Parents Push Back on Homeless Shelter Location

continued from front page... and SCC community guides our decision-making and that is clearly our intention with this situation. At the same time, we cannot forget that care for the most vulnerable among us is a cornerstone of what we believe and teach as a Church.”

The homeless shelter would move into 5 Williams St., a building that is currently occupied by the Saratoga Senior Center. The building borders Saratoga Catholic’s athletic fields.

The Senior Center will be relocating to the Saratoga Regional YMCA at 290 West Ave.

Kevin Zacharewicz, a member of the Saratoga Central Catholic Security Committee and parent of an SCC student, said that community members are not against the existence of the homeless shelter itself, but specifically its location near the school.

“I don’t want anybody thinking that we’re against the shelter,” said Zacharewicz. “We’re religious people, we are for helping, we’re for charity. We’re against the location. I have to get that out there, I have to make that straight. We do not like the location; we do not want this on our back doorstep.”

Other parents said they would question re-enrolling their children in the school if the shelter goes into place. Jan VanDeCarr, who has a daughter at SCC, said, “It’s not a good recipe” for the shelter to be located near the school.

The current shelter is located on Adelphi Street, with the lease expiring on April 30. It is anticipated the shelter will move into the space on Williams Street in the spring. The Saratoga Springs City Council unanimously passed a resolution approving the new location of the shelter on Oct. 18.

In a statement released Monday evening, Albany Diocese Superintendent of Schools Giovanni Virgiglio said Diocese officials met last week with officials from Saratoga Catholic, Saratoga Springs Mayor Ron Kim, and Public Safety Commissioner James Montagnino.

“Mayor Kim assured our group that no plans have been finalized, agreed to meet with our school community to listen to concerns, and committed to an ongoing dialogue to ensure that any considerations would not compromise school safety,” Virgiglio said in the statement. “The safety and well-being of our students