Pompton Lakes St. Mary's School To Permanently Close

POMPTON LAKES, NJ — St. Mary’s School, which has been part of the Diocese of Paterson’s St. Mary’s Parish since 1952, will permanently close its doors next month at the conclusion of the current academic year, according to a Monday evening news release.

The decision to close the school, according to the release, was based on the recommendation of the St. Mary’s Parish Finance Committee and the diocese’s approval of the committee’s recommendation.

Among the factors that drove the decision 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 the 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.

St. Mary’s Parish is staffed and operated for the diocese by the Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province.

Talk of the school potentially closing had intensified in recent years due to declining enrollment and budget deficits, according to the release, and the school has taken drastic measures in the past several years to keep the doors open.

The parish subsidized a $119 thousand shortfall in the 2017-2018 school budget. Last year, parish funds closed the school's $215,500 operating deficit. Tuition increased 10 percent in the last two years after more than a decade of no increases, according to the release, but it made minimal impact as operational costs increased.

Still, Torres-Acosta said the school had plans to open for the coming school year — in spite of a $334,231 deficit — before administrators learned an additional $240 thousand was needed for repairs. After a number of difficult discussions with all involved parties, he explained the decision became clear.

“We have been transparent with our intentions. This was not a sudden reaction or decision based on the pandemic; it is based on economic realities,” said Torres-Acosta. “We explored every possibility of keeping the school operational, but after listening and subsequently evaluating and assessing the information from those frank discussions – and after much prayer and deliberation, we came to the collective conclusion that we had to close the school at the end of this academic year.”

Torres-Acosta said that the school would assist families as best as it could in making enrollment applications with other Catholic schools in the diocese, and also work with faculty in identifying teaching opportunities.

“It would have been worse if we reopened next fall, and then had to shut down in the middle of the academic year. Making this decision now gives everyone the chance to reset and plan their future,” he said.

“It breaks my heart to deliver this news, especially at this time. But the parish, for its own survival, can no longer be asked to shoulder the financial burden of the school. We are going to miss greeting the students every morning and celebrating weekly Mass with them. But the current conditions are no longer feasible. We are not closing our doors because of the pandemic, but it has effectively pushed us off the edge of the cliff.”