St. Louis King of France (BR) school to close at end of academic year

Both the school and the church parish bearing the "St. Louis King of France" name will close in the next nine months as the Catholic Diocese grapples with a priest shortage that has become especially apparent in north Baton Rouge churches.

The Advocate

The Rev. Michael Alello, pastor of St. Louis King of France, told teachers and staff Friday afternoon that the school will close on June 30. The church parish, which started a merger in July with nearby St. Thomas More, will also close no later than then.

St. Louis King of France has 283 students who will be looking for new schools to attend next year, and 148 of them are scholarship students, according to the state's Department of Education.

But while the closures of some local Catholic schools — like Redemptorist High School — hinged on declining enrollment figures and problems accepting voucher students, Alello said that is not the case for St. Louis King of France.

The school cannot stay open without being tied to its parish, he said. Alello said he realizes that the news will be difficult for some people to swallow but said the decisions to close both the school and church parish are final.

"The priest shortage is the challenge," Alello said. "We are attempting to serve our people with the resources we have."

The priest shortage has manifested itself in church closures and mergers primarily in the northern part of the parish. St. Pius X Catholic Church closed in late May and St. Isidore the Farmer absorbed its churchgoers. And declining enrollment led to the closure of Redemptorist High School at the end of the 2015 academic year.

North Baton Rouge has been left with only a few Catholic schools — Redemptorist St. Gerard Elementary and Middle School; St. Francis Xavier; and Cristo Rey.

Dan Borné, a spokesman for the diocese, also said Sacred Heart Catholic School on the outskirts of downtown serves north Baton Rouge students.

"We cannot deny the reality of population shifts," Borné said. "And that's really affected St. Louis King of France in terms of first its parishioners and then its school. The commitment to Catholic education will always be there. Where it happens may change with population shifts."

Alello is hosting a parents' meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday to discuss possible schooling options for students who currently attend St. Louis King of France. Though the parish is merging with St. Thomas More, he said STM's school is not large enough to accommodate all of the St. Louis King of France schoolchildren.