Large group appealing school closure holds march

Nearly 300 people gathered outside St. Philip Catholic Church in Crafton on Sunday evening to voice their concerns about the planned closure of the parish’s elementary school, organizers of the Committee to Save St. Philip School say.

On Feb. 12, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced that the 106-year old St. Philip School building would be closing and that the school would merge with St. Margaret of Scotland School in Green Tree, beginning at the start of the 2021-2022 academic year.

The event to “support the efforts to save St. Philip School” included a group praying of the rosary and a march through Crafton, organizers said.

“We wanted to show our support and [say] thank you to everyone in the community who has stood with us thus far,” said Alexis Barone-Katze, who is a graduate of St. Philip and currently has one child enrolled in the school.

In a previous news release, the committee said it believes that the decision to close was made without input from “the impacted school personnel, families and parishioners.”

“We’re trying to understand how this decision was made,” Ms. Barone-Katze said. “It really hits home here for a lot of folks in the community.”

Petitions to save the school were circulated by the committee and have over 2,600 signatures, she said.

The group, which is being represented by a canon lawyer, has since filed a formal appeal to Bishop David Zubik to reverse the decision. The bishop has 30 days — which ends March 24 — to respond to the appeal, Ms. Barone-Katze said.