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ARTICLES
 March 19, 2008
Dear Friends in Christ:
This letter contains the information that has been sent to the families and friends of students who wrote to me concerning the recommendation to close St. Joseph’s School in Petersburg.
Their letter in support of St. Joseph’s School attests to the very real difference that St. Joseph School has made in providing a Catholic education in the Petersburg area and in handing down our faith to its many students over the years.
Closing a school is not a decision that we make lightly. As you may know, the school has operated with deficits for the last four years and its debt now exceeds a half a million dollars. Accordingly, St. Joseph Parish, which has reached the limits of what it can financially support, has petitioned me to close the school.
In response to this very serious deficit, I authorized monies from the Annual Bishop’s Appeal to be directed to the school, and I called together all Pastors and lay parish leadership in the region to determine whether there was any interest in pursuing a regional school that all parishes in the region would support. Those Pastors and lay leaders responded with regret that they could not take on an additional financial burden without negatively impacting the vitality of their own parishes.
Faced with St. Joseph’s aging buildings, the overwhelming fiscal challenges, the declining demographics and enrollment, the prospect of using additional diocesan funds to maintain a school with a substantial financial deficit, and knowing it will take resources from other ministries is a sobering dilemma. Demographic data suggests that most of the expected Fort Lee expansion will impact Prince George and Chesterfield Counties rather than Petersburg.
We ask your prayers as we discern the next steps for St. Joseph’s School.
With gratitude and every best wish, we remain,
Sincerely yours in Our Lord,
Most Rev. Francis X. DiLorenzo
Bishop of Richmond
Annette Z. Parsons
Chief Schools Administrator
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