Parents of St. Bartholomew School students have mixed emotions about the upcoming closure of the Penn Hills Catholic elementary school.

There is sadness for the teachers there and anger about how the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced the closing.

Bishop David Zubik granted the school closure request from St. Bartholomew's parish administrator, the Rev. Edward Wichman. The diocese issued a press release May 20.

Wichman cited low enrollments, high per-pupil costs, rising tuition and an increased parish subsidy for school operations as reasons to close the school, the release stated.

About 120 students were enrolled this year in preschool through eighth grade. The school had 136 students last year, and 305 students in 2001-02.

The school's website lists 15 teachers and an office worker on staff.

Penn Hills resident Felicia DeLuca said her children, Giuliana, 4, and Lilyana, 6, are in preschool and first grade, respectively.

“We are really heartbroken,” DeLuca said. “Lily's first-grade class is really close. There are only 12 of them. They have an excellent teacher, Miss Christina Craver, who would do anything for them, the school and the church. All of the classes are close.”

DeLuca said they were not informed of the closure “until after a parent gave a news interview exposing all of this.

“Then, the teachers and parents were notified via email,” DeLuca continued. “This whole entire thing has been disrespectful and outrageous. Not to mention, all of the fundraisers and money raised by all of the hard work of the parents is all just for nothing.”

The Rev. Nicholas Vaskov, the diocese's executive director of communication, said Wichman informed the diocese about the school's fiscal troubles about six weeks ago, and information was disseminated as quickly as possible.

“The school community and the parish community knew when he alerted us the school was facing financial challenges,” Vaskov said.

Principal Tina Bucci has been at St. Bartholomew the past six months.

“This is a sad and difficult time for students, parents, teachers and staff,” Bucci said. “I received official notification that the school was closing shortly before the press release went out on Saturday. I have found, since being here, that the St. Bart's community is a very passionate one for the school. Many of our teachers are alumni of St. Bart's and have strong ties to the school. The best part of St. Bart's are the students.”

Bucci said she and other staffers are helping families find enrollment in nearby Catholic schools.

Zubik wrote in a letter to Wichman that students supported by the Extra Mile Foundation will continue to have the opportunity for a Catholic education.

Vaskov said the formal announcement of the closure was made within a week of Wichman's petition.

“Certainly we understand the emotion and the anxiety in any situation like this,” Vaskov said. “The timing was very quick because the situation was such that it had to move very quickly. It was either raise tuition, fundraise a large sum of money or close the school.”

Catholic student tuition this school year was $3,595. Non-Catholic students' tuition was $4,995.

A minimum $2,000 tuition hike was proposed for the 2017-18 school year.

Pittsburgh resident Lottie Edwards' son, Torrence Edwards, 9, is in third grade at the school.

“It's a good school. Teachers were outstanding,” Edwards said. “They knew long ago it was in financial trouble. More could have been done to keep the school open. The parents are more than willing to get together to raise money.”

Vaskov said the school needed to raise $200,000 to $300,000 to stay open. He said various counsel was sought prior to approval of the school closure.

“We want to look for ways to help these families in this time of transition in whatever way we can,” he said. “The parish is the same way. We pray for the parents, the teachers, the whole school community.”

Penn Hills resident Adrienne Merryman Guerke's daughter, Addison, is in first grade at the school.

Guerke said communication about the school's operations was vague and brief, and plans to help were rejected.

“We were given the run-around on needing to boost enrollment and needing approval on a very fast fundraising effort to ‘save the school,'” Guerke said. “We spent countless hours meeting, talking, learning how to ask large companies for tens of thousands of pledge dollars, only to take our plan of action back and have it denied. Then we began hearing that meeting after meeting was occurring, yet they would not communicate with us. Time was ticking. People were in the dark.”

The last day of school is Friday.

“I'm very nervous about the last day of school, as I know I will shed many tears,” Guerke said. “I'm afraid to let the kids see me so sad, as I don't want to cause them any excess anxiety over this. The teachers and secretary, and even extended care staff at St. Bart's have become like family to us.”

Edwards and Guerke said their children will attend St. Bernadette Catholic School in Monroeville next school year. DeLuca said she plans to enroll her children at Redeemer Lutheran School in Penn Hills.

Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-871-2367, mdivittorio@tribweb.com or via Twitter at @MikeJdiVittorio.

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