Let's get you up to speed on the goings on here. The school humbly began five years ago, after the Catholic Diocese of Scranton closed Sacred Heart High School in Carbondale.
Enrollment never really took off. St. Rose Academy bought a building it couldn't pay for. The lender foreclosed. We're told the school has a "verbal agreement" with the new owner, an owner that doesn't want the building. Its lawyer said the company is in the money lending business, not the property ownership business.
Now, an administrator and some teachers are suing because they haven't been paid.
That leads us to Tuesday, the morning our crew was asked to leave the property. There would be no access to students, parents, or teachers.
Instead of allowing us in to talk with people who believe in St. Rose Academy, the administration chose to go in the opposite direction. That's okay. This is America. No one is forcing you to go on camera. However, it would have been a perfect opportunity to say something like "in spite of our issues, we're still here, we like it here, and we'll weather this current storm."
Have it your way. I wish you nothing but the best. My experiences with St. Rose Academy have always been positive.
I understand some folks up there are peeved at us for exposing the school's financial difficulties and asking some tough questions. There are two sides to everything. "Two" is our theme of the day, and if you want some time to tell your story, I'm here. I make no apologies for being tough, because I'm also fair.
By the way, I wasn't the reporter assigned to the story on Tuesday.
Shifting gears, President Obama gave an Oval Office speech Tuesday night, talking about the end to U.S. combat operations in Iraq. Obama spoke. He finished. The network anchors plugged the web site and signed off seconds later. ABC went to the brainless "Wipeout." NBC dumped out to go to the equally as vapid "Minute to Win It." Obama finished at about 8:20 PM. Is ten minutes of analysis too much to ask for? America could have waited a few minutes for Guy Fieri and John Henson.
There were two ways to do this-- the right way, and what we saw Tuesday evening on broadcast TV.
