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Timeline of a Community Struggle
May 25, 2004
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston (RCAB) announces
its intention to
close Our Lady of the Presentation School in Brighton's
Oak Square as part of
its broader plan to close more than eighty churches and schools.
May - June 2004
Parents of Presentation school children and community residents
mobilize to
oppose the school closing. They organize three protests against
the RCAB's
decision and begin a letter writing campaign.
June 7, 2004
Facing community opposition, the RCAB grants Our Lady of
the Presentation
School a one-year extension. The Archdiocese announces that
the school will
close permanently in June 2005. Acting as a private citizen,
Secretary of State
William Galvin provides a $100,000 line of credit to cover
any potential deficits
in the school's
budget during its final year.
June 2004
The Presentation School Foundation is formed with the hope
of continuing
the civic and educational role of the Presentation School.
The foundation
unites Presentation parents, community activists, government
officials, business
owners, and leaders of non-profit institutions. The foundation
relies exclusively
on the efforts of volunteers.
July 2004 - November 2004
Foundation members organize a series of community meetings
bringing
together diverse groups and organizations to discuss their
hopes for the future
of the Presentation School building. These meetings play
a vital role in defining
the pressing needs of the Allston-Brighton
community and in shaping an
ambitious plan to safeguard the
Presentation School building as a community
anchor.
December 2004
The Presentation School Foundation presents an ambitious
150-page plan to
the RCAB regarding the future of the Presentation School
building. The
foundation seeks to purchase the building at market value,
$2.5 million, in order
to establish a full-service community center at the site.
The community center
would include an affordable pre-school,
a grammar school, YMCA after-school
and summer programs, and adult
education services. These uses would serve
the needs of
working parents, children, immigrants and the poor in Allston-
Brighton.
Twenty-five community groups and organizations endorse this
plan, including
the YMCA, WGBH, Boston University and the Allston-Brighton
Community
Development Corporation. Mayor Menino and the
entire Boston City Council
also support the proposal.
January 11, 2005
In a five-sentence
letter, Bishop Richard Lennon rejects the foundation's
proposal,
indicating that the RCAB will retain ownership of the building
for unstated
"Archdiocesan
needs."
January - February 2005
The Presentation School Foundation mobilizes renewed community
opposition
to the Archdiocese's actions, organizing three demonstrations
and a second letter
writing campaign. The foundation's proposal and its
struggle receive editorial
endorsements from The Boston Globe, The
Boston Herald, and
the Allston-Brighton
Tab.
January 18, 2005
The RCAB announces that it will relocate the Metropolitan
Tribunal, its ecclesiastical
court, to the Presentation School building. The tribunal's
major function is the
granting of marriage annulments.
February 17, 2005
Representatives of the foundation testify before the Boston
City Council. The Boston
Redevelopment Authority states at the hearing that the Archdiocese
will need a
zoning variance to locate administrative offices at the Presentation
school building.
March 1, 2005
Representatives of the Presentation School Foundation meet
with Bishop Richard
Lennon. The meeting fails to resolve the conflict between
the Allston-Brighton
community and the Archdiocese.
March 15, 2005
In a letter
to Archbishop Sean O'Malley, the Presentation
School Foundation
announces that it continues to seek an agreement with the
RCAB that would
serve the interests of the Allston-Brighton community, the
city of Boston and
the Archdiocese. The foundation, however,
states that it is ready for a "protracted
conflict" over
the future of the Presentation School building. Between January
and
March, the foundation writes four letters to Archbishop
O'Malley in an effort to resolve
the conflict; none
are answered.
May 2005
Through its own research, the foundation discovers that
the Metropolitan Tribunal
investigates priests accused of sexual abuse. This disclosure
produces further
community opposition to the Archdiocese's plan to
relocate the tribunal to the
Presentation School building.
June 2005
The Presentation School Foundation announces that
it will conduct a week of protests
following the closing of the school on June 10. The protests,
Enacting the Vision, will highlight the foundation's
proposed uses of the building. June 8, 2005
The Archdiocese abruptly cancels the final two days of classes
at Our Lady of the
Presentation School, locking children out of their own school.
The RCAB cites
concerns that a potential occupation of the school by parents
would threaten the
safety of teachers and students. The lockout cancels classes
and graduation
ceremonies for children.
Upon hearing the news, angry parents and
residents, along with tearful children, spontaneously gather
at the school protesting the lockout.
June 9, 2005
The Presentation School Foundation organizes a graduation
ceremony for
kindergartners in a public park, the Oak Square Common, across
from Our Lady of
the Presentation School. The Archdiocese's lockout
draws intense criticism from Presentation parents, Allston-Brighton
residents, government officials, and the news
media.
June 10, 2005
Mayor Menino organizes a graduation ceremony for Presentation
students at
historic Faneuil Hall.
The Presentation School Foundation begins its planned weeklong
protest in Oak
Square Common. As part of the protest, a campout begins in
the common.
