"There is so much at stake here."
Bishop Mitchell Rozanski
The head of the Springfield Catholic Diocese says a plan addressing the future of the tornado-damaged Cathedral High School has been worked out. But Bishop Mitchell Rozanski is refusing to say what that is…for now.
Rozanski says a workshop this past weekend involving parents, alumni, and faculty produced a plan he calls both optimistic and realistic. But the bishop says he now needs do his homework and due diligence, and won’t announce his decision until mid-February.
“There is so much at stake here. And while I know that so many have been patient with this process, I need to ask for that patience to continue for a short period of time. It is critical that we get this right,” says Rozanski.
The fate of the school has been a major concern since the diocese seemed to back away from earlier plans to rebuild, questioning if it was economically feasible to operate a new school, given declining student enrollment. The head of the group Committee for Cathedral Action, which supports rebuilding, says it is heartened by Rozanski’s latest comments. Al diLascia says his group was not directly involved in writing the proposal. But he says their own studies of nearly two dozen Catholic schools in the region prove rebuilding the tornado-damaged school can be financially feasible.
“Certainly from that we can learn and do some of the similar things that they’ve done that have led to success,” says diLascia.
This story was originally published at NEPR.net.
