At a meeting with impacted parents on November 13, 2024, it was announced that St. John Vianney Catholic School in St. Pete Beach will permanently close at the end of this school year due to extensive damage caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

The school building has been closed to students since Hurricane Helene brought widespread flooding to the area on September 27, 2024, causing critical damage to its electrical, HVAC, roofing, and structural systems. Since early October, students have been attending classes at three locations: Cathedral School of St. Jude, the Pastoral Center, and St. Petersburg Catholic High School.

Working together, diocesan and parish leadership explored multiple options, including building a new school on higher ground and implementing water barriers like those used by Tampa General Hospital. Unfortunately, those ideas were deemed not practical given current resources.

For the remainder of this academic year, St. John and St. Jude will continue with the current arrangement, operating as two schools on one campus. Next year, St. John Vianney Catholic School students and faculty will be welcomed once again to the Cathedral School of St. Jude but this time as permanent students unified on one campus as one school. 

In a letter to families, Bishop Gregory Parkes wrote:

“Though I am saddened by the impact of these storms on our community, I find great hope in the future of a united school community that will continue to provide an exceptional, faith-filled Catholic education for our young people. “