Archdiocese stands firm on closing St. Kevin School in Springfield

Despite a plea beaming from an electronic billboard, St. Kevin Roman Catholic School in Springfield, Delaware County, will remain closed.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia praised the zeal and dedication of St. Kevin families who campaigned to save the school, but said Wednesday the decision to close it had been upheld.

The archdiocese's communications office issued the statement affirming the closing two days after supporters put their message on the billboard, on the Schuylkill Expressway between the University Avenue and South Street exits. The message asks Cardinal Justin Rigali to reconsider his decision to close the school because of low registration numbers for the fall.

"Cardinal Rigali, you've been misled," the billboard says. "Hear St. Kevin's truth."

Parents have maintained that the cardinal's decision was based on outdated information.

"The truth of the matter is that low reregistration numbers for the forthcoming academic year, combined with a parish debt of approximately $1.8 million, prohibit the school from remaining open," the communications office said in its statement.

Parents learned of the school's closing from archdiocesan officials June 9 an asked them to carry a message to the cardinal asking him to reconsider.

"Their request was reviewed, but the decision to close the school was upheld," the statement said, adding that the decision was sent in writing to parish and school administrators last week.

Parents said Wednesday they had not received the message and wanted to speak with the cardinal.

"Although the archdiocese has been in communication with our pastor, we have not received any response from Cardinal Rigali, and that is who we want to hear from," said Mary Mackey, who had three children at St. Kevin and planned to send her youngest there in a few years.

"We do not feel that Cardinal Rigali, nor the archdiocese, has all the facts correct, and, until we feel that, we will continue our efforts to get an audience with the cardinal," she said in an e-mail.

Mackey said that at no time were parents told there was a registration deadline or a targeted enrollment number.

"We are asking that Cardinal Rigali, having the power to do so, step in and protect our school from closure," she said.

The message on the 14-by-48-foot digital display will remain visible through next week, Mackey said.

The Delaware County school had 158 children from prekindergarten through eighth grade in the academic year just ended. The archdiocese said only 93 had registered for the fall. Parents disputed that number, saying that more than 130 students had signed up and that many were expected to register over the summer for prekindergarten and kindergarten.