Rev. Olson: No Word On Appeal Announcement For Bonner, Prendergast

Rev. James Olson, president of Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High Schools, said that despite media reports he has not heard of any planned press conference regarding the .

FOX 29 has reported that the Philadelphia Archdiocese will be holding a press conference Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. about the fate the two schools, as well as Saint Hubert's and Conwell-Egan, which are all slated to be closed but the schools have appealed the decision.

As of 11:17 a.m. on Friday, FOX 29 has not mentioned who the source was that told them about the press conference.

The archdiocese has told the Haverford-Havertown Patch numerous times this morning that they are not sure if there will be a press conference either sometime Friday or next week.

In a phone interview with Olson, he told Patch that he has been checking his email “every five minutes” about word on the appeal and he has been sitting by his telephone.

“I hope to hear sooner than later,” he said about the fate of his two schools, where 59 high-school-age students who live in Haverford Township .

Olson said if the Drexel Hill schools remain open, school officials have to start preparing student registration and course selection forms for the next school year. If the schools are to close, he said, they would have to help students to prepare to transfer to new schools.

The Haverford Township School District stated in a that it would accept any former Catholic students should the two schools close.

“We’re here for them—if that’s an option they want to take—with open arms,” Haverford School Board President Denis Gray said.

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