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During a major wind storm in March 2025, the roof of Saint Jude School in Mountain Top was severely damaged. This roof was among five major roof replacements completed this summer at Catholic schools.<\/p>\nSCRANTON \u2013 The Diocese of Scranton Catholic School System is turning a key pillar of its recently completed Strategic Growth Plan into action \u2013 by investing millions of dollars in long-needed infrastructure improvements.<\/p>\n
With 19 schools across five counties, and many of those buildings approaching a century old, the Strategic Growth Plan made clear that deferred maintenance had accumulated for many years.<\/p>\n
The Plan\u2019s first goal \u2013 the development of a master facility plan at each school \u2013 underscored the need for updated roofs, windows, HVAC systems, electrical infrastructure, masonry work, and steady annual investments.<\/p>\n
YEAR ONE: SUMMER OF ROOFS<\/p>\n
After a comprehensive assessment of every school building was completed by an independent contractor, the Diocese of Scranton Catholic School System took the rare step of securing a major loan to accelerate capital improvements.<\/p>\n
During a major wind storm in March 2025, the roof of Saint Jude School in Mountain Top was severely damaged. This roof was among five major roof replacements completed this summer at Catholic schools.<\/p>\n
With the help of this financing, $8 million in renovations are underway across multiple schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the summer of roofs,\u201d Luke Alar, Schools Facilities Coordinator, said.<\/p>\n
Alar joined the Catholic Schools Office in 2023 and has spearheaded the system-wide planning effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe roofs were really the low-hanging fruit that needed to be done,\u201d Alar added.<\/p>\n
Five major roof replacements were completed or are substantially complete at Holy Redeemer High School, Saint Jude School, All Saints Academy, Holy Rosary School, and La Salle Academy.<\/p>\n
In some cases \u2013 the projects were urgent. <\/p>\n
Take for example the gymnasium roof at Saint Jude School in Mountain Top which was damaged in March 2025 during a major windstorm. The age and condition of the roof contributed to its ultimate failure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt almost looked like a monster came in and opened it like a blanket,\u201d Alar explained. \u201cThese were projects that couldn\u2019t wait. The whole theory and concept on how we came up with the first projects was building envelope \u2013 keeping the water out and the heat on.\u201d<\/p>\n
YEAR TWO: HVAC AND WINDOWS<\/p>\n
Because the financing can be drawn over 18 months, effectively giving the Catholic School System two summers for work \u2013 Alar said crews will be \u201cgoing as strong as we can\u201d in summer 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re now switching to HVAC and windows,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Catholic-Schools-Infrastructure-Needs-All-Saints-Academy-Roof-Leaking-300x225.jpg\")
This is what the gymnasium at All Saints Academy in Scranton looked like in November 2024, prior to a roof replacement project being completed. Trash cans were often used to collect water that would come inside the building.<\/p>\n
Among the projects already in the planning process are new boilers at Notre Dame Elementary and High School \u2013 which have shared a single boiler since construction \u2013 and Holy Cross High School, which still has its original boiler from the 1960s.<\/p>\n
With some buildings dating back to the early 1900s, the Catholic School System faces what Alar describes as a \u201cuniversity-level\u201d infrastructure situation. But rather than seeing the scope as overwhelming, he calls it a blessing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s exciting and I\u2019m blessed to have this opportunity,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is not a job. We are bringing children to Jesus. We\u2019re making saints. We\u2019re preparing their souls for heaven. That gives you more motivation and excitement to do what you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alar added that the long-term goal \u2013 spelled out in the Strategic Growth Plan \u2013 is to establish a capital budget at each school so that investment becomes annual, consistent, and sustainable. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not the end,\u201d Alar emphasized. \u201cWe want people to look back and say we made wise choices and were frugal with how we spent the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Kristen Donohue, Diocesan Secretary for Catholic Education and Superintendent, the facility work is more than construction \u2013 it\u2019s a promise to families being fulfilled. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe completed our Strategic Growth Plan and identified deferred maintenance as a key component that needed to be addressed so we can continue to deliver our strong product for years to come,\u201d she said. \u201cWe made it a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donohue echoed Alar\u2019s statements that the improvements focus first on the overall building envelope of all schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are making sure we have a sound structure in which our students, teachers, and administrators can work and enjoy their Catholic education,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Donohue praised Alar\u2019s leadership, calling the work underway a \u201chuge task for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also noted the close partnership Alar has forged with the Diocesan Office for Property and Risk Management \u2013 an office that has been invaluable in assistance with all the projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are needs within each of our school buildings,\u201d Donohue said. \u201cWe are working to address as many outstanding issues as we can now and plan to continue addressing needs well into the future. Giving our students the best facilities we possibly can is paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCRANTON \u2013 The Diocese of Scranton Catholic School System is turning a key pillar of its recently completed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":{"0":"post-65837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-scranton","9":"tag-scranton-headlines","10":"tag-scranton-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}