Bonner-Prendergast raises $1 million the same day as appeals meeting with the archdiocese

Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School, appealing the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's recommendation that it be closed, on Monday said it had surpassed $1 million in fund-raising to keep it open.

"We had some big donations come in over the weekend," said Joe Mattson, president of the Monsignor Bonner Alumni Association. The largest: an anonymous gift of $100,000.

The money for the Catholic high school in Upper Darby has come from all sorts of donors, from strangers to a parent at rival school Cardinal O'Hara in neighboring Springfield.

The funds are being collected by the alumni association with the hope of using them for scholarships if the school stays open next year.

Mattson, a 1971 alumnus, said he did not have an exact figure. The association is keeping records of donors and will return the contributions if the school closes.

"We'll keep trying to raise money until we know if we'll be around," Mattson said. Even as he spoke, administrators from Bonner-Prendie, as students call it, were in a formal appeals meeting with the archdiocese.

The hearing, which began at 3 p.m., lasted 90 minutes. Afterward, principal William Brannick said the school would learn its fate next month.

Brannick said the meeting was an "opportunity to present our case" using "a recap of the facts and figures" that support the school's continued sustainability.

Bonner-Prendie plans to increase enrollment from underserved markets outside of the community immediately surrounding the school. The administration hopes that small gains in market penetration will add up and expand enrollment overall.

"Individuals on the committee were open and very receptive to it," Brannick said of the plan, which he presented along with Bonner-Prendie president the Rev. James Olson to members of the Office of Catholic Education and the blue ribbon commission that recommended an overhaul of Catholic education in the archdiocese.

Brannick did not specify whether the fund-raising surge was used as evidence at the hearing, but said "the more financial support we have, the stronger the case." He said the school would continue to accept donations via the alumni association.

Olson has set an overall fund-raising target of $5 million; the $1 million mark was a milestone that fell on the same day as the appeals hearing.

Brannick said that the mood of the students has been "up and down," but that the appeals process has brought them hope.

"We need to show ourselves and our community we remain viable," he said. But ultimately, the decision is "in the hands of the bishop and of God."