Six Mount Carmel teachers sue diocese

NILES — Six former teachers at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Schools in Niles have sued the Diocese of Youngstown for failing to keep a promise they say Bishop George V. Murry made in May about keeping the school open.

The lawsuit, filed this week in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, says that when Bishop Murry failed to fulfill his promise, he committed a breach of contract. The case is assigned to Judge W. Wyatt McKay.

The suit was filed by teachers Patricia Cernick, Mary Dull, Shari Munno and Caroline Razzano of Niles, Margaret Engelbaugh of Youngstown and Kathleen Noble of Girard.

The complaint says the diocese warned in 2006 that it was having financial difficulties running the school. That was followed in March of 2007 by the announcement by Pastor Larry Frient that the school would close at the end of the 2006-2007 school year.

On May 23, 2007, however, Bishop Murry met with faculty members of the school to discuss the reopening of the school and advised the faculty that it would reopen in the fall of 2007 — if faculty would secure the registration of 72 students, together with a non-refundable $300 deposit per family by June 18, 2007.

Despite meeting all of the requirements, the diocese again announced the closing of the school on June 22, 2007, the suit says.