Officials of three southwest suburban Catholic parishes plan to meet next week to begin hammering out details for constructing and operating a regional parochial school in Orland Hills.
The meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, follows last week’s decision by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago’s finance committee to approve “in principle” the $10 million plan.
The final decision on whether to build the elementary school at 94th Avenue and 166th Street will be made by Cardinal Francis George “sometime soon,” said Jim Dwyer, spokesman for the archdiocese.
“The ultimate decision has not been made, but obviously, the decision by the finance committee is a positive step,” Dwyer said.
The proposed elementary school would serve children from St. Elizabeth Seton in Orland Hills, St. Francis of Assisi in Orland Park and St. Julie Billiart in Tinley Park. It would serve 800 children from kindergarten through 8th grade, with three classes for each grade level.
Church officials hope to break ground in September and open the school, to be located on the St. Elizabeth campus, by 2000.
Rev. William O’Mara, pastor of St. Elizabeth, said construction is contingent on the archdiocese’s willingness to offer a grant and lend money to the three suburban churches for the project.
O’Mara said the plan, approved Friday by the finance committee, calls for the archdiocese to contribute $3 million in grants and provide a $5 million long-term loan. The remaining $2 million will be raised by St. Elizabeth’s, O’Mara said.
Archdiocese officials would not comment on the details of the financial arrangement.
The proposal to build a new regional Catholic school comes at a time when the Chicago archdiocese, which runs the nation’s largest parochial school system, has closed more than 50 urban elementary and high schools due to declining enrollment and financial woes.
On the other hand, the archdiocese has faced burgeoning growth in its suburban parishes. The three south suburban parishes involved in the new proposal do not operate schools, even though they serve more than 10,000 families and continue to grow every year.