PORTLAND — After weighing a proposal by parents for an alternate funding model, Portland Bishop Richard Malone this morning said he’s sticking with his original decision to close Cathedral School at the end of the school year.

The parochial school at the base of Munjoy Hill has run up a deficit of $115,000, a figure that the Portland Diocese said would more than double if the school stayed open another year. The school also owes its home parish, Cathedral Parish, $330,000.

A statement from the diocese said parents told Malone that they had a $400,000 guaranteed gift from a benefactor lined up, but Malone said funding for subsequent years was not guaranteed and “the rest of the plan by itself could not sustain the school.”

Heidi Czerkes, one of the parents who met with Malone last week, said she was “extremely disappointed” by the decision.

Czerkes said the proposal to Malone included “a proven method of operating urban Catholic schools,” plus $80,000 in savings and donations. In her statement, Czerkes didn’t say if the parents had any other plans to pursue ways to keep the school open.

Malone said Cathedral will close at the end of the school year on June 15.

 

 


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