Colorado families push back against planned closure of St. Louis Catholic School

After St. Louis Catholic School in Louisville announced it would be closing its doors at the end of this school year, some Colorado parents are appealing their concerns to the Vatican to try and keep it open.

The Archdiocese of Denver says this is the fifth school to close in the last three years, following low enrollment. Interim Superintendent for the Archdiocese of Denver Scott Elmer explains the reasoning behind that decision.

"We're in the business of saving souls, right?" Elmer said, "When enrollment is low, that obviously raises the cost to educate per child, and so it causes more of a financial strain on the parish because it requires more of the parish's offerings to be used to support the school."

This fall, the archdiocese let parents know they'd close St. Louis Catholic School in Louisville at the end of the school year, citing low enrollment and financial concerns. The Archdiocese of Denver reports that right now, most of the grade levels in the school have 10 students or fewer.

But the decision to close the school is leaving parents like Amy Keuhlen with a kindergartener and an uncertain future.

"I broke down in tears, like when I read that email, I was just absolutely heartbroken," Keuhlen said, "St. Louis, the community… really feels like a family."

Keuhlen says she found out about the closure a week after a school fundraiser brought in thousands of dollars.

"There was no town hall, or even no communication to the principal of, 'Hey, we're thinking of closing your school. You know, what do you guys have to say about that? What do you want to do about that?'" Keuhlen said.

Right now, Elmer says the school's overarching parish does not have financial issues, but that this is a larger market decision.

"If we believe that this was a demographic market that was going to rebound, and that there would be a ton of kids to serve there, and we thought we could get enrollment up... we wouldn't have arrived at this decision," Elmer said.

But Keuhlen is fighting to keep the money at the school by joining parents in getting a lawyer and appealing the closing decision to the Vatican. In their claim, Keuhlen says they believe parents did not get proper notice before the decision to close.

"Maybe [the Vatican] will listen to us. Maybe they'll get enough of these cases that they'll say something's up with Catholic schooling in the United States, and we should do something about it," Keuhlen said.

Elmer said he's aware of the appeal and reflected on how the process was handled to announce the closure of St. Louis, explaining, "I think there are things to learn from this, so that when we move forward with other schools, we're making sure that we have more conversations. This is a changing time for private education in general, but also the church." 

Meanwhile, Keuhlen is continuing to look for a new school next year, and is even considering leaving Catholic schooling or working with other parents to find a group solution.

"If you're telling me five years down the road, their enrollment declined in the same way ours did, I don't think I can go through it again," Keuhlen said.