I wanted to provide you an update on the church situation here at Holy Rosary. As you know, the parish has been studying the needs of the physical church building in recent months. Unfortunately, initial estimates by engineers are in excess of $10 million. Obviously, that presents a great challenge for the parish community. Additionally, for the last 7 years, the parish's weekly collections have been in deficit of their annual operating budget. This means that they have been utilizing savings to pay monthly bills, including payroll. They are currently estimating that they will exhaust their savings by this June (if not before). The Archbishop and others at the Chancery are working diligently on this situation and I will let you know when we have more information on the parish front.

For most of our school families, they want to know how this may impact the school. The short answer is...we are just fine. You have nothing to worry about. I want to assure you that Holy Rosary Bilingual Academy will have a very minimal operational impact, regardless of what happens at the parish. We are not financially dependent on the church, as most Catholic schools are. We receive a very small subsidy from the church and this does not greatly impact our budget. So, everything is fine with respect to the financial piece. In addition, our Sacramental needs (school mass, First Communion, etc.) will continue to be met by the Archdiocese of Seattle, regardless of the situation with the parish. They will always take care of us, since we are a Catholic school.

Holy Rosary Bilingual Academy is continuing to grow each and every day. I can honestly say that our enrollment (at this point in the year) has never looked better. So, I ask for your prayers for Deacon Jim, Fr. Martin, the staff, and parishioners of Holy Rosary Church. I also ask for your prayers for Archbishop Sartain. They are going through a very difficult situation and need the love and guidance of Christ as they make decisions that will impact the parish community. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Blessings,

Katie Dempsey

Principal