By James Windell
After 75 years of educating children in South Haven, St. Basil Catholic School will close on June 5, 2025.
Principal Jennifer Marcheschi confirmed that the school, which has students from pre-kindergarten through the eighth grade, will permanently close at the end of this school year, but she said she couldn’t make any other comments. She referred the Beacon to Victoria Cessna, Executive Director of Communications and Public Affairs for the Diocese of Kalamazoo.
When Cessna was reached, she said she could send the official statement. That statement reads:
“The Diocese of Kalamazoo has announced that St. Basil Catholic School, South Haven, will close at the end of the 2024-2025 school year. Bishop Edward M. Lohse has accepted the recommendation of Rev. Evelio Ramirez, Pastor, St. Basil Parish, in consultation with the school’s pastoral council, finance council and school board, to close the school.
“Dr. Jillian Kellough, Superintendent of Catholic Schools, expressed her gratitude to school administrators, teachers, staff, and parents for their support and dedication to the school. ‘We recognize and deeply appreciate the significant contributions and dedication of the entire St. Basil school community,’ said Dr. Kellough. ‘The school has aided in the education and faith formation of students for generations and its impact leaves a lasting legacy.’
“The diocesan Office of Catholic Schools will assist faculty, staff and students in finding alternate arrangements for next year.
“A Mass of Thanksgiving with Bishop Lohse will be held on Tuesday, May 29th at 9 a.m. at St. Basil Church, South Haven.”
A follow up with Cessna asking for details of the reasons for the school’s closing, including current enrollment numbers, resulted in an email in which Cessna said that she couldn’t give enrollment numbers because of a power outage. However, she did write in her email that “There are many contributing factors that are weighed when making the very difficult decision to close a school. Additional and various options were explored; however, it was determined that none were possible for long-term sustainability.”
Cessna did not return any further information before the Beacon’s deadline for this issue, but a search of various websites on the Internet indicates that St. Basil had more than 125 students in 2005 and that this school year there were only 73 students.
However, conversations with current and former parents and students at St. Basil suggest that the decline in student enrollment was far greater than what was found in an Internet search.
“There are currently 60 students currently enrolled and only 19 signed up for the 2025-26 year,” said a parent whose children attended the school until recently.
A parent who wished to remain anonymous commented that St. Basil School had a wait list up until this year. This parent said that qualified teachers retired and “there were unqualified parents who were trying to run things.”
A parent of two former students, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said: “There is a large group of families that have been devastated by the way that St. Basil went down in flames. We have been lied to, gaslit, and insulted. And most importantly, our children’s education and emotional well-being suffered.”
