'The tradition, the incredible memories'

PENNSYLVANIA Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery said that he was "shocked" yesterday when he got a text message that his alma mater, Cardinal Dougherty, would be one of two high schools that the Archdiocese plans to close at the end of the school year.

"I'm sure the Archdiocese is looking at dollars, but the tragedy is, the tradition, the incredible memories that go into these high schools can never be replaced," said McCaffery, a 1968 Dougherty graduate.

At a news conference last night, Cardinal Justin Rigali said "it is with a heavy heart" that he must announce the Archdiocese's decision to close Cardinal Dougherty, at 2nd Street and Godfrey Avenue, in Olney, and Northeast Catholic, popularly known as North Catholic, at Torresdale and Erie avenues, in Frankford.

Bishop Joseph P. McFadden, who oversees education at the Archdiocese's 20 high schools, said he hoped that the savings achieved would help keep tuition down at other high schools.

"We expect we can keep tuition within a reasonable amount," McFadden said at the conference at the archdiocesan office in Center City, on 17th Street near Race.

When asked why North, which opened in 1926, and Dougherty, opened in 1956, had been selected for closing, McFadden said, "We can't keep putting resources into half-empty buildings."

In the past 10 years enrollment at Dougherty has declined 43 percent and was projected to drop by another 34 percent in the next three years, McFadden said. Enrollment at North has declined by more than 29 percent in the last 10 years and is projected to drop by another 24 percent over the next three years, he added.

Dougherty has a capacity of 2,000 but an enrollment of 642; North's capacity is 1,700, but only 551 students are enrolled.

Tuition for archdiocesan high schools in the city has increased 30 percent since 2004, from an average of $3,900 to $5,100 this year.

Aside from dwindling enrollment, the cost of refitting the two schools' older buildings with the new technology used in education would be very costly, McFadden said.

He also said he hoped that the teachers and students at the schools would be absorbed by other Catholic schools.

Rita Schwartz, president of the Association of Catholic School Teachers, said that about 70 teachers at the two schools would be affected.

"The teachers are just devastated, as we are," she said. "It's the death of two schools, and that's a terrible thing, especially of two schools with such a long-standing history."

Students were expected to be told of the closings at school this morning.

Schwartz said that the Catholic teachers union will try to help teachers find jobs within the Catholic education system, but for now, she said, "I think it's a time for the teachers and the students to come together in their grief."

Joe Hand Sr., owner of a sports- promotion company, was close to tears when he talked about the closing of North, his alma mater.

Hand, Class of '54, said that two fellow supporters of the school had dropped by his Bucks County-based business just Wednesday, the day before the announcement, and asked him if he could increase his contribution to the school.

Hand, 75, said that he had heard talk about the Catholic schools being in trouble, and even asked if North would survive.

"They said nothing at all about the school closing," Hand said.

Frank Dougherty, a North graduate, Class of '59, and a former Daily News reporter, said that just yesterday he received an alumni newsletter dated last month. In the newsletter, the school made a pitch for the alumni to work hard to raise funds to support the school, Dougherty said.

But to Lou Szojka, 52, North Class of '74, the announcements didn't come as a great surprise.

"I was saddened by it, but it's been looming for several years now from some of our alumni events," Szojka said. "North Catholic has been one of the schools with losing enrollment."

At the news conference, McFadden said that alumni at North and Dougherty had been helping to cover deficits for several years.

"The alumni have been working very hard over the course of the last 15 years," McFadden said. "We know the last major look at the schools was 1993; that study they suggested we close 10 schools. The alumni stepped forward and said they wanted to help."

Szojka heard earlier in the week that this announcement was coming.

"We're hoping that something transpires between now and the end of the year, but right now, it's obviously bad news for all of the alumni and the current students and teachers of Northeast Catholic School."

Jim Grugan, Dougherty's football coach, and two other coaches glumly discussed the news while they sat in a small office last night.

"For a couple of months, we'd heard rumors that the Archdiocese was trying to do a merger between Dougherty and two other schools," Grugan said. "But they were just rumors. No one knew for sure."

About 2:30 p.m. yesterday, Grugan said, teachers, coaches and other staff were called to an auditorium, where archdiocesan officials broke the news.

"Everybody was kind of shocked. For a lot of people, this school is their life. They don't know anything else," said Grugan, who has coached at Dougherty for two years.

Steve Schmidt, a 1985 Dougherty grad who taught at Mercy Vocational High for 12 years, was livid about the decision.

"It's ridiculous for the fact that it's one of the largest of all schools," he said last night, suggesting that several nearby smaller schools could merge into "one huge school."

"It's like they're trying to kill two birds with one stone, getting rid of the falcons and the cardinals," he said, referring to North and Dougherty's mascots, respectively.

But they don't plan on giving up without a fight.

Schmidt said that 1,500 alumni have already confirmed via Facebook that they would attend a demonstration for Oct. 17 at 11 a.m. on the Dougherty soccer field.

Staff writers David Gambacorta and Mari Saito contributed to this report.