Low student count
brings to end nearly a century of local Catholic school education
By David Myers
St. Nicholas School in Kinsley, which for the
last several years has been contending with a dwindling student population, has
closed its doors.
While there’s sadness
and even anger, there is also one unshakable figure, the result of a parental
survey which shows that only seven students would be attending the school in
the fall, four from the same family. Last year the school had 42 pupils.
Whether this result is accurate and only seven students would have signed up
for the new school year is anyone’s guess. Either way, the figure became the
final deciding factor in the school’s closing.
Even as early as April of this year, St.
Nick’s was making plans for the next school year. Four of the teachers signed
contracts. The school was prepped to re-open in the fall.
Bishop Ronald M. Gilmore had no desire to
close St. Nicholas School. In fact, when he heard of the school council’s vote
to suggest the school close based on low numbers of students, he was reluctant
to accept the numbers as inevitable without a fight.
“He wanted to give the school a chance,”
said St. Nicholas pastor, Father Nicanor Ferangco.
In July, after the bishop first heard of
their wishes to close the school, the school council held a community meeting
attended by an estimated 75 people, among them Father Ferangco,
Superintendent of Schools Ann Depperschmidt, and
Vicar General Father Robert Schremmer.
“I suggested that we needed to take a
survey of parents,” explained Depperschmidt, who
shared the bishop’s desire to keep the school open. “They set a number – 24 or 25 -- and said if
they got that many student committed, they would open. They only got seven, and
four were from one family.
“The school had financial support,” she
said, shaking her head. “One person made a donation to help with teaching
salaries last year. They had a very nice endowment.”
What they didn’t have, she said sadly, were
students.
“Once the council called me, I told the bishop
about the results,” she explained. “He did not want to close that school. It
wasn’t financial. It was a lack of students.”
“I was heart-sick when Mrs. Depperschmidt informed me of the lack of pre-enrollment
that would spell the end for
“What I sense in the
people of Saint Nicholas Parish is that they are hardy people who will weather
this storm, and that they do have their children’s faith formation at
heart. I look forward to seeing how they
will channel their hard work, dedication, and commitment to finding new ways of
ensuring strong formation in faith for their children and youth.”
Other reasons that may have contributed to
the school closure depend in large part on who one asks. As a community still
comes to terms with the end of half a century of local Catholic education, few
reasons will be good enough to quell the strong emotions.
“What closed the school?” Depperschmidt asked. “It didn’t just happen over night. The
school struggled several years trying to keep the population.
“It’s so sad,” she added. “It’s absolutely
so sad. I just sat at that meeting wondering, how did we get to this point? You
never get those schools back. And Kinsley is one of those small communities
that has such a rich heritage.”
Father Ferangco
said that the building will be used for the parish school of religion,
catechetical classes, and parish gatherings, among other uses that might arise.
Catholic education had
its birth in Kinsley around 1912, when a new, brick church was constructed,
leaving a former frame church to serve as a school. According to Tim Wenzl’s “Legacy of Faith,” lay teachers taught at the
school until 1920, when Sisters Adorers began what would become a 72-year
mission at the parish:
“In the summer of 1921, an addition was
built across the north end of the one-room schoolhouse,” Wenzl wrote. “The
building was divided into two rooms with a folding divider creating a room for
the high school students and another for the grade school students. The high
school courses were discontinued in 1924.”
In the mid 1950s a new school was built, which was dedicated
on Aug. 28, 1955 by Bishop John B. Franz.