Saint Dominic Academy, Maine private school at center of legal battle for funding, to close in June

AUBURN, Maine (WMTW) - Saint Dominic Academy, a Maine private school that was fighting in court to receive funding from the state, will be closing at the end of the current academic year, according to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

In a statement shared Friday, Bishop James Ruggieri said he decided to close the high school division of Saint Dominic Academy (grades 9-12) at the end of the school year. According to the school’s website, the last day of classes is June 6.

Ruggieri said the Saint Dominic Academy high school program is not “financially solvent” given its current enrollment, which stands at 137 students. The bishop added that enrollment would have to surge and hold steady to sustain the high school into the future.

According to Ruggieri, the operational losses for St. Dominic Academy from 2020-25 are forecast to be approximately $2.5 million, of which the diocese subsidized about $1 million. The bishop said the diocese will have covered all those costs in the end.

“This is a very difficult decision, and I am saddened by the impact it will have on the St. Dominic community. The closure of the high school is a significant loss to the present St. Dominic community, as well as to alumni/alumnae and the broader Lewiston-Auburn area,” Ruggieri said in his statement.

On Jan. 7, a panel of three federal judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston heard a case from Saint Dominic Academy, one of two private religious schools in Maine that was appealing a decision that it has to comply with the state’s antidiscrimination statute in order to receive tuition vouchers covered by taxpayer dollars

The Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Carson v. Makin ruled the state of Maine must fund religious education at private schools for students that do not have a public high school in their town. However, those religious schools are required to comply with the same rules as secular private schools, which means they must follow the Maine Human Rights Act.

Saint Dominic Academy argued that they are being punished for providing an education that aligns with their religious beliefs, and that the rules violate their freedom of religion.

Ruggieri did state that the preK-8 programs at Saint Dominic Academy will continue at the Holy Cross campus in Lewiston for the 2025-26 school year. He did not discuss the future of the Auburn campus on Gracelawn Road in his statement.

The bishop said he will be hosting a forum for families of Saint Dominic Academy students in grades 8-12 at the Auburn campus in two weeks. The forum is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, which is when Ruggieri and others from the diocese will answer questions and provide resources for students transitioning to another high school.

Ruggieri said families of students in grades 5-7 will have a separate meeting to address any questions they may have.