June 11, 2005
The Archdiocese and the Presentation School Foundation announce
that they will
hold a meeting on June 13 in an effort to resolve the escalating
controversy over the
future of the Presentation School building.
June 12, 2005
As the protest activity continues in Oak Square Common,
the conflict between the
Archdiocese and the Allston-Brighton community draws considerable
local, national
and international news coverage, including stories in The
Boston Globe, The Boston
Herald, The New York Times, The
Los Angeles Times, The Economist,
and The
Guardian (London).
June 13, 2005
Following a
more than three hour meeting between Archbishop Sean O'Malley
and
representatives of the Presentation School Foundation, the
Archdiocese and the
foundation announce that the RCAB will make a "good
faith effort to pursue the goal
of a negotiated sale of the Our Lady of the Presentation
school property to the
Presentation School Foundation." This joint announcement
reverses the
Archdiocese's
longstanding position on the future of the Presentation School
building.
June 27, 2005
Following a second meeting between representatives
of the Presentation School
Foundation and Archbishop O'Malley,
both parties agree that they "will
endeavor to
achieve mutually agreeable terms and conditions for the sale
of the Presentation
School property to the PSF."
The agreement specifies that the foundation will advance
a formal offer to the
Archdiocese by September 1.
August 22, 2005
A group of former parishioners of Our Lady of the
Presentation Church file a lawsuit
against the Archdiocese claiming that they own all the church
and school property of
the parish. The Presentation School Foundation is not a party
to the suit.
August 2005
The foundation conducts a series of community meetings that
shape its formal offer
to the Archdiocese.
September 1, 2005
In accordance with the agreed upon timetable, the
Presentation School Foundation
presents to the Archdiocese of Boston a formal offer to purchase
the school property
for the fair market price of $2 million. The foundation's
offer defines multiple uses
of the school, including an affordable pre-school, YMCA after-school
and summer
programs, adult education services, and teacher development
and student enrichment programs. The teacher development
and student enrichment programs will be made available to
both the Boston public school system and the remaining Roman
Catholic
School in Allston-Brighton.
September 6, 2005: After
receiving the PSF offer, Archdiocesan Chancellor David
Smith informs PSF in writing that the Archdiocese will
not negotiate due to litigation
filed in August by former
OLP parishioners, who challenge the Archdiocese's ownership
of the OLP properties. PSF
is not a party to the litigation.
September 2005
The Boston
Foundation, New England's largest foundation,
provides the Presentation School Foundation with a planning
grant.
October 11, 2005: Following PSF's requests
to continue negotiations, Chancellor
Smith informs PSF in
writing that Archbishop O'Malley asked him to meet with PSF
representatives to discuss steps to move forward toward a
Purchase Agreement.
October - November 2005
Working with the Boston public schools and with WGBH, the
foundation begins
developing its student enrichment and teacher development
programs. November 7, 2005: Chancellor
Smith meets with PSF representatives to discuss
the PSF
offer and defines the necessary terms for the negotiations
to move forward: specifically, that PSF's proposed use
of the building cannot include an elementary
school and
that the Archbishop must have sole discretion whether an
elementary
school would ever be allowed to operate on the
property. Chancellor
Smith also
outlined ways in which the parties could potentially
move forward with an agreement
in spite of the litigation.
December 2005
The Boston Foundation provides additional support
in the form of a $25,000 grant.
January 19, 2006: PSF
representatives and Chancellor Smith meet again and
agree - in
spite of the litigation -- to move toward a Purchase and
Sale Agreement
based on the time frame and terms outlined
by the Archdiocese. Both sides agree
that PSF will submit
a revised offer. Chancellor Smith suggests that PSF should
also
agreeto support alternative uses for the
school property should the PSF fail to complete
the purchase.
February 21, 2006: PSF
submits a revised offer to the Archdiocese that meets the
time frame and terms outlined by the Archdiocese, including
the heart-wrenching
decision to concede on the elementary
school. The PSF revised offer does not
endorse Chancellor
Smith's suggestion that PSF support alternative uses for
the
school property should it fail to complete the purchase.
February 28, 2006: Chancellor Smith reverses
his position and informs PSF in
writing that the Archdiocese
will not sign a Purchase and Sale Agreement until the
litigation
by OLP parishioners is completely resolved. The Chancellor
also
introduces additional concerns, including the purchase
price.
March 15, 2006: The Presentation
School Foundation organizes another protest rally in Oak
Square Common, highlighting the reversal of the Archdiocese's
negotiating position. The RCAB claims that its goal of selling
the school property to the PSF has been "frustrated
by the litigation."
April 2006: Former parishioners
of the now closed Our Lady of the Presentation parish agree
to withdraw their litigation concerning the Presentation
school property if the RCAB sells the property to the PSF.
April 2006: The RCAB claims
that it will "accelerate" the
process leading to the sale of the Presentation school property
to the PSF given the action of the litigants.
May 2006: Negotiations between the PSF and
RCAB resume.
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