Catholic dioceses across the country are struggling to maintain their faith-based mission of providing a quality education. The doors of several schools across New York will close for the final time at the end of this school year.

“It started with sadness, extreme sadness,” said Shay Allen. “Then it went to frustration. And we’re in the anger phase now.”

Allen’s fourth-grader is wrapping up what will be her final year at All Saints Catholic Academy. In what’s been described as a “re-envision” by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, two of its schools are closing.

“This was never just a school,” Allen said. “This was home. This was community. This was family. This was togetherness. And it made me feel safe as a parent.”

Now, having been told that due to a $1 million deficit, a shrinking interest in Catholic school education and infrastructure concerns, the school will close, Allen feels robbed of her choice.

“It was never about 240 kids,” she said. “It was about money to pay off debts, to pay off lawsuits and no. I’m mad, I’m angry.”

Meanwhile, other faith-based educational institutions appear to be finding some success.

“Since COVID, our enrollment has grown nearly 60%,” St. Pius X Catholic School Principal Matthew Rucinsky said. “We’ll have over 600 students here next school year.”

St. Pius offers programs for students in pre-K through eighth grade.

“While we honor our past and our traditions, we’re always looking at new, innovative ways to teach our kids,” Rucinsky said.

In addition to its ongoing evolution, Rucinsky said St. Pius benefits from its location in the North Colonie Central School District and a thriving parish.

“I never want to take anything for granted,” he said. “And just be really focused on how we can make St. Pius the best school that it can be.”

It's a potential alternative for parents like Allen, who has already toured four schools with her daughter.

“These children are worth more than any lawsuit that you have to pay. They are the future,” she said. “And if Catholic education is supposed to be about shaping the future, what did you just do? You didn’t shape the future. You disappointed the future.”