Catholic Schools in Philadelphia Offered a Reprieve

By Millicent Lawton

Both relief and resentment marked community reaction last month to the announcement that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia will merge or close five of its high schools next fall but spare others that had been targeted for restructuring.

The announcement by Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, the Archbishop of Philadelphia, was generally viewed as a reprieve for the schools. It came slightly more than two months after a consultant's report recommended that for financial reasons six secondary schools be closed and four others merged into two schools. (See Education Week, Dec. 9, 1992.)

"We're overjoyed by the decision,'' said Dennis Glancey, a parent and a co-chair of the Save Our Schools coalition. "We were trying to save...