Not just here..

Catholic schools being shut down around the country..
St. Louis Missouri..

New Jersey..

Baltimore..

Last Catholic school in New Hampshire town closing..

And the news of Cardinal Brennan getting to the West coast..
Blog from Tucson talks about Cardinal Brennan *though they wrongly deemed our local paper the "Potttown" REPUBLICAN..

Other local media on hand for yesterday's meeting..

The Hazleton STANDARD SPEAKER writes..

"Approximately 400 members of the Cardinal Brennan High School community, including students, parents, faculty, administration and alumni, gathered Sunday in the field house on school’s Fountain Springs campus to gather information about the future of the financially struggling high school. The group learned of the scheduled meeting Wednesday of last week in a letter mailed from the Allentown diocese to the home of each student.
According to the letter, the school’s declining enrollment and increasing indebtedness prompted the Diocesan Pastoral Council, at the recent conclusion of the Second Synod, to recommend an examination of the feasibility of continuing to offer Catholic education at Cardinal Brennan."

WNEP report:

"Students brought signs and songs, singing the school's alma mater. The school gym was packed with parents and students, all concerned about their school's future"

Questions and answers

The Pottsville REPUBLICAN printing the official questions and answers from yesterday's meeting..

The stats..

Cardinal Brennan facts..
Nativity facts..
Marian Catholic facts..

A future choice..

The school consolidation may bring about new questions for parents: Where to send their kids..

If and when Cardinal Brennan is closed, parents who have their children enrolled there will have to choose between Nativity BVM, Marion, North Schuylkill, Shenendoah Valley, and whatever other district they may be from..

A tough choice for parents that have juniors ready to be seniors.. Perhaps the toughest for the juniors that won't have that same upperclassman feel..

vs
The rumor lately has been that Nativity BVM, pictured on the left, would be the school that the diocese says will be future school for Cardinal Brennan students.. Brennan, pictured on the right..

Comparisons:

Map of Cardinal Brennan..

Nativity BVM map..


The facts: Cardinal Brennan was built in 1926.. Interior is plaster, exterior is brick..

The sales history.. hold your breath
Sisters of IHM sold CB to Bishop Cullen for $1 on February 9, 1998..
95.5 acres.. at stake..

Read more..

The day after..

The Pottsville REPUBLICAN reporting that over 400 were at the meeting (http://www.republicanherald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18038492&BRD=2626&PAG=461&dept_id=532624&rfi=6) .. not sure if anyone got a real total or head count, but judging from reports and photographs, it's easy to assume that the number was possibly well above 400..

The theme of the day: Family. The students and alumni fearing the feeling that a loss in the family was about to occur if CB closed.. the theme of the day from the council of priests (a group that some are labeling the Jedi Council, a reference to STAR WARS): MONEY $ $ $

Mark E. Smith, secretary of temporal affairs, said that if the current states of affairs continues and CB is kept open, tuition would have to exceed $7,000 per student next year!
I spoke to one parent after the meeting, who was highly involved with organizing the Sunday meeting. He said that while he believes the numbers show that CB could be financially stable and the feasibility exists that it would stay open and succeed, he also believes the decision may have already been reached months ago. "Going through the motions," he told me as he walked away under the cloudy sky..
Perhaps so. Either way, the students yesterday have reasons to be very proud of the motions they went through...