Schools
Worcester To Cut Last Catholic Diocese School Lease After 30 Years
After quarreling with the Catholic church over the La Familia school lease, Worcester will end a 30-year lease of a former diocese school.
WORCESTER, MA — Worcester Public Schools will soon end a multi-decade lease with the Diocese of Worcester, capping a quarrelsome year between the two institutions over the use of Catholic school buildings.
The school district has been leasing the former St. Casimir's school building along Waverly Street for 30 years to house the Worcester Alternative School. Superintendent Rachel Monárrez alerted the city council this week that the district found a new space for the school along McKeon Road after a competitive bidding process.
The St. Casimir's lease was the last one remaining between Worcester Public Schools and the Catholic church after the diocese decided to terminate a lease for the La Familia school. The alternative school lease is set to end at the conclusion of this school year.
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At the start of this school year, St. Stephen Monsignor Robert Johnson told the La Familia principal to move students off-site for sex ed classes. The diocese has opposed the district's new sex and health curriculum, and Bishop Robert McManus urged parents to opt their students out of it.
A diocese lease with the forthcoming Worcester Cultural Academy charter school says the school cannot use the building for anything "inconsistent with the doctrines or teachings of the Roman Catholic Church." Worcester Public Schools officials have said district leases do not contain that language.
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The alternative school will be housed at 11 McKeon Road, the former home of the Woodward Day School. The building is owned by Ernest Foster Jr., a local real estate broker, according to property records.
The three-year lease will cost $182,004 in year one, $187,500 in year two and $193,128 in year three. The new lease is about $6,000 more than the St. Casimir's lease, a district spokesperson confirmed. Annual increases at the McKeon Road building are capped at the rate of the consumer price index.
Clarification: This story has been updated to add details about WPS leases with the diocese.
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