TAOS: Parents Push to Keep Catholic School

By Andy Lenderman, The Santa Fe New Mexican

Mar. 29–Parents are scrambling to keep open the only Catholic school in Taos that is scheduled to close at the end of this academic year partly because of low student enrollment and high energy costs.

A petition drive is under way to show community support for the San Francisco de Asis Catholic School, which opened in 1935.

The Rev. Francis Malley said the school needs about $150,000 to avoid closure. The money would help pay teacher salaries and heating bills if the school remained open for next school year, he said.

The school has 74 students in kindergarten through seventh grade, and some classes only have seven or eight students, he said.

“The enrollment is very low,” Malley said. “Usually we need 15 students in each class to have any chance of making a school go.”

Celine Radigan, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, said the school has been a financial drain on the parish for several years, and church leaders have looked at several options in an effort to keep the school open. They’re saddened by the pending closure, she said.

“Right now it’s just not viable,” Radigan said. “It would take a lot in order for it to stay open.”

The church spends about $5,500 per student, including tuition, per year. Tuition is $3,100 a year, Malley said, but not all parents pay that much.

Parent Eligio Duran said his sister sent one of her children to the school on a single income and was able to work with the priest at the time for a reduced tuition.

Asked why he liked the school, Duran said, “First and foremost the primary focus of the school is the principles of faith and the principles of God.”

Margie Romero, who said her husband, daughter and grandchildren attended the school, listed small classes, discipline, religious teachings and involvement with the church as reasons she liked it.

“They’re kind of small classes, and they get the attention, and they work really hard,” Romero said. “There’s not a day that they don’t have homework.”

Parent Jane Faith Schauermann said she likes the values, small class sizes and location of the school, which is near Taos’ plaza. “I feel that they’re safe there too,” she said of her three children. “That’s really important for me.”

“Hopefully, God will help us,” Romero said, “and somehow they will get that $150,000 to help keep it going.”

Contact Andy Lenderman at 995-3827 or

alenderman@sfnewmexican.com.

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