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Towson Catholic High School Closing Amidst Protest, Outrage

by Tina Kells | July 8, 2009 at 07:37 am

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Towson Catholic High School in Maryland announced July 7, 2009 that it would be closing forever after declining enrollment and delinquent tuition fees put it in serious financial difficulty. Towson Catholic High School administrators blame the faltering US economy for putting the final nail in the coffin of the 87 year old institution.

Unpaid tuition to the tune of $160,000 for the 2008-2009 school year combined with expected delinquencies for 2009-2010 caused Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church, the school's parish, to make the difficult decision to shut down the school. Administrators are working with other Catholic schools in the area to have their students taken in by nearby institutions at the same cost as attending Towson.

The announcement of the Towson Catholic High School closing did not go over well with parents, many of whom have started paying their tuition for September. 100 parents and students rallied in front of the school to protest the unexpected closure and demand that the archdiocese intervene to keep the school open.

The school was dealing with $160,000 in unpaid tuition, its only source of income. Reopening would have meant coping with an overall deficit of $650,000, said Sean Caine, spokesman for the archdiocese. The school had 244 students in June and graduated 59. It has lost 81 students in the past several weeks.

"Over the last 10 years, this school has lost 26 kids," Caine said. "Suddenly losing 81 put us in uncharted territory. We know many of our families are struggling, and the economy forced them to make a difficult decision."

Only 17 of the current students were parishioners and nearly 86 percent lived outside the Towson area, with half of them commuting from Baltimore City.

"This is directly related to the economy," Caine said. "The enrollment situation created an untenable problem. The school had not received any of the outstanding tuition, and there was not the typical summer registration. It is already late, and we feared waiting any longer would put the families already enrolled in a more difficult situation."

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John R. W. (not verified)

at 13:26 on July 9th, 2009

As a graduate of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Towson Catholic High School, I'm very sorry to hear that the school is closing. On the other hand, if they don't have the student body and tuition being paid, they really have no other option. The school has salaries and other bills to pay, if they can't make those payments, like any business they have to do something about it.

The question I have to ask is, how much support has the very wealthy parish has invested in keeping both of their schools open? When I worked at Immaculate Conception School we had to fight for support from Immaculate Conception Church. It was my impression that each parish (with or without a school) in the archdiocese has an expectation of giving support to the Catholic schools in the diocese.

The sad fact is that with the current economic struggles more and more Catholic schools will have decreasing enrollment and many more of those schools will be forced to close their doors. America will see a great institution that has shaped its history in many ways disappear.

TC Parent (not verified)

at 10:29 on July 10th, 2009

Interesting comment. We to at TC have over the years had to fight for every penny of support. Funny to here the same about ICS as we at TC always thought that ICS was supported by the Parish. We at TC never - ever saw Monsg. Tinder except at graduation. From athletic events to fund raisers to School Productions - Monsg. Tinder never set foot in the halls of TC for as long as I have been associated with the school. We always thought it had to do with his love for ICS, but I guess he just saw both schools as a drain.