“My motto is to always leave when people say ‘stay’,” Father Robert Marciano said Wednesday morning in the wake of news reports he will be stepping down as president of Bishop Hendricken High School in September.

Father Marciano, pastor of St. Kevin Church and chaplain for the Warwick Police and Fire Departments, assumed the post of president six years ago at the request of now retired Bishop of the Diocese of Providence Thomas Tobin. It was a three-year appointment. At that time, Fr. Marciano, a 1975 Hendricken graduate, said the school faced many issues, which he feels he and the Hendricken team have successfully addressed.

“I’m closing in on six years and it’s the right time to go. I’m leaving it [the school] better than when I found it,” he said.

Fr. Marciano said Bishop Richard Hemming asked him to stay on and was surprised to learn that he preferred to step down when things were running so smoothly.  Fr. Marciano said several considerations weighed in his decision. First, he said the school is in a good place with a strong team and alumni support.

The Diocese of Providence announced Hendricken Principal Mark DeCiccio will take the presidential reins as the school “aligns with the model of principal-led schools already in place in its other diocesan high schools.”

Fr. Marciano has found the president’s job requires considerable traveling often out of state and that his workdays beginning at six in the morning frequently don’t end until after 10 at night. He aims to spend more time with parish work.

And finally, looking ahead, he sees the need to address the impact Warwick’s new high schools as well as new public high schools in other communities will have on Hendricken. He noted those new schools could severely impact Hendricken enrollment and its resources. Fr. Marciano said he has mentioned this in discussions with the diocese and that planning should begin.

Forever one to find humor, Fr. Marciano said, “Once Joe Biden got out of the race I figured I should, too.”