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Save A Piece Of History

News Channel 8 photo by PAUL LAMISON

St. Peter Claver Catholic School survive a tumultuous beginning to become a cornerstone of downtown Tampa.

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By MICHELLE BEARDEN

mbearden@tampatrib.com

Published: October 18, 2008

Talk about lousy timing.

Sister Maria Babatunde started her new job as principal at St. Peter Claver Catholic School in July.

And that's when she got the news that the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg was pulling its funding for the inner-city grade school.

"It's a challenge," she said. "When so much money is no longer there, you have to find it somewhere else."

With more than $250,000 slashed from her budget, Babatunde had a lot of homework to do - and school hadn't even started yet.

St. Peter Claver isn't being singled out. After an 18-month review, the diocese decided earlier this year to stop subsidizing its grade schools and give the ownership back to the properties. Of about two dozen, only two or three were receiving support, said diocesan spokesman Frank Murphy.

"Everybody is facing budget cutbacks now. There's been a tightening of finances across the board with our churches and schools," he says. "And it's not an issue that is going away."

The problem, he says, is that everyone values Catholic education, but "how do we support it?" A diocesanwide committee led by Bishop Robert Lynch is now studying that issue.

The formerly subsidized schools weren't left completely without help. Lynch committed to doubling the amount of tuition assistance to schools that needed it.

Since nearly all of the 95 students at St. Peter Claver get some degree of support for their annual $4,000 tuition, that has eased the burden somewhat for Babatunde. But the harsh reality is this: In order to survive, this pioneering institution - one of the city's first schools to focus on the needs of black children - must have support. And not just from St. Peter Claver Church's congregation.

Why do we need to pay special attention to St. Peter Claver? Because the school has special historical significance to this city.

Taking A Brave Step

In late 1893, the Jesuit Fathers at neighboring Sacred Heart Catholic Church purchased an old Methodist church on Morgan Street with the intention of setting up a school for black children. That was a brave step back in those days.

Two nuns from Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary began classes with 16 students on Feb. 2, 1894. Ten days later, a violent message was delivered when arsonists burned down the school building.

The day after the blaze, a warning was posted on a big oak tree in front of the smoldering ruins. It read, in part: "the late fire on these grounds was not caused by any ill feelings to the Catholic Church, but because the citizens do not propose to submit to a Negro school in the midst of the white and retired portion of the city."

The Catholic educators stood firm. They purchased property and a house at the corner of Governor and Scott streets, and classes resumed on Oct. 8, 1894.

From that tumultuous beginning, St. Peter Claver has been a cornerstone of the downtown Tampa community, offering a private education to students whose parents usually couldn't afford it. Here they had the opportunity to attend a grade school with smaller classes and an emphasis on discipline and spiritual formation.

Four generations of Paul Sheehy's family went to St. Peter Claver. The 53-year-old Tampa podiatrist says he still has friends from the four years he attended here, and will never forget the school's family-like atmosphere.

"The teachers demanded excellence and had high expectations of you," he recalls. "When you were out of line, they put you back in line real quick."

Sheehy knows the value of education. He got his foundation here and went on to excel in the academic world. "If you want to deter the evils of poverty and crime, you have to have a way out," he says. "And the way out is education."

Training Is Key To Success

Bob Morrison says he owes his successes to the early training he got at St. Peter Claver.

And that's no small declaration. Morrison's resume includes a stint as deputy mayor in Tampa, leading his own private law firm for 11 years, running a consulting practice, chairing the state's Lottery Commission for its first seven years and serving 20 years as executive director of the Hillsborough County Hotel and Motel Association.

"All those experiences fall back to these walls under this roof," he says, "where church used to be held upstairs and school downstairs. You always felt like you belonged."

St. Peter Claver was many things to Morrison: A place for learning good grooming, etiquette, spirituality and academics.

"There was not a moment when excellence wasn't insisted upon," he says.

Marlina McClure, 51, of the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance, has solid memories as well. She didn't start at St. Peter Claver until seventh grade. Her parents were so committed to her attending the school, they drove her from the Culver City area near Westshore every day.

"Looking back, this school meant everything to me. It's where I got my confidence, it's where I made some dramatic changes in my life," she says. She mainly credits Sister Anna Ucaristha, who saw a potential in McClure that no one had seen before.

"She worked extra with me on my math and on my reading. And when I told her of my interest in newspapers, she taught me how to run a printing press and put a paper out," McClure recalls. "She gave me the confidence to become a leader."

McClure says St. Peter Claver has a "uniqueness" that is worth fighting for. Those former students-turned-community leaders represent just a fraction of what the school has accomplished. We need to let it continue doing what it does best: Providing a solid education and moral foundation to children who need attention and support to break that cycle of poverty.

A fundraiser to make up for the deficit is planned for Oct. 24. It's named for the Monsignor Laurence Higgins, retired pastor at St. Lawrence Catholic Church, one of the school's staunchest supporters.

Even though these are tough economic times, consider the return on the investment. You can't put a price on it.

HIGGINS BALL

WHAT: Fundraiser for St. Peter Claver includes a silent auction, souvenir booklet, live music by Bob Jackson Memorial Jazz Band, fashion show and several awards

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Friday

WHERE: Higgins Hall at St. Lawrence Catholic Church, 5225 Himes Ave., Tampa

DONATION: $100 (tax-deductible)

INFORMATION: (813) 961-4515

Alumni talk about their school experiences on Michelle Bearden's "Keeping the Faith" segment in the 9 a.m. newscast Sunday on WFLA-TV. Michelle can be reached at (813) 259-7613.

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