ST. MARGARET MARY DEANERY - Parishioners and parents of children who attend school at St. Therese Little Flower, Assumption in Mount Healthy and St. Ann in Groesbeck have been informed that a steering committee has recommended closing the schools next June and establishing a new, consolidated school opening in August 2008.

CT FILE PHOTO

Students from Little Flower School (above), Assumption and St. Ann School would be affected by the recommendation.

The committee recommends that one campus at the site of St. Ann School be established. According to a Nov. 2 letter sent to parents by Father Robert Goebel, pastor of Little Flower, St. Ann's "was determined to be the most logical site, as it is the most centrally located, the newest, and being a one-floor building, having the capability of handicap accessibility."

The proposed school would be given a new name, and all four parishes would be equally represented on an education commission, the committee has suggested.

Father Goebel noted that the committee has met for two years to discuss the schools' futures, and projected enrollment data for the area does not give the group hope that enrollment downturns will be reversed.

Faculty and staff at the schools were informed of the recommendation on Nov. 2. An informational meeting for all parish and school families in the region will be held Monday, Nov. 12, 7 p.m., at St. Ann Church.

A website, http://www.carenews.org/, carries the most up-to-date news on the work of the committee. (C.A.R.E. stands for Catholics Aligning Regionally for Education.)

Following the informational meeting and feedback from parents and parishioners, a formal proposal for the consolidation will be submitted to Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk at the end of November.