More than 100 Chicago-area Catholic parents are appealing to the Vatican to keep open what one school mom describes as “the only Catholic option in the largest elementary school district in Illinois,” the pope’s home state.
St. Hubert Catholic School in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates is one of seven Chicago archdiocesan Catholic schools closing at the end of this year after the archdiocese announced in January that the schools were “no longer sustainable.” Parents across the archdiocese made efforts to fundraise for their schools, but with the short notice, were unable to raise enough money to keep the schools open in the archdiocese’s eyes. But at one Catholic school, families aren’t giving up.
Jillian Bernas Garcia and a coalition of parents made an appeal to the Vatican to keep the school open. Under canon law, the Catholic Church’s legal structure, a “remonstratio” is an option of recourse for Catholics who disagree with a decision made by local Church hierarchy.
‘We intend to be here for many more years to come’
According to Garcia, families have been directed to enroll in public school while enrolling their children in catechesis at the parish. For Garcia, this isn’t good enough.
“When the decision was made to close the school, the pastor and finance committee wrote that families can attend local public schools and utilize faith formation classes at the parish,” Garcia told EWTN News.
“For us and our fellow school families, Catholic schools play an important role in youth faith formation,” she said, “and an emphasis should be placed on the school instead of shutting it down, especially considering the important growth the Catholic Church is seeing among young people who will turn to Catholic schools to educate their children.”
Garcia’s oldest son and daughter attend early childhood education classes at St. Hubert.
What inspired her to appeal the decision, she said, is “the families whose children’s spiritual needs are met through their education at our school.”
“Integrating faith into their daily lives is something we value and practice at home,” Garcia said.
The parent coalition is working with a Pennsylvania-based canon lawyer, Laura Morrison, who has helped other schools appeal in the past.
The archdiocese on Feb. 24 denied the initial appeal made by parents, but now, with the help of an experienced canon lawyer, the parents are appealing to the Vatican itself.
“We selected St. Hubert after considering various schools,” Garcia said. “And we intend to be here for many more years to come and eventually send our youngest as well.”
A financial audit found the school is ‘viable’
As part of the remonstratio, a third party audited the school and found, according to Garcia, that the school could be financially viable if some changes are made.
“A coalition of parents had a forensic auditor and certified fraud examiner prepare a financial report showing financial viability for the next five years,” she said. “With a decrease of 10% in costs or an increase in revenue-generating activities the school could be cash-flow-positive in two years.”
The financial analysis found that “the school could operate for more than five years at its current deficit and became cash-flow-positive within two years with a modest 10% reduction in salary costs,” according to the financial report provided by the parents.
The audit found the deficit is “driven primarily by staffing costs rather than enrollment decline, facilities, or debt service.”
“Immediate closure is not financially required,” according to the financial analysis.
Garcia said that part of the reason for the decline in enrollment was the removal of a large chunk of student tuition assistance the previous school year, leading to 48 students having to disenroll.
“Parents had been successful last school year in lowering the deficit and increasing enrollment despite administration,” Garcia said. “Parish administration and the Archdiocese of Chicago then took drastic actions to put the school in a poor financial position to make an argument for closure.”
St. Hubert operates in what Garcia described as “a diverse, strong working-class community.”
“It should be a thriving school, but it suffers from poor administration and archdiocesan leadership that is quick to close the school instead of working to invest in it as an important center of youth faith formation,” Garcia said.
The Archdiocese of Chicago and St. Hubert did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.
In the January announcement of the closures, Greg Richmond, superintendent of schools for the archdiocese, said: “We made these decisions with heavy hearts after months of discussions with each school. We know the importance of these schools in each community. Unfortunately, the enrollment of each school is too low, and the ongoing deficits are too high. Many people have worked hard at each school to raise money and try to boost enrollment. We recognize and value those efforts but, in the end, the schools were not able to close the gaps and they are no longer sustainable.”
In the meantime, the parents’ coalition awaits a decision on whether the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education will hear the case. It could take approximately six months for the Vatican to make a decision.
