All-boys Catholic high school in Chicago backs off plan to admit girls

Mount Carmel High School in Chicago has backed off a plan to enroll girls.

The all-boys Catholic school in the city's Woodlawn neighborhood had been considering going co-ed, but the feedback it received has been strongly opposed to the change, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. 

“The results of the feedback have made it overwhelmingly clear that Mount Carmel High School’s stakeholders want Mount Carmel to remain all-male, and that changing the school’s all-male tradition is not in the best interest of the school,” said school president Brendan Conroy. 

In a survey sent to student and parents, 41 of 63 responses from students said they would prefer the school remain all-boys. Only 14 said the school should go coed. 

Of 277 parents who responded, 113 said they would not keep their son enrolled at Mount Carmel if the school went coed; 122 said they would need more information before making the decision, and 2 said they would keep their son enrolled.

Mount Carmel was founded in 1900.