I went to Bishop Maginn High School today to meet the new and existing students, talk to teachers, see how we can help as the school year moves forward.

I know there is great pressure on the school, the Catholic Diocese will almost certainly declare bankruptcy sometime in the future – that’s an opinion, not a fact – and the school has long operated in the red.

I also know the school has some years of guaranteed existence, and its enrollment is way up and deficit coming down.

I’m optimistic, but these are bumpy waters for a Catholic School like that in a big city. The church is paying out tens of millions of dollars in abuse settlements, there are few funds left to support Bishop Maginn.

I think the best way we can help in the short run is to assist the school with tuitions, so many of its students can’t afford to pay the full amount. If the tuition deficit comes down, the school’s prospects get brighter. I’ll write more about this in the coming days and weeks.

Next week I’ll meet a young Iraqi girl who has had a long, painful and hard road to get to Bishop Maginn, she needs some assistance in order to stay thee. I’m meeting her on Wednesday.

I’m also trying to launch a regular (monthly/weekly?) free Pizza Lunch program, the school has a pizza lunch once a week, but the teachers tell me many of the students can’t afford the $2.50 per slice cost. I’m hoping we can help.

I saw today that many kids couldn’t share in the pizza lunches.

I met with Chris Cioffi of Anthony’s School Lunch Program – she runs the cafeteria there –  $200 today for a pizza lunch next Friday that will be free to all of the students.

Chris says if they go over $200, she’ll make up the difference and also offer free salads. That is a generous deal.

I’m hoping to raise enough money to make this a monthly lunch, and perhaps eventually, a weekly free pizza lunch. More details to come.

If you want to help, you can send a donation to me via Paypal, [email protected], or by check, Jon Katz, Pizza Lunch, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. More details in the above post. Thanks.

I love my Bishop Maginn sweater. I never loved school myself very much, but I love this school and am happy to be a part of it, it feels like family to me.