Faced with plummeting enrollment, Catholic church officials said yesterday they’ll close 11 schools in June as part of a larger overhaul of the Diocese of Brooklyn’s school system.
If approved next month, the latest round of proposed closures, mergers and overhauls of 25 Queens and Brooklyn schools would reduce the number of elementary schools run by the Brooklyn Diocese to 99 – about one-third fewer than five years ago, records show.
More than 1,600 students attend the schools targeted for closure – which include St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, and St. Aloysius and Blessed Sacrament in Queens.
“It breaks my heart for it to close,” said Grace Lewis-Bullen, whose daughter had hoped to graduate from the Flatbush Catholic Academy – one of the closing schools.
“It’s not surprising, but still disappointing,” she added.
Brooklyn’s St. Vincent Ferrer, Most Precious Blood and Our Lady of Angels are also on the chopping block, as are St. Anthony of Padua, St. Benedict Joseph Labre and St. Catherine of Sienna in Queens.