Altoona-Johnstown Diocese Catholic schools will be seeing yet another change starting next year.
Bishop Mark Bartchak announced Wednesday the diocese will open a new regional Catholic elementary school for the Altoona area.
Holy Trinity Catholic School is scheduled to open at the start of the next school year.
Wednesday’s decree states that all of the current Catholic schools in the Altoona area will be consolidating as part of a regionalization process occurring in both the Altoona and Johnstown quadrants.
The plan comes after the bishop noted declining enrollment and financial difficulties for the schools. As the plan moves forward, the diocese has seen some pushback from parents and parishioners from a few of the closing schools.
Currently, one school – Saint Patrick School in Newry – has made it clear that they will state open, with or without support from the diocese.
“We have decided that we can because we are under the middle states accreditation,” Father Allen Zeth of Saint Patrick’s said. “We’re still registered as a school in the state of Pennsylvania. So we want to continue and we are.”
Father Zeth said the plan is to pay back the diocese what Saint Patrick’s owes and then continue on as their own school. He said enrollment for next year is growing every day.
