Hundreds of protesters from six Long Island Catholic schools braved the snow outside of St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre on Jan. 21, in an effort to keep their schools open.

More than 300 parents, alumni and students from Sacred Heart in Merrick, St. Catherine of Sienna in Franklin Square, St. Ignatius Loyola in Hicksville, St. John de Baptist LaSalle in Farmingdale, Prince of Peace in Sayville and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Lindenhurst brandished signs, chanted and prayed, following an announcement by the Diocese of Rockville Centre in December that the six schools would close at the end of the 2011-12 school year.
Bundled up in winter coats, protesters marched down Quealy Place.

“We are here in support of our school, we’re also in support of Catholic school education on Long Island,” said Annmarie Detommaso-Rodgers, a Franklin square resident, with two children currently enrolled at St. Catherine’s. “It’s a growing concern for us that we need people to support the education of our grammar schools now, because we don’t know what is going to happen to them in the future. We’re out here to fight for our schools, but not only to fight for them, to fight for all the schools on Long Island.”

Since the diocese announced the closures — through a public letter written by Bishop William Murphy that was posted on the diocese’s website — many residents have spoken out against the diocese’s lack of information for locals and failure to take preventive measures, prior to making its decision.
“We just want the bishop to give us a chance to appeal,” Detommaso-Rodgers explained. “We’re looking for just that one chance.”

Lisa Cataldi, who has three children at St. Catherine’s, agreed wholeheartedly. “We’re just here to say to the bishop that maybe there’s another way,” she said. “All of our individual schools have a different plan that doesn’t include shutting down the schools. So that’s all we want –– we want a chance to present the plans to the bishop, so he could review them, and maybe we can find a different way.”