Instead of attending weekly Mass at St. James Church Wednesday, students at the parish school and their parents gathered outside to protest the pastor's decision against renewing their principal's contract.
About 75 students and parents marched around the West Duluth church and school carrying signs in support of Sharon Pristash, reading "We love our Principal," "Please Father Reconsider" and "Stop the Injustice" before forming a circle and reciting the Rosary.
"I want my principal to stay... She is a great principal and a really nice person," first-grader Allyson Cook said.
"We are praying for a miracle in that Father Jim [Bissonette, St. James' pastor] will change his mind and let Sharon stay," parent Mari Monson told the crowd. "Let's pray for a peaceful solution to our problem."
The problem, the protesters say, is losing the 23-year veteran whom many credit for an increase in enrollment and successfully overseeing a major building addition. More importantly, they say Pristash sincerely cares about the students.
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"I would trust my kids' lives with her," said parent Mike Lehto. "To remove her would be a huge detriment."
Bissonette, who has been pastor at St. James for about 10 months and is the interim administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Duluth until the Vatican appoints a new bishop, did not return calls for comment. Cythnia Zook, the diocese's director of schools, said the decision was a personnel issue and did not go into detail.
Pristash added some details, however, saying in a letter to her, Bissonette listed ineffective communication, different management styles and different philosophical views as three reasons.
None of those are issues that can't be worked out, she said.
"I wouldn't even say our communication has been hard. Could it be improved upon? Yes. Have I asked for the opportunity to do so? Yes," she said. "These kinds of things happen in every workplace across the country and people work on it."
That's why Pristash and her supporters say the decision has to be about more than just communication. In recent years, the principal has raised concerns over some positions of the Duluth Area Catholic Schools, including an effort to have all five charge the same tuition.
"Given the different socioeconomic status of the families at the different schools, that seemed inappropriate to me and I voiced that," she said.
Parents' efforts in her defense have included petitions, writing letters, attending a School Board meeting and setting up meetings with Bissonette. For her part, Pristash has appealed to the diocesan administration but was unsuccessful.
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Though as interim administrator Bissonette would be responsible for ruling on the appeal, he removed himself from the case. It then fell to Diocese Vice Chancellor Eric Hastings, according to a statement by diocese spokesman Kyle Eller.
Hastings ultimately ruled the issue should be resolved by Pristash and Bissonette, saying, in the statement: "The matter of Dr. Pristash's contract is between her and her pastor, as it would be for any other contract employee and a pastor in similar circumstances."
Pristash said the process "breaks my heart."
"I have never in my entire life in the Catholic school district seen a decision handled this way," she said.
In Bissonette's defense, Walt Fischer, principal of St. Rose Catholic School in Proctor who worked with Bissonette when he was pastor of that parish, said the priest is not the type to make rash decisions.
"His work at St. Rose was of the highest order. We saw him as a caring, trusting person who maintained an excellent rapport with everyone at the school," he said. "We were very sad to see him transferred."
