Students leave Saint Dominic Academy in Auburn on April 9 at the end of the school day. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal file

AUBURN — The Portland diocese appears open to the idea of operating the high school at Saint Dominic Academy for one last year, though steep hurdles remain as discussions continue between the diocese and a new board of directors established to potentially take over the school.

When the diocese announced it was closing the high school in a public letter March 28, it seemed to ignite a fire in families, alumni and members of the broader Saint Dominic Academy community. They soon started pushing for the high school to stay open as an independent Catholic school under a board of directors.

In less than three weeks, a steering committee and new board of directors has been formed, $1 million in pledges has been raised from almost 200 people, and Bishop James Ruggieri has softened his previously stated unwavering stance on ceasing diocesan operation of the high school after this school year.

“It is critical for proponents to understand that the diocese will not finance, staff, nor operate the high school after the end of this school year,” Ruggieri previously stated in an April 8 letter to families. “The new entity, as a renter at the Auburn campus, would assume all those obligations as well as all fundraising.”

Earlier this week, however, the diocese laid out stipulations and conditions that the new board would need to meet in order for the diocese to operate the high school for one last “bridge year,” as stated in board and diocesan negotiation letters. It would give the board more time to raise funds and take necessary steps to privatize the high school.

Superintendent of Maine Catholic Schools Shelly Wheeler sent an email to families Wednesday outlining conditions in the proposal, expected to be met by May 15. Those include:

• An escrow in the amount of $3 million for cash flow deficits during the 2025-26 school year;

• Enough student enrollment to secure a viable year of operation;

• And assurance that all teachers will be retained and for the school’s operating budget to be built with the superintendent and director of parish and school financial services.

While board members understand the need to secure funds for risks related to operating the school, they would like to set more reasonable escrow milestones during the bridge year, the board said in a letter responding to the diocese’s stipulations sent to the church Wednesday.

So far, the board has secured about $1 million in pledges toward the effort, according to the board’s letter. Some of those pledges were in multi-year commitments to be put toward the school’s operating deficit. Other people who pledged funds are waiting to hand cash over until they know the school will be open next year.

The board also wants an agreement with the diocese on how those escrow funds would be transferred to the diocese for deficits, the board’s letter said.

The letter said the board understands and agrees with the enrollment stipulation and the need for students to be fully enrolled with a deposit. It said the board also intends to fully comply with the requirement to retain all teachers at the school and it would seek letters of intent from staff, if necessary.

It also agreed to include the superintendent and director of parish school financial services in developing the operating budget for the Auburn campus, including a line for debt service to the diocese, the board’s letter said.

However, the board is also requesting that a subset of the board review budgets, historical financial information, endowments and Saint Dominic Academy dedicated funds under a confidentiality agreement.

Though it does not have access to high school financial information, board members estimate just under $1 million would be needed to avoid deficits in the upcoming school year based on information it has right now, the board said Wednesday.

“The board is confident it could secure cash in hand to sustain the 2025/2026 academic year by the bishop’s May 15 deadline,” the board said in a statement.

Another request by the board is to have the diocese agree to partner with the board while the board develops a five- to 10-year plan, including retiring debt owed to the diocese and the eventual ownership of the Auburn campus.

Board members are grateful to have received some framework from the bishop on what is necessary to keep the high school stay open one more year, the board’s statement said.

“This framework will require significant organizational development, fundraising and business planning to be completed,” the statement reads. “While it would have been preferable to hear of the financial challenges of the diocese at any other time but the end of the academic year, where it adds pressure to our young students, their families and our wonderful teachers, we at least know what the initial expectations are.”

The board requested a meeting with the bishop and his senior financial advisors, but had received no response as of Wednesday, the board said.

The statement said board members didn’t understand the bishop’s requirement of a $3 million escrow by May 15 to cover the 2025-26 school year for grades 6-12. “To raise $3 million in one month, while not impossible, would come close to surpassing what the diocese is able to raise itself in an entire calendar year through its own statewide Catholic appeal,” the board said.

In an email response Thursday, the Portland diocese’s director of communications, Molly DiLorenzo, said the amount is what is needed to guard against any future liability and cover the financial risk for the diocese to run the Auburn campus another year.

“Operating budget deficits have increased every year in recent history,” she said. “The 2024-2025 deficit will be $1.2 million and this is expected to increase next year. Over five years that deficit figure is $2.5 million.

“Additionally, there will be no guarantee of student numbers and the resulting tuition revenue, nor can we depend on new fundraising revenue for the existing high school. Without adequate funds, employees and vendors may not be paid, and this is a risk we cannot take.”

Any funds remaining in the escrow account at the end of next school year would fund the independent high school, she said. The May 15 deadline was established by the diocese to be fair to families who might need to make other plans for the children’s education.

Still, some Saint Dominic families do not think the bishop is negotiating in good faith. In recent Facebook posts, people have criticized the bishop, some even going as far to say they would not give money to the church anymore. Others have spoken more neutrally about the situation and offered some understanding to the diocese.

Jason Levesque, former Auburn mayor and parent of a Saint Dominic high school student, is not on the board or involved in the negotiation process, but said he is concerned by what he’s observed so far.

Levesque said he feels that the diocese is creating new expectations, requirements and hurdles that work against common best business practices.

“From the start of this process to their most recent demands, I find it difficult to believe that the diocese is working in good faith toward a mutually acceptable solution that takes the region’s needs, both spiritually and educationally, into consideration,” he said.

Closing the high school does not just impact the Catholic community, Levesque said, it also impacts the educational landscape in central Maine.

“Not only is the future of St. Dominic’s at stake, but the area parishes and the future educational opportunities within Maine’s second largest population center are at risk,” he said. “These stakes are too high to not allow a proper process to be executed within a reasonable time frame.”

In the meantime, the diocese is still moving forward with plans to operate grades kindergarten through 8 out of the Lewiston campus, according to the diocese’s email to families.

“The community’s passion for St. Dominic Academy has been quite evident over these past weeks,” the statement said. “The diocese’s commitment to sustainable Catholic education in Maine remains unwavering.”

For its part, the new board of directors said in its statement Wednesday, “The board is fully committed to the full PreK-12 Saint Dominic’s experience in the community.

“We remain hopeful that Bishop Ruggieri will understand that the same local community that achieved the miracle of raising approximately $14 million to construct the Auburn campus will again respond for the next generation of local Catholic education.”