St. Francis of Assisi wants a win-win for Baltimore's schools

To the members of the Archdiocese of Baltimore Real Estate Transactions Committee:

Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the proposed sale of St. Anthony’s school building to a charter school for $2.5 million dollars. While we understand that this sale will be of benefit to St. Anthony’s and to the Baltimore International Academy, we strongly urge that a portion of the proceeds be re-invested in Catholic education in Northeast Baltimore.

Typically, charter schools have been considered a threat to Catholic school enrollment. Over the past ten years we have seen the number of Catholic schools in our area drop from six to one. However, rather than oppose this sale, we urge that it be used as an occasion to also make St. Francis of Assisi School (SFA) stronger and more competitive in an area of the city which supports a number of strong public and free charter schools.

The sale of St. Anthony’s should be used as an occasion to strengthen rather than undermine Catholic education in our area. An immediate, visible, and substantial contribution to capital improvements at SFA will help it remain a stabilizing and progressive community asset and will demonstrate the commitment of the Archdiocese to maintaining a Catholic educational presence in NE Baltimore City.

SFA is a strong school, valued by our community, but it needs an infusion of resources to undertake capital improvements that will allow it to remain viable and competitive with the other area schools. The proposed sale of the nearby St. Anthony’s school will present an additional threat to SFA, the last remaining Catholic school in our area. We request that the resources that Northeast Baltimore citizens have invested in Catholic education for decades be used, in part, to help St. Francis of Assisi School.