St. Francis voters to decide
whether to OK land swap

ST. FRANCIS -- The St. Francis Common Council rejected a land swap with the city of Milwaukee last Tuesday that would have let Thomas More High School participate in the Milwaukee school choice program.

While a small corner of Thomas More's football field is in Milwaukee, most of its buildings are just south of the Milwaukee-St. Francis border. The proposed land swap would have given St. Francis the parcel of land containing the football field and Milwaukee the parcel with the school buildings.

The council unanimously passed a motion turning the matter over to St. Francis voters in the next election, to be held Feb. 18, 2003. Mayor Lawrence J. Burazin noted that the referendum would be binding.

Thomas More's enrollment has dropped in recent years, from 740 students in the 1998-1999 school year to 646 in the 2002-2003 school year. Jeff Schwister, director of advancement for the school, dispelled notions that the school eventually may be forced to close, however, citing south side demographics as a reason for the decline.

"The demographics indicate that there are less children in grade school to choose from," Schwister said. Classes of eighth graders in the area "have been the lowest in the last decade. At 646 (students), we feel that's a very good number, considering the demographics."

Schwister noted that the archdiocese issued a statement supporting the school and stating that "Thomas More is not going anywhere."

"There are a lot of Catholic high schools across the country surviving at 300 or 400 students," Schwister said. "As our president said to the media, we're going to be a strong Catholic high school at whatever number" of students are enrolled.