MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Feb. 21, 2014
In every bankruptcy, there are winners and losers. Parties made whole and those who are paid a fraction of what they are owed by the debtor.
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy is no different.
Among the losers that emerged in the archdiocese’s reorganization plan filed this month is St. Rose and St. Leo Catholic Urban Academy, one of the most impoverished schools in the state, which the archdiocese had promised to support when Messmer High School took it over in 2007.
Under the terms of the deal signed at the time, the archdiocese agreed to pay Messmer $5 million over 15 years — $2 million for capital improvements and $200,000 a year for operating expenses.
Those payments stopped when the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in January 2011, and under its reorganization plan, it would pay just $5,000 of the $3.4 million it still owes.
Messmer President Jim Piatt said the three-school system has been operating at a deficit since the money dried up. He said it has delayed needed repairs and improvements at the St. Rose and St. Leo building at 514 N. 31st St., and slowed academic initiatives that were planned there. But he said Messmer already is looking for alternative sources of funding.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.