Facing what parents called an “unexpected pivot” by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston (RCAB) regarding the future of St. Brendan’s church and school, scores of students and parents staged a noisy, but peaceful protest on Wednesday morning in front of a Braintree office building that houses RCAB administrative offices, including Cardinal Sean O’Malley.

“Leave our School the Same!” yelled dozens of children. “Your plan will only fail!”

The plan, as outlined in a Nov. 8 document shared with the Reporter on Tuesday, would keep the popular K-5 St. Brendan grammar school open, but under the control of a new church-run board. The plan would remove both the existing church building and the adjacent school from its current parish, Saint Martin des Porres. Instead, the 87-year-old church building on Gallivan Boulevard would “become a chapel of Saint Brendan School.”

Cardinal O’Malley would oversee the new “Board of Limited Jurisdiction,” which he would appoint. A designate of the Catholic Schools Office (CSO) would be a voting member, as would a priest from the Dorchester community. Other appointed members would likely be lay people from St. Brendan’s Church or School. Under the plan, the Archdiocese would lease out the school and church/chapel to the new board entity for $1 per year.

Critics of the proposal say they are concerned that the buildings’ significant maintenance issues could be too burdensome for the school to bear.

Sarah Holt, a parent and Teacher’s Aide at the school, said that parents were “blindsided” by the latest proposal from church officials, which has been circulated to parents and parishioners in recent days.

“We want our school to be the same and independently run as it is now,” Holt told the Reporter as the protest unfolded this morning. “The school funds itself and there’s no reason to change that.”

“It was always the school would not be affected. All the sudden they sprung this proposal. We rejected it and they’re trying to push it through,” Holt said.

Parishioners and school parents are worried, she said, that if they fail to maintain the church or the school under the plan, everything reverts to the RCAB, and both would be closed.

Terry Donilon, a spokesman for the RCAB, pushed back against that opinion on Wednesday, saying that “there are safeties built into the plan, such that if the plan doesn’t work financially, the school is protected.”

He added: “We have no intention nor have ever considered closing the school. This plan provides a roadmap for both the school and the Church going forward.”

Today’s protest marks the latest event in a multi-year saga that has centered on the future of the church building on Gallivan Boulevard. The worship space came within days of closing its doors to parishioners last spring, before Cardinal Sean O’Malley called for a pause in May. A committee of church and lay leaders was formed to examine the church’s finances and maintenance needs and to offer a plan to keep it open.

In October, that committee was presented with a plan from the RCAB that would link the school with the church, making the church a chapel of the school and separating St. Brendan’s from the St. Martin de Porres collaboration with nearby St. Ann’s Church.

“In the month of October, the committee was asked to consider this new model within context of their plan, and to gauge whether the new model meets the values listed above,” read a letter dated Nov. 8 from the RCAB. “Details of the proposal were conveyed to the committee, and they asked for time to consider those details. At the next meeting the committee expressed their desire to not move forward with the new model. Thus, further discussions of the new model ceased without a formal written presentation ever being made to the committee.

The Nov. 8 document emphasized: “It should be emphasized that this is a proposal only; it is presented for discussion. Cardinal Seán has yet to decide to implement this, nor will he do so without further input from the community.”

But, parents who spoke to the Reporter at the protest said they are anxious that the plan was a round-about path to close the church and blame parishioners and school parents for the closure of St. Brendan’s.

Chris Ryan, a parent and alumnus of St. Brendan’s, worries that there is no way the community could keep up with the costs of running both buildings.

“I think for them to try to put the bulk of the church costs and maintenance on the school is untenable,” he said. “I don’t think that situation could last very long. It’s a lot of money. It’s $60,000 just for snow removal at the church every year. That kind of thing would only last a few months. It never was the plan for the school to support the church.”

Ryan added that he grew up in St. Brendan’s through some of the tough times when the clergy sexual abuse surfaced in the 1990s.

“I’ve lived here my whole life and went to St. Brendan’s and went through the difficult times that happened there,” he said. “I don’t think it’s fair. The trauma doesn’t end. It’s just one trauma on top of another.”

Ashley O’Connor called the school the backbone of the community. Most kids walk to school, play in the schoolyard and it’s a safe, second home for families, she said.

St. Brendan’s students yelled protest chants and banged on buckets with wooden spoons in front of the RCAB headquarters in Braintree Wednesday morning, while parents held signs in the background voicing their disapproval with the newest plan for St. Brendan’s Church and School. Seth Daniel photo

“St. Brendan’s is such a big part of the community and for the Archdiocese to make this decision and not communicate it to the parents and the community who live there is absolutely unfair,” she said.

Added parent Katie Murphy, “It just seems to always be about money for them.”

For their part, church officials say they hope the detailed letter on Nov. 8 would clear up confusion about intent and how to move forward.

“We hope that this brief document respectfully answers some of the concerns that have been raised,” read the letter in its conclusion. “We look forward to other opportunities to answer the various questions of the community concerning this new model. We welcome the opportunity to continue an exchange of ideas and recommendations with the working group.”

More meetings of the committee to discuss the plan are expected.