Posted on 03/28/2015 10:39:51 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Even Mother Teresa might have been tempted by this kind of property bonanza.
A group of nuns wants to boot 55 tots from one of the city’s oldest preschools so they can cash in on the facility’s $20 million Chelsea real estate, according to a lawsuit by fuming parents.
More than 50 moms and dads of kids at Nazareth Nursery Montessori claim the Sisters of St. Francis — who bought the West 15th Street facility for $5,000 in 1901 — want to sell the school’s two brick brownstones and hoard the money.
“It's clear that the defendants plan to close the school, stop providing education to the children of working mothers, sell the school’s property and transfer the money to the Sisters of St. Francis to use for other purposes, none of which is to educate children,” the Manhattan civil suit says.
The school was started at the dawn of the 20th century to fill a need that is still vital — to provide low-cost child care for working mothers in Manhattan. Originally, it served single moms who worked in the Meatpacking District.
Now it serves students ages 2 to 6 and employs 14 lay teachers overseen by the sisters.
The $10,000-a-year tuition at the school — which was accredited as a Montessori school in the 1980s — makes it by far the cheapest Montessori school in the borough.
But recently the school announced that it would close in August, surprising parents, who are seeking an injunction to stop closure.
The parents claim in the lawsuit that the nuns at first gave no reason why the school was closing — but then school officials claimed the facility “was losing $100,000” and that “the building structure is precarious.”
But the suit says that no building violations were recorded with the city
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Typical crap reporting by the NYT.
The Sisters are going to “hoard the money”???
Really?
If the Sister’s are forced to stay open, they should double the tuition.
Maria Motessori was a very devout Catholic, but given that the school is run by lay teachers overseen by the sisters, I would bet that otherwise your post is spot on.
If education in the past has been subsidized by cutting corners on maintenance and retirement funds, and the sisters now have a need to wind down the order gracefully, nothing unjust is going on here.
And the commie parents open their own preschool.
The NYT article states that the school will close in August, so your concern is moot.
What they hell is everybody complaining about?
Naw, naw. St. Francis would run a $10,000 a year Montessori preschool. That’s for sure.
Lose? How will they lose? Are they bound by contract to keep the property and keep the preschool there til the Lord comes again?
Bought at $5k, sold at $20M? Watch the IRS sue them next. Nice capital gains ya got there. Religious exemption? So 20th c.
Anyway, what's the problem?
“It’s clear that the defendants plan to close the school, stop providing education to the children of working mothers, sell the school’s property and transfer the money to the Sisters of St. Francis to use for other purposes, none of which is to educate children,” the Manhattan civil suit says.”
OBTW mr. Attorney, I will be using your car next month so keep up the payments and don’t forget the insurance premiums.
RE: Yes.
Really? St. Francis gave away all his money and wandered around depending on other people’s charity.
What does this have to do with this case?
Are you suggesting that the Sisters should give away everything owned by the church and beg in the streets?
RE: Are you suggesting that the Sisters should give away everything owned by the church and beg in the streets?
NO. But I would suggest that they quit using the name of St. Francis.
I was wondering that myself. Do they have some God given right to send their children there, at that price, and i just don’t know it????
Why?
Oh Mrs. Don-o, I was wondering just what to respond to that one, I just could not figure out how to do it in a nice way, that didn’t reflect ridicule I was feeling and you hit it right out of the park. I’m still laughing.
and now this one!! More laughter!!! Next my dr will be contacting you, asking your advise, because I’m so much better!
oh rolling my eyes...you’re not NEARLY as amusing as Mrs. Don-o
By the way, sounds like you ARE a little better. Still praying for our well-being inside and out.
>>Perhaps their order is growing and they need more housing for novices and postulants<<
Or perhaps their order is aging and they need the money to care for old nuns.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.