CAPE MAY – You may have seen the ad in the Herald or heard the radio commercials encouraging parishioners of three local Catholic churches to put only two cents in the collection plate as a protest to the closing of Our Lady Star of the Sea School here.
Parents received a letter May 12 informing them the school will close its doors in September 2010 due to low enrollment. The letter informed parents the school will merge with St. Ann Regional School in Wildwood and be named Cape Trinity Catholic School.
Star of the Sea PTA President Frank Zilinek told the Herald the Save Our Lady Star of the Sea Committee decided to do an advertising campaign. He said a committee member came up with the idea of “putting your two cents in.”
He said those who opposed the closing of Star of the Sea School could let the Catholic Diocese of Camden and the pastors of St. Raymond’s, St. John of God and Our Lady Star of the Sea churches know of their displeasure by literally only putting two cents into the collection throughout the holiday season.
Included in the radio commercials were children singing that all they wanted for Christmas was for their school to remain open in the fall set to the tune of “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth.” The children sang “All we want for Christmas is to keep our school open.”
The commercial finished with the announcement: “You have the power to give all of us our Christmas wish, to keep the school open.”
Zilinek said pennies have been seen in collection plates at masses. He said he wasn’t sure if some parishioners were putting in two cents along with their normal offering.
“We’ll probably never know the true impact,” said Zilinek.
He said the school administration was upset with the ad campaign and suggested the Catholic Diocese would pull funding from the school and teachers would be fired as a result. Zilinek said he immediately called the diocese and was told by spokesman Andy Walton that he had not heard of any intent of firing teachers as a result of the ad campaign.
Zilinek said on Jan. 15, an announcement will be made indicating which teachers will be needed in the new school from both St. Ann and Star of the Sea. He said teachers that wanted to work at the new school had to reapply for their current position which was followed by a selection process including interviews and being monitored in the classroom.
The same procedure was followed when St. Raymond’s School closed in Villas two years ago, said Zilinek. He said the Catholic Diocese does not pay into the state unemployment fund, so teachers that lose their jobs will not be able to collect unemployment compensation.
“In this economy down here, it’s going to be real tough for a lot of them,” said Zilinek. “One of the things we are trying to do is save jobs as well as save the school.”
He said some St. Ann School teachers would also be losing their jobs. Zilinek said the committee is hopeful the diocese will change its decision to close Star of the Sea School in the next few months.
“We feel we are doing this out of the love for our school,” he said.
Zilinek said there was a misconception the committee would ruin the chances for the new school.
“We’re trying to save all schools, we’re trying to save all jobs down here in the county,” he said.
A number of parents have told Zilinek they would place their children in public school if the Catholic schools merger takes place.
“It’s a shame,” he said. “A lot of families have had their children in Catholic school for years.”
Zilinek said there was no guaranty as to how long the new Cape Trinity Catholic School would remain open since the diocese was watching enrollment at St. Ann School. He said he believed more parents would send their children to the new school if the diocese offered a guaranty that school would remain open for a number of years.