St. Joseph's parents look to save their school

Florida — “This is not a done deal. Not in the least.” Those words are from Martin Dellatto, a parent of a third grader at St. Joseph’s School in Florida. Dellatto, active in both the church and the school, made the trip down to the archdiocese headquarters in Manhattan Tuesday with a group of other parents and administrators to plead their case. St. Joseph’s is one of 14 schools earmarked for closing in the biggest realignment in the New York archdiocese in more than 150 years. It is the only school mentioned in Orange County. It has about 150 students in pre-K through eighth grade, according to Dellatto. Fifteen parishes are also set to close, and 16 parishes will be changed into mission churches. Another eight mission churches will be closing as well. Dellatto, who serves as vice president of the school’s Parent Teacher Organization and is a member of the marketing committee, said the eight-member committee from the school and parish met with Dr. Katherine Hickey of the archdiocese. “We are very encouraged coming out of the meeting,” said Dellatto. “We prepared some documents with bullet points. Each of us focused on one point. We made our presentation and had a good dialogue. I’m very encouraged.” Dorothy Buchalski has headed the parish’s religious education program for the past three years. Before that, she taught for nine years and, in total, has been associated with the school for a quarter century. “This makes me very sad,” Buchalski said. “Both my sons graduated from St. Joseph’s School. I work with these teachers — they are a wonderful bunch of people.” Buchalski said she is hoping the archdiocese gives the school another year to lift up enrollment. “It’s a very homey school, very warm and family oriented,” she said. “It’s such a wonderful feeling when you walk into the school. Everyone knows each other and they watch out for each other’s kids.” That sentiment is echoed by Laurie Giza. Both her kids attend St. Joseph’s, as well as her niece and nephew. Her father graduated from the school. Her grandfather helped build the school. “It’s a family tradition for me,” said Giza, a local business owner who has lived in Florida all of her life. “I always intended on sending my kids there.” And she isn’t making any plans for her children to attend any other school just yet. “I don’t know what we would do if this happens,” said Giza. Giza said the parents and staff have been working hard over the past few years to raise enrollment figures — and they’ve been succeeding, she said. “We had 50 new kids come in last year,” Giza said. She said the school has been adding extracurricular programs for the kids. They started softball for the girls this year and the basketball team did very well. They were thinking of adding soccer in the fall. “This school has been here 91 years. We have the top test scores,” Giza said. “Financially, we’re okay. There is a wait list for kindergarten. I just don’t understand why they would want to do this.” Dellatto said the decision may be made over the Easter break. He said he was encouraged not long ago by the information he read that stated more and more people are moving north of the City. If that’s true, closing St. Joseph’s School would be a mistake, he feels. “When we read the Catholic New Yorker about how families are migrating north, I thought that was great for us,” said Dellatto. “Neighboring Catholic schools are quite full. It’s just a matter of us staying the course. We just need another chance. That’s all we’re asking for.” Online: Longtime Warwick Advertiser writer J.J. Kimiecik provides an insightful look at the 90-year history of St. Joseph’s School, which was created to educate the children of the families who came to farm the land.