The following is a summary of the meeting which took place between the parents of the St. John the Baptist Elementary School, Pittston, and the St. Mary's School, Avoca AND Bishop Joseph F. Martino and Scranton Diocese non-educational staff.

The summary was presented by Committee members during a two hour gathering of 400 concerned parents at the SJB Gym on William Street, Pittston on April 15th, 2004.

It should be noted that neither Bishop Martino nor the officials of the Diocese of Scranton would accept a copy of the cost-effective merger plan for St. John the Baptist and St. Mary's.

The Committee of Concerned Parents, who met with Bishop Joseph F. Martino and his staff on April 14th, recapped that meeting for the large gathering of concerned parents in attendance:

The Bishop and some of his financial staff (the academic staff is in Boston attending a conference) politely listened, for nearly three hours, as the concerned parents presented an alternate plan to the proposed school closings. The Committee's plan, the result of many arduous hours of going over figures, facts, and other relevant data, suggested the combining of both schools, St. John the Baptist in Pittston and St. Mary's School in Avoca, into one large elementary school at a building of the Bishop's choice.

It was also suggested by the Committee to Bishop Martino and his staff that the their plan of combining schools would secure the future of Seton Catholic High School, Pittston, (a major concern of the parents') and increase Seton's enrollment, if the seventh and eighth grades were housed as a junior high school in Seton Catholic High School. St. John the Baptist and St. Mary's Avoca have always been strong supporters of Seton Catholic, and encourage their students to look forward to a future at the wonderful high school.

The future of Seton Catholic High School is of the utmost concern for all parents. No matter what the outcome of this situation, we all want Seton Catholic to remain strong so that our children may attend this fine Catholic high school right in our own community. For many parents, sending their children to Bishop O'Reilly, Scranton Prep or Bishop Hoban is simply not an option.

The Committee presented figures which clearly showed that there would be very little difference (approximately $4000.00) in the cost effectiveness between shutting down both schools, as the Diocesean Catholic Schools officials wish to do, and allowing SJB and SMA to remain open as one school.

Of course, most importantly, allowing both schools to remain opened would have the added advantage of allowing the children to remain together and eliminate the trauma of separating lifeling friends, a primary concern on the part of all parents of SJB and SMA students.

It was noted by the Committee that the Bishop and his staff, in their financial data, did not allow for the six-figure severance package (approximately $220,000.00) that must be paid to teachers who are being let go at SJB and SMA, which, it has been stated by the Diocese, must be absorbed by the remaining Catholic schools in Region 7 of the Scranton Diocese. Nor did it allow for the maintenance and upkeep of the buildings of St. John the Baptist and St. Mary's - another significant cost to both parishes and the Diocese. The Committee also pointed out to the Diocesean staff their the Scranton Diocese's Restructuring Plan only projected a 50% re-enrollment of students into the remaining 4 Catholic grade schools, with an anticipated 50% enrollment into public schools. The Bishop's staff denied this fact initially, but, when presented with proof by the Committee, took the stance that this 50% projection was not their intent, and that they hoped that 100% of the students being displaced would enroll in the remaining Catholic schools.

The Committee related that, at certain points during the meeting, the Bishop and his staff appeared to be somewhat impressed by the Committee's plan. Nevertheless, it was made clear from the beginning of the meeting that the purpose of the session was not to consider any reversal of decision by the Bishop, but only to allow the Committee to air their views.

During the April 14th meeting with the Diocesean officials, Bishop Martino expressed his annoyance to the Committee with having to deal with parishoners in this matter. Bishop Martino explained to the Committee that, in the longstanding tradition of the Catholic Church, the Bishop deals with the priests, and the priests deal with the parishoners. Bishop Martino also expressed surprise at his priests. Bishop Martino insisted that the 18 priests of the Pittston Deanery did not object to the Restructuring Plan when presented with it at the March 25th meeting, whereby they were presented with the prewritten letter announcing the closing of St. John the Baptist School and St. Mary's School. Bishop Martino indicated that he is going to speak privately with his priests about this matter.

In the end, this resolve by Bishop Martino not to "concede", and not to be viewed as a Bishop who reversed a decision once it was made, held steady. The meeting adjourned with the Restructuring Plan still holding fast.

The role of the R7 priests in this matter took up a large part of the meeting amongst concerned parents last night. Many pastors have stated to their parishoners that they were unaware of the impending school closings- especially that of St. John the Baptist. Several priests have expressed a great deal of sympathy toward the parents' resistence towards the Bishop's plan. Some, such as Monsignor Bendik of St. John the Evangelist Church, and Father Maloney of Blessed Sacrament, have even written to Bishop Martino and expressed their feelings. Also discussed was the dichotomy of the role of priests: priests take a vow of obedience to their bishop, yet they also have a duty to do their best to serve their parishoners- especially the children of the parish - as followers of Jesus Christ. Sympathy toward the parish priests was expressed, but the desire by the parents to find out the entire truth about what exactly was told to the priests prior to the general announcement of the school closings is a priority.

The meeting then turned to concerns about the April 19th registration date which has been proclaimed by the Diocese. Parents at the meeting are extremely upset at the Diocese's refusal to delay the date of registration until all concerns are addressed. The resentment of parents at being forced at this early date to compete with other parents for a spot for their child/children was palpable.

A highlight of the meeting was a reading of an eloquent and necessarily lengthy letter composed by a concerned parent. The letter was presented to Bishop Joseph F. Martino by the Committee. The letter lists, point by point, why the Committee (and the parents of St. John the Baptist and St. Mary's Avoca students) has taken the stance that Bishop Martino erred when he mandated the closing of our beloved Catholic grade schools.

In conclusion, the parents decided to ask the 18 priests of Region 7 of the Scranton Diocese to come together with us to answer our questions and address our concerns, which are many. It was suggested that parents' from each parish get in touch with their pastor and invite them to a meeting to be held on Sunday evening.

Webmasters' Update: Only 3 of eighteen pastors chose to attend the meeting of Sunday, April 18th. The three who did attend, however, related a detailed account of what had happened at the March 25th meeting with Bishop Martino at the Chancery Building in Scranton. These three priests- all non-diocesan - confirmed what many of our pastors had already told us: that there was NO vote on the school closings, no warning, and that it was already a "done deal" when they began the meeting.

Visit April 18th portion of Update Page to read a summary of the March 25th meeting of our pastors with Bishop Joseph F. Martino.