New Catholic School Plans on Hold

High school in South County a possibility in the future, but
money to follow through and build currently not available
Gilroy – The Catholic Church hasn’t given up on building a high school for South Valley students, but interested parents shouldn’t plan on enrolling their children any time soon.

The possibility of a co-ed Catholic high school in the South County is still a reality, according to the Diocese of San Jose, but despite recent market research, the plans for the school, which have been tossed around for five years, are on hold.

Some South County residents received phone calls recently asking about their interest in a Catholic High School. Questions in the market research poll asked about tuition, location and the importance of programs such as athletics and computer and science labs.

Gilroy’s St. Mary teacher Stacy Huddleston believes a school would be supported.

“The question of a close Catholic high school is something that is brought up quite frequently among the parents of my students,” she said. “They would absolutely be interested in something here. Since St. Francis in Watsonville opened, many of them are looking at that option, as opposed to the San Jose schools, but many of them don’t like the idea of crossing Hecker Pass every day. The big problem is that kids are involved in so many activities besides just the regular school day, it is overwhelming.”

The diocese rolled out the idea in 2001, complete with architectural plans and a virtual tour of the proposed school.

Roberta Ward, spokeswoman for the Diocese of San Jose, said the project is not going to go much further any time soon. 

“There is some market research going on, mainly to determine interest,” Ward said. “We’re basically just gauging interest levels, what people would look for in such a school, what tuition would be affordable for people, what they would be comfortable with.”

Though the diocese worked with an architect who created plans for the school, the money to follow through and build the school is just not there. 

The estimated $84-million co-ed high school for grades 9-12 was planned for a parcel between Monterey Road and Hale Avenue in Morgan Hill. 

The plans include two softball fields with bleachers, one baseball field with bleachers, three basketball courts, four tennis courts, a combined football and soccer field with a lighted stadium containing a field house (gymnasium) and an Olympic-size pool with bleachers and pool-house.

The school itself would include 62 classrooms with an average size of 960-square-feet. A main gym, weight room, library, multipurpose room, snack bar, food serving area, kitchen, music/choral classroom, dance studio, instrumental classroom, 300-seat theater and a 420-seat chapel are also part of the plans. 

Options for teen-agers include four schools in San Jose: boys-only Bellermine; two all-girls schools, Presentation and Notre Dame; and co-ed Archbishop Mitty.

Father Gene O’Donnell of St. Catherine in Morgan Hill said the parish has a committee that is continuing to work on ideas for the school.

“We want to be ready when the time is right,” he said.

The committee has completed a mission statement for the school.

Active planning for the school on a diocesan level fell off in 2003, after several steps, including drawing the architectural plans, were taken to move the school forward.

In June 2002, the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), a land-use commission, voted to include the parcel selected for the school in Morgan Hill’s Urban Service Area. This was a key step in the development of the high school plan, as this would allow Morgan Hill to provide urban services including sewer, water and storm drainage to the school.

Mitchell said in 2002 that the earliest the high school could open to serve its proposed 1,200 students and a staff of 120 is 2007. But now even that date is unlikely.

“We began looking at this idea years ago, when the population could support the school, not only with students but also the fundraising,” he said. “When the economy went sour, circumstances changed. Unfortunately, you can’t build the school in pieces.”

Mitchell said then the plan for the school has not been totally scrapped; the diocese has spent money on development of the plans but is not confident in the current fundraising climate.