Driscoll parents still hoping to save school

With the deadline looming to decide the fate of Driscoll Catholic High School in Addison, supporters say they've raised roughly $841,000 of the $1 million they need to keep their classrooms open.

Students and parents learned early this month that the school is set to close at the end of the school year, after an announcement from Christian Brothers of the Midwest District, which runs Driscoll. The Christian Brothers said declining enrollment and a lack of funding made it impractical to keep the 43-year-old school open.

Since then, a committee of about 20 parents and alumni have organized a series of fundraisers to generate $1 million and create a plan they hope will keep the school operating for years to come.

"We are very optimistic and will continue to raise money until Tuesday afternoon," said Gene Faut of Roselle, a Driscoll parent who is part of the committee. "In two weeks time everyone has really come together. We've raised more money in 14 days than the school has raised in five years and that's tremendous."

The committee will present its plan to save the school on Tuesday to the Christian Brothers.

Ideally, Faut said, the school will maintain its current structure and the committee will sway the Christian Brothers to continue its sponsorship.

The plan focuses on boosting enrollment, implementing new day-to-day management and increasing fundraising and alumni support. Weaknesses in all those areas led Driscoll into its current predicament, Faut said.

"It's a combination of all those factors that haven't been addressed for a number of years," he said. "The model in place didn't address the needs of the school in a very strategic approach. We're using very conservative, very realistic numbers in our model. We are erring on the low side of everything and we're still able to show viability."

The committee will not release projected fundraising or enrollment figures until after its Tuesday meeting. Currently Driscoll's tuition is roughly $7,000 a year and the high school enrolls 311 students - a decline from 465 in 2004.

If the Christian Brothers do not approve the plan and withdraw sponsorship, the committee will follow a model similar to one used by Notre Dame Catholic High School in Niles in 2006, he said.

That year, Notre Dame's sponsoring order decided to withdraw from the school and supporters created a public association of Christian faithful to head the school's mission, and a new nonprofit corporation which stepped into the shoes of the existing nonprofit to lead daily operations.

Faut said the Notre Dame model would be a last resort and he is thankful the Christian Brothers are giving Driscoll a chance to remain as-is.

"We're moving forward with great hope," he said. "Based on what we've seen in the past 14 days, we know the support is out there."