After 113 years, Astoria's Star of the Sea School is in danger of shutting its doors amid allegations that the parish priest has mishandled funds. "We're out of money. The school is broke," said Walt Postlewait, a former member of the finance council of St. Mary, Star of the Sea, a Roman Catholic Church at 15th Street and Grand Avenue.
Postlewait's children attend the small parochial school, which has produced many illustrious alumni over the years, including Astoria's mayor.
"The school is bordering on insolvency," Postlewait said. "Our big concern is the school is going to close."
Bud Bunce, spokesman for the archdiocese of Portland, confirmed today that the archdiocese has provided Star of the Sea parish a $20,000 "grant" to meet current expenses.
Postlewait said Star of the Sea pastor Father Ted Prentice's family footed the $20,000 bill for the previous month. Prentice's financial authority has been removed by the Archdiocese.
His authority has been transferred to Paul Radu, a member of the parish finance council.
The action came after a limited audit of parish finances from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2008, found a number of financial irregularities and questionable monetary allocations, according to a letter from the Archdiocese Vicar of Clergy, Fr. Patrick S. Brennan, dated Jan. 23.
Prentice will have no access to checks, except in an emergency, in which case he may sign a check, but only with the permission of Radu. Two members of the finance council will be authorized to sign checks and two signatures will be required for all checks.
Postlewait said allegations have surfaced that Prentice has sent between $23,000 and $43,000 to a Sister Antonia - who is said to operate a nonprofit organization in Mexico - and to help support her family in Cuba. He has also given out $150 cash awards to students who won an essay contest, Postlewait said, and $15 cash awards to all students with a perfect Sunday School attendance record during January.
"Cash is being doled out. There's no receipt or paper trail," Postlewait said. "He can't sign checks, but there are so many ways around that."
He said the church has received several bequests and the money appears to be gone. And he said there are no consistent, timely financial records.
Astoria is Prentice's first assignment.
The 45-year-old Portland native worked as a mechanical engineer in Los Angeles after college graduation. He decided to enter a Portland seminary in 1998 to become a priest and came to Astoria about four years ago.
Prentice was to be reassigned to another parish, Postlewait said, but he appealed the decision three times and the archdiocese allowed him to stay on.
Last year, Star of the Sea School had 167 students, its highest enrollment, Postlewait said, and they were working on a budget with a $40,000 surplus.
"Now we're running $55,000 in the hole and we have no cash," he said.
Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis said today his office is investigating "some allegations involving alleged financial improprieties" at Star of the Sea.
"We are commencing, along with the appropriate law enforcement agency, an investigation. At this point, we're not prepared to say who it centers on or what it involves," Marquis said.
"We're still very much in the investigation."
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