Low enrollment cited for closing of school

Corpus Christi second So. River Catholic school to close in 3 years

BY JOHN DUNPHY

Staff Writer

After more than 40 years, a popular South River parochial school will close its doors for good this June.

Corpus Christi School will shut down due to financial issues that have resulted from declining enrollment at the Catholic school.

“The decision to close our school was a very difficult one,” said the Rev. Kevin Duggan, pastor at Corpus Christi Church, in a press release yesterday. “But we felt it is necessary to provide our children with the caliber of Catholic education you expect and they deserve.”

Current enrollment at the K-8 school is 140 students. When the school opened in 1962, at first educating only students in grades one through three, enrollment was 142.

According to Joanne Ward, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Metuchen, the student population has steadily declined over the last 10 years, with only a brief spike in enrollment when another Catholic school in South River, St. Mary of Ostrabrama, closed its doors in 2002 after 75 years of service.

At the time of that school’s closing, enrollment was down to 47 students in pre-kindergarten through first grade. The school had once taught pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

At its peak, Ward said, Corpus Christi enrolled more than 400 students.

“It has been declining,” she said.

Duggan called a meeting with parents on Tuesday and announced to a crowd of about 100 in the school cafeteria that the school would close.

According to the diocese, a committee composed of school and parish representatives studied the school’s situation to determine the feasibility of keeping it open, determining “that South River has a marginal growth rate, so it is unlikely new students will be enrolling.”

The release also pointed to the borough’s soon-to-open primary school, which will house kindergarten through second grade classes, as a possible further siphon of students away from the Catholic school. That school, to open its doors to students in September, will ease crowding in South River’s elementary and middle schools.

“These factors and others made it obvious we could not keep our school open next year,” Rev. Duggan said.

Raymond Eppinger, whose son Andrew is a sixth-grade student at the school, had his other three children go to Corpus Christi. He, too, had been a student there, along with his siblings, in the 1970s.

“It’s a sad day for the parish,” he said. “A lot of sweat and love went into the school for over 40 years.”

He was one of many parents upset about the news.

Eppinger contended that a lack of public support from the parish has contributed to the school’s demise.

“The biggest cheerleader [for the school] needs to be the pastor,” he said. “People need to know the school has his support.”

Although Rev. Duggan could not be reached for comment, he said in the press statement that “this is a sad day for Corpus Christi and South River, but I believe we must put our children’s needs first and that is what we have done.”

Ward said that when Rev. Duggan first came to the school, it was in bankruptcy. And though that has since changed, she said the school was again heading in that direction.

“With 140 students, [the parish] does not have the resources financially and socially to provide an optimal learning environment,” she said.

With the school’s imminent closing, parents have been urged to attend open houses at other area Catholic schools.

Nancy Gilroy, Diocesan assistant superintendent of schools, said Corpus Christi students will be given priority placement at other Catholic schools and parents will be given individual attention in arranging the transfers.

In addition, the 12 teachers currently at Corpus Christi will be given priority for hiring at Catholic schools within the diocese, she added in the press release.

Still, it will be cold comfort for a family like the Eppingers, who have been with the school almost since its inception.

“It’s been such an integral part of my family’s lives, it’s the only parish my kids know,” he said. “Unfortunately, there’s really nothing we can do.

“We will miss Corpus Christi.”