Trinity Catholic High School (Michigan)

Trinity Catholic High School was a coeducational Roman Catholic high school in Harper Woods, Michigan, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit.

History

The school formed in the fall of 2002 as a merger between St. Florian High School in Hamtramck and Bishop Gallagher High School in Harper Woods. Bishop Gallagher High School had originally opened as a separate school in 1962. Pat Domagala, the principal of St. Florian, said that schools decided to merge because both were college preparatory schools and therefore had elements in common, and because Bishop Gallagher needed additional students and St. Florian needed additional programs.[1]

Before Bishop Gallagher merged with Saint Florians, it had a checkered past. In early 2000 it was reported that there were child molestation charges against the high school pastor, Gary Bueche.[2] The student's family was paid off and the accusations were hushed up.[3] Later when Bueche was sent to SS Peter & Paul in Washington Michigan, accusations of abuse arose there as well. However, this time Oakland County, Michigan prosecuting attorney David Gorcyca fought for the children and tried to put a stop to sending problem priests to an unsuspecting parish. There are several Detroit News articles about the trial and websites which maintain a list of those convicted and where they taught.[4]

Closing

In 2005, the school had 163 students. Glenn Marshall, a parent quoted in the Detroit Free Press, said that most of the students at Trinity Catholic came from Detroit.[5] During that year, the archdiocese announced that Trinity would close.[6] Several parents struggled to find ways to keep the school open but Richard Laskos, the spokesperson for the archdiocese, said that the closing was irreversible.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Mercer, Tenisha (June 5, 2002). "Schools merge, form Trinity High". Metro. p. 6E. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Accused pedophile remained pastor". UPI. 2002. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Church Settled Charges in Cash". Detroit Free Press. 2002. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Priest DB by last Name - B". Bishop Accountability.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Donaldson, Stan (March 31, 2005). "Trinity, Notre Dame Fight Back". Community Free Press. Detroit Free Press. p. 1. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  6. ↑ Pratt, Chastity, Patricia Montemurri, and Lori Higgins. "PARENTS, KIDS SCRAMBLE AS EDUCATION OPTIONS NARROW." Detroit Free Press. March 17, 2005. A1 News. Retrieved on April 30, 2011. "School closings announced Wednesday by the Archdiocese of Detroit doomed eight high schools in Detroit and neighboring suburbs and will shutter 10 elementary schools, including historic landmarks such as St. Alphonsus Elementary in Dearborn and St. Florian Elementary in Hamtramck." and "[...]said Jean Irvin-Stanley, who has children at Trinity High and Notre Dame High, both scheduled to shut their doors." "And with the closing of St. Florian Elementary, there will be no Catholic school in once heavily Polish Catholic Hamtramck."