The fight over the fate of Towson Catholic High School escalated Tuesday when the alumni association filed suit against the school's parish and its pastor over the abrupt closing of the school. The group is seeking an injunction to keep the school open at least another year.
"This closing is a slap in the face to the alumni and to anyone who ever loved this school. We were ready to remedy this through various options, but we could not get the archdiocese to the table," said alumni association president Paul Mecinski, who announced the lawsuit at a rally last night.
He added, "If students want to come here, we want to keep this place open."
FOR THE RECORD - A story Wednesday on the closing of Towson Catholic High School indicated that the Towson Catholic Alumni Association had filed suit against the school's parish and pastor. In fact, two parents, Lois Windsor and Judy Messina, are the plaintiffs of the suit, and the alumni association has helped organize and pay for it. Also, the story should have said an employee of the Knights of Columbus offered the pastor of Immaculate Conception parish an application for a low-interest loan to make repairs to the school building.
The Baltimore Sun regrets the error.
The suit was filed Tuesday in Baltimore County Circuit Court by the alumni association's lawyer, Richard Grason VI of the law offices of T. Bruce Hanley. Attempts to reach Grason were unsuccessful last night.
Mecinski said the parish broke its contract with the students because parents had already paid tuition for the coming school year.
Sean Caine, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, said he had not seen the suit and only learned of it at the rally.
"Keeping this school open is not an option at all," he said. "Even if money is raised, that would not address the question of decreasing enrollment."
Mark Graber, professor of law and government at the University of Maryland School of Law, has said an injunction might be difficult but is possible, given that many parents had paid their deposits and begun making tuition payments for the new school year.
"If they have put down money, the parents have fulfilled their part of the contract with the school, in the understanding that there is going to be a school," Graber said.
The rally was the third in the past week attended by hundreds of alumni, parents and students. It coincided with a meeting with parents that was often an emotionally charged shouting match between parents and school officials, and a school fair intended to help students find placement at other Catholic schools.
"This school violated our trust," Mike McDonough, father of a rising sophomore, said during the meeting. He asked for information about the financial status of other schools so that he won't have to transfer his son twice. His question led to a standing ovation.
Archdiocesan officials said they could offer no such assurances.
"Our schools are facing serious challenges and are in difficult situations," said Ron Valenti, superintendent of Catholic schools for the archdiocese.
