St. Bernard High School, Mohegan Tribe celebrate partnership

The future is bright for St. Bernard High School in Uncasville in spite of the Diocese of Norwich's financial, legal and bankruptcy issues.

On Wednesday, the school and The Mohegan Tribe held a gathering to celebrate the tribe’s June purchase of the buildings and land where St. Bernard resides. Purchased at a price of $6.55 million, the tribe has extended a 20 year lease of the land to the school, The Bulletin reported in June.

“It’s a great relief,” Head of School Donald Macrino said. “It looked pretty dark as we went through the bankruptcy process, and there was a point where it appeared the school would not survive this.”

Land is returned to its rightful owner

The Diocese of Norwich had filed for bankruptcy in July 2021, after it was unable to pay damages to up to 60 former students of The Academy at Mount Saint John boarding school in Deep River. The students claim to have been sexually abused while at the school between 1986 and 2000, primarily by two now-deceased individuals, Brother Paul McGlade and Brother Pascal Alford, The Bulletin reported in July 2021.

While there were other bidders for St. Bernard’s property, including a group of alumni, it was important that the Mohegans could secure the property, Macrino said.

“If the Mohegans procured the land, it would go back to its rightful owner, and they revealed at that point they were going to support the school, so it was really a win-win for all of us,” he said.

Tribe wants to preserve St. Bernard

The Mohegan Tribe wanted to preserve St. Bernard to continue its positive relationships with the community, and acknowledging that the school’s alumni include members of The Mohegan Tribe, Chairman James Gessner, Jr. said.

“We didn’t want (incoming freshmen) to have to wonder if in two years they’d have to switch schools,” he said.

The tribe and the school can renegotiate the lease after 18 years, so the school can decide if it wants to stay where it is, or if it wants to go elsewhere, Gessner said.

The Diocese has worked well with The Mohegan Tribe in the past, and the positive relationship should continue into the future, Bishop Michael Cote said.

Mohegans are the landlord; Diocese provides spiritual direction

The Diocese remains the spiritual leadership, while the Mohegans are the landlord. The school remains financially independent, and the school will remain operational for the foreseeable future, Macrino said.

“It’s really a wonderful marriage,” he said.

Wednesday's celebration focused both on the continuation of academics at St Bernard’s, and the importance of ancestral land returning to the Mohegan Tribe.

“To have that land returned to us is not only special for me and the tribal council, but for future generations,” Gessner said. “My daughter’s daughter will benefit from the return of this land.”

This new partnership is also a relationship-building opportunity between the Diocese, the school and The Mohegan Tribe. For example, if the school wanted to include education about indigenous people, the Mohegan Tribe would be happy to help, Gessner said.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: St. Bernard HS land returns to Mohegans, school continues operations