eventually whittled down to 10 people after the guidelines became more clear. Police were present at the demonstration, but Barranco said no law enforcement measures had to be taken.

Pompton Lakes Police Department Captain Ryan Cichon confirmed that the protest was "rather peaceful".

"We initially had some issues with social distancing and protesters congregating on the church property. We brought this to their attention and they complied with our requests," he said.

The demonstration was organized to seek more transparency in the process from parish officials, who over the weekend announced the decision to close the school at the end of this academic year.

Read more: St. Mary's School Community Hosts Socially Distant Demonstration

Barranco said as of Wednesday afternoon he had received no additional communication from the parish.

View photos from the demonstration below:

Among the factors that drove the decision to close the school are years of six-figure operating deficits, significantly declining enrollment, and a projected deficit of more than $334,000, which does not include $240,000 of necessary state-mandated and other repairs for what would have been the next academic year, according to a news release.

Although the decision comes in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the school's financial struggles have been well documented in recent years, and the announcement, officials say, should come as no surprise to the school community.

"The school was not a sustainable reality long before the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The timing of this decision, although extremely difficult and painful, is practical and necessary to the survival of the parish. The pandemic is not the reason we are closing the doors to St. Mary's School, but it made an already untenable situation worse," said Father Gonzalo de Jesus Torres-Acosta, O.F.M., pastor of St. Mary's Church.

Read more: Pompton Lakes St. Mary's School To Permanently Close