Community Members React To Holy Cross School Closing

(KNSI) – Community members and a teacher are reacting to the news that Holy Cross Catholic School in Marty will close at the end of the school year.

Parents, students, and teachers learned of the Diocese of St. Cloud announced Bishop Kettler’s final decision on Friday.

Holy Cross Kindergarten Teacher Katie Calhoun talked with KNSI about how she felt after hearing the news.

“I felt very sad. I’d been here for 27 years and disappointed with the outcome. We were shocked because we thought we had another year to build our enrolment.”

Holy Cross Trustee and life-long area resident Al Haus says he was at the February 3 meeting when the Dioceses told parents and staff that the school would be open another year.

Haus says a long-term planning team on increasing enrollment was getting going when on April 7, when the school learned of Bishop Donald Kettler’s Decree to close the school.

“To surprise these teachers, I think wasn’t very Christian. A lot of these other schools have already filled their positions. So, I think the decision was a really cruel thing to especially to our teachers. I think that was not very nice to them.”

The Diocese says they will encourage teachers to apply for other positions in the St. Cloud Catholic Community School System. It’s unclear what jobs are available or if there’s enough for everyone.

Holy Cross appealed to the Bishop, who agreed to meet about the school’s concerns on April 14.

Last week, on Friday, April 30, the Bishop reaffirmed his Decree asking the Parish to develop a better use for the building.

School Advisory Board member Barry Belknap says the closing will be a tremendous loss for the community.

“To me, it’s a shame because, you know, yeah, it’s a small school but it’s a very tight community full of people whose lives kind of revolve around these activities. It takes the heart out of the social fabric of the community in a very, I don’t know, I’d say a very callous manner.”

Belknap and Haus say it’s never been explained why the Diocese is closing the school now or what changed from February to April to warrant closing the school.

He says enrollment was going up with a couple of new families enrolling next year, and the school’s population was growing in lower grades.

During the 2020-2021 school year, Holy Cross had 35 students and was projected to have 40 next year.

The building recently had a new roof installed and is in great shape, according to Haus. He also says the school has an endowment and isn’t a financial burden to the Diocese.

Members of the Holy Cross Community say St. Wendelin’s Catholic School in Luxemburg was facing a similar situation a couple of years ago and was given time to increase enrollment.

Officials with Holy Cross say they’re keeping all options open and will meet on Tuesday to discuss any possibilities remaining to save the school.

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