March 28, 2018

Chris Witt
124 Hay Lane
Bedford, PA 15522

Father Richard Tomkosky

St. Thomas the Apostle Church
215 E Penn Street
Bedford, PA 15522

Father Tomkosky,

By way of introduction, I, Chris Witt, on behalf of myself and the 300 Faithful I hold a mandate, request you
change your decision to close Saint Thomas School (Attachment 1: A representation (25) of the 300 – the full
number can be provided upon request). We also propose an alternative plan for your consideration and approval.

Beginning on January 4, 2018, some in the community of Saint Thomas Catholic School were told of your decision.
Other media outlets announced likewise information about the decision that had not been relayed to parents. The
full extent of the community did not receive your letter of notification until January 6, 2018. For the first time, staff,
faculty, parents, and students, were informed that you made the decision to close Saint Thomas School at the end of
the 2017-2018 academic year. Such notification came as an absolute shock. It continues to shock and scandalize the
community as we piece together the events leading up to your decision. One of the greatest elements of shock and
scandal is the fact that the decision was made last summer 2017 but promulgated at the open of the Spring semester
2018. The decision was enacted in a context of deceit and disadvantage. Worse, the opportunity for recourse to
appeal was compressed to the final months of the school year.

To begin, you presented altered information to justify your decision:

“At present we have 24 students”

-There are presently 53 students at Saint Thomas School not 24 as you stated.
Attachment 2: School Records

“Saint Thomas Parish has given over $200,000 annually to supplement the school”
-According to the financials, Saint Thomas Parish has subsidized an average of $101,000 over the course of
the last four academic years. So far, this year the school has received $85,000. This is a $115,000 discrepancy.
(Attachment 3: Saint Thomas School financials)

“The fundraising committee has done a heroic effort…but has not been nearly enough…”
-Each year, you as Pastor, provide a target goal for the fundraising committee. According to our records, the
school community has met every target provided. In the 2016-17 school year, you gave a $72,000 target. The
fundraising committee raised and exceeded its target. When additional funding was offered, you told the
school board that additional monies “was not needed.”
(Attachment 4: Affidavit from 2016-2017 School Board President)

“As Bishop Bartchak said, ‘the parish comes before the school’, and we cannot continue to function well as a
parish with the huge amount of money we have been giving to the school in recent years…”
-On a juridical level, yes, the parish comes before a parochial school. However on a pastoral level, “a pastor
of souls has a duty of arranging everything so that all the faithful have a Catholic’s education (c. 794 §1).
Saint Thomas School is the primary outreach of Saint Thomas Parish. The school should be held in esteem
and supported at all costs, monetary and moral (c. 213, 796).

With the facts and proper context stated, we disagree both with your reason for the school closure and the process
by which you pursued it. It is clear that the School Board, Principal, parents, and Bedford Catholics were
circumvented. The by-laws of the Board were continuously violated. Board members were not elected as protocol
stipulates. Board members were not provided with an accurate and honest financial picture. The principal,
administration and educators cannot produce complete records due to your disregard for the role and position
within the parish school. The rights and obligations of the Faithful have been disregarded (c. 212 §2, 213). Parents
will no longer have access to provide a Catholic education to their children (c. 226 §2). Bedford Catholics have
been deterred in their right to appeal (c. 221 §2).

In order to prevent the disruption of the families affected by your decision we ask that you reverse your
decision and allow the school to remain open for the 2018-2019 academic year. And, during this time, we ask
that you properly engage the school administration and parents to address any and all concerns.

Alternatively, we ask that you consider the following plan to alleviate the financial burden of the school on
the parish. We petition you, as Pastor, to lease the school building. Saint Thomas School will operate as an
independent Charter School in the Catholic Tradition. As of now, we have provided a small sampling of various
business, entities and individuals who have pledged monetary donations/support (Attachment 5: Report of Pledged
Donors).

Our plan is focused on leveraging what is great about St. Thomas School, to build on the strengths and advantages
that are already in place and eliminate its poor upper management practices.

We would:

1. Create a 501(c)(3) entity to run the school. This 501(c)(3) will educate in accordance with Catholic
education principles.
2. The 501(c)(3) will be run by a school board.
3. The new entity will lease the school building from the Parish. This eliminates the Parish from having to pay
for building maintenance and dealing with other property-related issues. The lease could allow the use of
the building after school hours for Parish events and other faith-forming activities.

Therefore, we ask you for the following:

1. To reestablish the trust broken between the Pastor and the school
community;
2. To revoke your decision to close St. Thomas School and enter a
collaborative dialogue with school administration and parents to resolve
issues.

OR,

We ask for the alternatively proposed plan to lease the school building to us
that we may use it for a Charter School in the Catholic Tradition as explained
above.

Sincerely in Christ,

Chris Witt
Procurator