Diocese denies appeal to reverse St. Philip Catholic School merger

The Diocese of Pittsburgh has denied a group’s appeal to reverse the merging of St. Philip Catholic School in Crafton.

The Committee to Save St. Philip School appealed Bishop David Zubik’s decision to merge two schools into one in February.

Since then, the group has tried and failed to meet with Zubik and diocesan attorneys to avoid further litigation.

Zubik’s announcement to uphold his decision did not surprise the Committee to Save St. Philip School. Colin Wrabley, the procurator (spokesman) for the group, said the group plans on appealing the denial to the Vatican in Rome.

“The diocese has been closing schools for decades and has never been challenged on these grounds. We’ve been collecting evidence supporting our case from day one, we believe it clearly demonstrates an invalid process in closing our school, and we’re confident that the Vatican will agree,” Wrabley said in a statement.

The plan includes merging St. Philip with St. Margaret of Scotland in Green Tree. Students from both schools would be housed at the facility in Green Tree.

Zubik made the decision based on recommendations from the South Regional Catholic Elementary Schools board, which involved more than a year’s worth of “careful study of financial and demographic data, student enrollment trends and consultation with representatives of the parish and school communities in determining the best possible way to continue a Catholic school education for the children in the south region,” according to a news release from the diocese.

The plan also includes merging St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin in Whitehall and St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Pleasant Hills. Students will be housed at St. Gabriel’s school.

The diocese said it sent out a Q&A document to school families and parishioners involved in the mergers to explain the reasoning behind the plans shortly after Zubik’s Feb. 12 announcement of the mergers.

“In the Diocese of Pittsburgh, over the past 50 years, the regional population has dropped by about 30%. Student population in all schools — public, private and Catholic — has reflected this trend,” the diocese said.

The mergers, therefore, come as an effort by the newly-formed regional governing board to “keep Catholic schools affordable and accessible,” the diocese said.

The regionalization of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Pittsburgh was announced in 2016. The South Regional Catholic Elementary Schools (SRCES), governed by a board, was established in July 2020. The entity is made up of 10 schools in the southern portion of Allegheny County and two in Washington County.

The Rev. David Poeking, pastor at Archangel Gabriel Parish in McKees Rocks and president of the SRCES board, described the regionalization process as “vast and wide” that has been well-publicized for years during a March 17 call with reporters. The SRCES board has been meeting to discuss future plans for schools in the group since July.

Poeking said meetings with teams involving both schools took place in September, November and December, where teams proposed ideas to keep their schools operating before the board ultimately landed on its decision to recommend merging St. Philip and St. Margaret schools in January.

“Immediately after the decision to merge Saint Margaret of Scotland and Saint Philip schools as well as Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin schools, implementation committees of parents and regional staff were formed. They have been working in earnest to bring school families together,” the diocese said.

Poeking said this is not a closure. He said there is an expectation that the new, combined school at St. Margaret will draw its faculty from St. Philip.

“That stands in rather sharp contrast with the closure of one, in which the presumption would be the faculty of the closed school would simply lose their jobs,” he said, adding the new school would also include programming and records from St. Philip.

Zubik said merging a school is the best of both worlds.

“It isn’t that a history comes to an end, but an opportunity for people to come together to show the best of both worlds,” he said, adding an emphasis in his deep appreciation for Catholic education. He said he is the product of 24 years of it and he also has 13 years of experience on the administration side of it.

He said the parochial model of education, however, is “not vibrant.”

“Yet at the same time it’s important for us to take a look at new models so that Catholic education can continue,” Zubik said.