Parents, alumnae protest planned sale of Good Counsel site

More than 200 students, parents, and alumnae of the Academy of Our Lady of Good Counsel in White Plains braved the cold Nov. 19 to voice their concern over the sale of the school”™s property.

The Sisters of the Divine Compassion have owned the 16-acre property on North Broadway in White Plains since 1890. But the congregation announced plans to sell the property in May, placing the school”™s future in jeopardy.

Standing on the North Broadway sidewalk, one alumna said the sale of the property, and the apparent secrecy surrounding it, was a scandal.

The motherhouse at the Good Counsel campus in White Plains.

“They”™re evicting nuns ”” two in their 90s, several in their 80s,” said Moira Duggan, who attended the school for 16 years, from first grade on. “They haven”™t told them anything as to what subsidy or support they”™ll have.”

Duggan said that it was troubling to her that very little effort was put into finding an alternative solution that would have kept the school alive and very little information was being made available.

“That”™s the route they”™ve taken, they don”™t say anything,” Duggan said. “They”™ve offered no information, other than it is irreversible and must be vacated by July 1, the nuns, the school and the rest of the congregation.”

A phone message seeking comment from Sister Carol Wagner, the president of the congregation of the Sisters of the Divine Compassion, was not returned.

Speaking for a group of parents and alumnae who recently incorporated to try to save the school, Jennifer Lewis told the Business Journal the leadership group of the Sisters of the Divine Compassion are turning their backs on the school, to the point of rejecting at least one bidder on the property that wanted to preserve it.

“There was a recent bid, we found out, from a church group that wanted to save the property, have the nuns stay here and keep the schools,” Lewis said. The corporation trying to preserve the school, called Save the Good Counsel Community Now Inc., was incorporated last month as a not-for-profit entity. “(The members of religious group bidding on the property) were willing to work with our group, but the nuns shut it down.”

Bill Cuddy of CBRE, the commercial real estate firm that has the exclusive listing, declined to comment on any bids that have been made on the property.

According to Lewis and others, the sale of the school will hurt families and the Catholic education community in Westchester.

“The school has been flourishing, with 400 kids it”™s as strong as it has ever been,” said Lewis. “This is one of the last affordable Catholic high schools for girls in Westchester County.”

Standing nearby, Cynthia Powers concurred.

“I think it needs to be understood that this is one of the affordable private schools,” said Powers, who has a daughter in 10th grade at the school. “These are kids from middle-class families who sacrifice so that their kids can go here.”

Powers said she and her husband moved from Mahopac so their daughter could attend Good Counsel, where tuition runs about $9,000 per year.

“If this property gets sold, no one knows what is going to happen,” Powers said. “Green space is disappearing in White Plains. Are we going to be looking at even more condos, even more tall buildings?”