Faced with a recent history of declining enrollment, Immaculata High School in Leavenworth, Kan., will close at the end of the school year.
The Leavenworth Regional Catholic School System says the school, which serves grades seven to 12, was not financially viable.
"Despite the best efforts of our current dedicated leaders, the demand for Catholic education in our Region continues to decline," says Rolly Dessert, chair of the regional school board. "We can no longer sustain school operations at Immaculata. The cost per student exceeds revenue per student by more than $5,000."
In addition, the system does not have the resources to carry out needed building repairs.
"We continue to accept an extremely high amount of risk in our facilities with no funds to address needed long-term solutions for infrastructure," Dessert says. "Our deferred maintenance issues are growing monthly. We cannot continue to operate in this manner."
Immaculata will close on June 2. The system will continue to offer schooling to grades seven and eight, but those students will be housed at Xavier Catholic School in Leavenworth, which now houses students in preschool to grade six.
