The Archdiocese of Boston will close a Catholic school in Braintree Mass.—marking the second parochial school closure announced on the South Shore this week.
The Quincy Patriot-Ledger reports that the archdiocese notified families Tuesday that it will permanently close St. Francis of Assisi School, a school serving preschool through eighth grade that has been in Braintree since 1959.
Father Paul Clifford says Covid-19 has had a “disastrous impact” on the school’s finances, making it impossible to provide a “safe, excellent, and value-based education” going forward.
“The Covid-19 pandemic and the government-forced closure of the economy have had a pronounced impact on the enrollment at St. Francis School in the past few months," Father Clifford says. "I expect this decline to continue through the summer and fall,. It is an impact we are not able to withstand.”
Earlier this week, the archdiocese announced plans to permanently close St. Jerome School, which has served North Weymouth since 1957. The archdiocese cited also a drop in enrollment because of the Covid-19 pandemic in its decision to close the school.
The archdiocese also announced that Sacred Heart School in Weymouth Landing and St. Francis Xavier School in South Weymouth will combine; pre-kindergarten through fourth grade would be housed at Sacred Heart, and fifth through eighth grades at St. Francis Xavier School.
Officials say distributing students across two campuses will enable students to spread out and meet proper distancing guidelines.
