PORT ARTHUR, Texas -- The city may lose its only Catholic high school unless the school board can find a group of nuns to take over management and teaching duties.
Bishop Byrne High School has one nun on its staff.
Most duties are handled by lay teachers and board members argue the school needs a stronger Catholic image to increase enrollment, which dropped from 500 in 1965 to 170 this year. Tuition is $1,100 a year.
Bishop Byrne Board President Floyd Marceaux said Tuesday the board has contacted several groups of nuns to see if they would move to Port Arthur and take over the school.
He said the members of the Dominican Order in Sinsinawa, Wis., visited Port Arthur last December and were considering the move. Marceaux wants at least five nuns.
Marceaux said that, if nuns or priests cannot be found to take over the school by May, the board has told Bishop Bernard Ganter of the Beaumont Diocese it likely will recommend that the school be closed.
