St. Germaine Catholic School slated for closure despite community's fundraising efforts
For the second time in just over two months, St. Germaine Catholic School in St. Clair Shores announced it will close its doors to students, despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars put forth to save it.
In January, St. Germaine, which is attached to the Lady of Hope Parish, revealed in a letter to parents that it could no longer keep up with its $150,000-a-year operational deficit that it had been sustaining for many years, fueling the decision to close the pre-K through eighth grade school at the end of the academic year.
But in late February, the Archdiocese of Detroit granted a reprieve, asking parents and the community to gather $150,000 in donations and 150 enrollments within just two weeks to keep the school afloat.
The fundraising efforts exceeded expectations, bringing in $85,000 and 90 student enrollments shortly after the period began and well surpassing the goals by the March 1 deadline. Although the fundraising organizer, Mike Kaddis, had more and more difficulty receiving updated numbers from the Archdioceses, he and his fundraising team estimated the amount to be around half a million.
Just when the St. Germaine community thought they were successful in saving the school, on Monday, March 25, the school sent out yet another letter to parents announcing its decision to proceed with the planned closure.
"While we commend and praise the efforts of St. Germaine families and supporters to promote enrollment and raise significant funds over a short period of time, we remain deeply concerned about the long-term operational viability of the school and our ability to provide adequate spiritual care to the community," said St. Germaine in its March 25 letter to parents. "These considerations ultimately led to our decision, with support from Archbishop Vigneron and the Archdiocese's College of Consultors."
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The school assures that donations and enrollment fees will be returned and that it will help families and staff to find opportunities in nearby Catholic schools, but parents of students say they're outraged at being given false hope.
“It’s even worse than when we first got the news back in January, when the first news came that the school was going to close. .… But to be given hope and then to have that ripped away again and have that conversation, it’s 10 times harder than it was back in January,” said Tim Chervenak, a parent of two daughters attending St. Germaine.
His daughters, a second grader and a fourth grader, have attended the school for a couple of years, and Chervenak couldn't help but to reflect how significant the school had been to their educational experience.
“My older one, she went to public school kindergarten through second grade, and just her transformation after she started going to St. Germaine, I can’t even put into words what that school did for her," he said. "To see that growth in her just to have it ripped away is just heartbreaking.”
After the whole family aided in the fundraising efforts just to be let down with a vague letter, Chervenak says he's discouraged from enrolling his daughters in another school run by the Archdiocese of Detroit.
“This hasn’t affected my faith at all, but as far as Catholic schools, they could call me now and offer free tuition and I wouldn’t go there," said Chervenak. "We put too much hard work in from our hearts and souls trying to keep this school open by fundraising and doing all these things, just for them to deny it with that letter that really says nothing. I wouldn’t trust them again.”
St. Germaine Catholic School and the Archdiocese of Detroit could not be reached for comment.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: St. Germaine Catholic School closing despite extensive fundraising
