Archdiocese Plan to Close Bishop Conaty High Sparks Controversy

As a graduate of an inner-city Catholic high school, Mount Carmel in 1965 that has since been closed, I read your article on the recommended closing of Bishop Conaty High School with great interest.

It is quite evident to anyone who has kept an eye on inner-city Catholic high schools in the Los Angeles area that this is not a top priority for the archdiocese. The closing of Mount Carmel and the fight a few years ago to save Cathedral High School from closing indicates to me and others what we have known for many years--a lack of commitment by the archdiocese to quality education for inner-city youth.

The archdiocese is a business, a corporation, and in its true money-making sense if an operation is not in the black the best thing to do is to close it.

Never mind the investment in the future of the students who are educated within these schools or will not be educated if these schools are closed.

Finally, the cost to bring the high school to earthquake compliance is $1.3 million which the archdiocese evidently does not have. How much did the archdiocese spend on the Pope’s parade?

And which will have a longer lasting effect on our society--a three-day pageant or a four-year quality educational program for inner-city youth?

RICARDO SOSAPAVON

Pacoima