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photo by Steve VanGunda
Ernest “Tony” Fields III and his son Ernest Fields IV are part of three generations in their family that have attended Holy Family Catholic School. All but the school’s preschool is set to close for good at the end of this month.
Parents fight losing battle
Published Sunday, May 18, 2008
NATCHEZ — When it was announced in March that grades one through four of Holy Family Catholic School would be closing, parents were incensed, but not ready to give up.
The Parent Teacher Association asked the Catholic Diocese of Jackson to take a second look, and the PTA even proposed some ideas of their own.
But with commencement ceremonies scheduled for May 23, the realization that the four grades won’t be returning has become all too clear.
The archbishop of the diocese composed a letter to school representatives listing a myriad of reasons as to why the school would be closed.
The letter said the concerns for Holy Family had been accumulating since the 90s, including decreased enrollment, the decrease of teaching sisters, unpaid tuition and debt incurred by the school.
One of the first concerns the PTA tried to tackle in order to keep the school open was enrollment.
PTA member Margaret Kafperski said in trying to keep the school open, the PTA worked to leap the hurdles she felt the diocese set before them.
Kafperski said the PTA was upset that the diocese’s enrollment minimum seemed to be a moving target. At one point, she said, the goal was 15 per grade. The school met the requirement, but it was soon changed to 17, then to 20.
“It was never good enough,” Kafperski said.
PTA member Cynthia Williams agreed that whenever a goal was met, the diocese would raise the bar.
“Every meeting we would go to it was something different,” she said.
As far as paying back the $73,000 the school owed the diocese, Williams said they had enough money pledged by people to pay it all back.
“When (the diocese) found out we had come up with the money, even though that was done, they still did not agree to let the grades stay open,” she said.
Some of the parents said the removal of the grades really isn’t about money.
“We will never really know the reasoning,” Kafperski’s said.
The grades left at Holy Family are preschool and kindergarten levels.
Registration is still continuing for those grade levels and as of Friday afternoon, 87 children had registered. Representative from the diocese said they would not comment.
Comments
Posted by destiny (anonymous) on May 18, 2008 at 12:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Old things pass away, new things begin. When one door shuts, another door opens. We could sit here all day with old adages, but it will not solve the problem. It seems those problems started a long time ago and went unanswered. Another old adage: Don't cry over spilled milk. Get busy and find another source.
Posted by saigebush (anonymous) on May 18, 2008 at 1:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I totally agree Destiny. Tony Fields picture should only add to a disgrace. He works where?? Public school system and son attends Holy Family? Come on ppl...Get the real picture. I stand behind what I beleive in. I have been a teacher at Cathedral for over 10 years and everyone of my kids have been enrolled there. Natchez Public school systems is one of the best in the district. If it wasn't for the low rate tutution that I receive for my kid's tutition and I wasn't a staff member at Cathedral I would not think twice as to sending my kids to Natchez Public Schools. Get over it!!!
Posted by blaqbuddaflyy (anonymous) on May 18, 2008 at 6:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Saigebush, I'm not here to argue but I think that man has the right to send his son to school where ever he wants to. Has it ever occured to you that he may have applied to work for Holy Family and there weren't any positions that were available? Did I miss something in that story because I don't see anywhere that says Mr Fields works for Natchez Public Schools. Maybe you just have something personal against the man and want everyone else that reads this story to say mean things against him also. If the shoe was on the other foot you would not want people to say Saigebush's picture should only add to a disgrace.
Posted by saigebush (anonymous) on May 18, 2008 at 9:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I know Mr. Fields personally. If you are working at a school and stand behind that district you should support them in any and every way possible. This is not about Fields its about playing fair.
Posted by kpage (anonymous) on May 18, 2008 at 9:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
That little boy standing with his daddy is so precious.
Posted by oldschool (anonymous) on May 18, 2008 at 11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
desiderata- ok now you said you hated to say what you said so I am going to comment on what you said and I hate for you to hear it but it must be said........As far as Black white thing It was the Black people that said they were being treated unfair in Mississippi and still are saying it. They always go back to racial issues. GET OVER IT!!!! IT NEVER HAPPENED TO YOU!!!! There is nothing we can do. Maybe if money was not waisted on the Forks of the Road, it might have been able to help the school. Another issue is PAY THE BILLS!!!! if $73,000 was owed and some parents got together and raised DONATIONS then the same problem will happen again this coming year. NOTHING IS FREE!! If they had to get donations and could not afford Holy Family why put your child in the school for others to foot the bill. Back to the same thing BLACKS think they are OWED something no matter what it is...... I get so tired of hearing the same bull crap. If you can't help yourself than who is. Some DO and some DON't. Just like White people you have TRASHY WHITES and you You have PLAIN, (regular ) WHITES. If we stop all this YING YANG between the BLACK WHITE ISSUES NATCHEZ would be a BETTER place to live. What it boils down to is over the years the school can't not keep the doors the doors open if their is NO MONEY!!!! People need to either wake up and see the SOUTH is not going to change until the GROWN UPS stop all this YING YANG about RASISM. SO again I can type all day long on these issues in NATCHEZ but WE AS PARENTS need to STOP and realise where the ROOTS and PROBLEMS really are TODAY and keep it out of the PAST!!!!
I am so glad that these children were getting the education, and "for the children who attend Holy Family right now are extremely smart, bright, well behaved children. They have a wonderful curriculum on all sorts of things, like social skills, etc", but this can also be done if the parents stay on them with their studies and DON'T FORGET about them. THE PARENTS PLAY A BIG ROLL in all these issues.
Posted by doubled (anonymous) on May 18, 2008 at 11:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
LIL TONY HAS GROWN TO BE SO HANDSOME...ONE OF GODS LITTLE ANGELS.
Posted by Teach4Peace (anonymous) on May 19, 2008 at 10:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think employees who are employed by the public school system to teach, or a government or public entity, otherwise, should be "encouraged" to have their children attend public schools, it's called interest. If you are a citizen working in the private sector, where ever you send you kids to school, IMO, is your business. For me, that's like a mayor not living in the city he is mayor for, deciding that another city is better to live in, but I am mayor of this one. Interest.
Posted by Teach4Peace (anonymous) on May 19, 2008 at 10:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I may also add however, the article by and large is NOT about Mr. Fields or where he decided to send his cute little boy, it's about Holy Family being in dire straights.
Posted by happyjudy (anonymous) on May 19, 2008 at 11:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I can understand Mr Fields wanting to send his son to the school he went to. Im sure families will miss the school because it seems like part of the family. Maybe something will work out for Holy Family.
Posted by natchezaristocrat (anonymous) on May 22, 2008 at 3:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe the reason parents choose to send their children to private or parochial schools has to do with their faith. Also, maybe there are smaller class sizes where teaching AND learning can be more effective.
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