Archdiocese of Baltimore to close Cardinal Gibbons School

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Cardinal Gibbons School is one of several schools the Archdiocese of Baltimore is closing at the end of this school year as part of its consolidation of the Catholic school system.

The all-boys school’s statement on the closure was posted on its Facebook page and Web site Wednesday afternoon.

“Until recently, Cardinal Gibbons’ administrators hoped that by pursuing every known option we could avoid having our school closed by the Archdiocese,” the statement said. “Unfortunately, these efforts did not result in a positive decision for our school. What we do have is a shared dedication to our students and their continued success.”

The page is run by a class of 2005 alumnus who later posted that it was not the intention to break the news on the social networking Web site.

The closure means that Cardinal Gibbons’ 359 students will have to be relocated. According to the school’s statement, Cardinal Gibbons will facilitate the student transfers.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake issued a statement Wednesday evening, calling the West Baltimore school’s closing “deeply saddening” and that its “proud legacy of academic and athletic excellence” will be sorely missed.

Ronald J. Valenti, executive director for the Division of Catholic Schools, referred all calls to a spokesman for the archdiocese. The spokesman, Sean Caine, did not return multiple requests for comment.

The Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday on its Web site that 13 schools — nine in the city and four in Baltimore County — were to be closed. Archbishop Edwin O’Brien is scheduled to make a “major announcement about the future of Catholic school education” Thursday at 11 a.m.

This is the second school closing announcement from the archdiocese in seven months. Last summer, Towson Catholic High School was closed due to financial problems. The move sparked a lawsuit by parents to keep the school open with a temporary restraining order, but the case was dismissed in August.

The outpouring of affection for Cardinal Gibbons School was almost immediate Wednesday afternoon after the statement was posted on Facebook. Comments ranged from sad and emotional to angry, with some users suggesting the archdiocese was selling the school property to St. Agnes Hospital, which lies directly to the west of campus.

A St. Agnes spokesperson said Wednesday there are no plans in the works to purchase the school.

Melvin Tyrone Bond III, class of 1998, said the news “took all the air” out of him.

“I felt like there has to be something we can do,” said Bond, who now works for the Department of Labor and is getting his doctorate from the University of Phoenix, an online institution. “I just feel like the legacy is too strong in Baltimore to at least not go down without a fight.”

Bond said he spent Wednesday putting out feelers for who among the alumni would be willing to try and save the school. Bond said he was drawn to one alum’s posting on Facebook that proposed forming a group to buy the school outright and run it as a non-diocesan Catholic high school.

“You have leaders in Baltimore, young men who have made something of themselves,” Bond said. “What about the other young men who won’t have the opportunity to take the Gibbons platform?”

Catholic schools in Baltimore have struggled with declining enrollment, which has fallen roughly 10 percent in the last decade. Cardinal Gibbons is one of 82 schools educating more than 31,000 students in the archdiocese.

Gibbons opened on the grounds of the former St. Mary’s Industrial School in 1962. Notable alumni include Hall of Famer Babe Ruth (St. Mary’s), Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys tight end Jean Fugett and NFL running back Vaughn Hebron.