St. Alphonsus school awaits archdiocese decision on its future
While St. Alphonsus Liguori School in Prospect Heights was reportedly "very close" to the fundraising goal it needed to reach by 5 p.m. Monday to remain open beyond June, Archdiocese of Chicago officials say they will wait until the end of the week to make a final decision on the school's future.
The school's administrative assistant Linda Bromer tweeted Sunday that the Rev. Curt Lambert, the parish's pastor, had announced during Mass that St. Alphonsus had reached its registration goal of 135 students for the 2016-17 school year, but remained $28,000 short of the $400,000 fundraising goal.
Lambert declined to comment on the fundraising effort early Monday and did not return a call for comment after the 5 p.m. deadline passed.
School Principal Linda Chorazy would not confirm any numbers Monday other than that they were changing hourly.
"We're coming very close to our goal," Chorazy said. "We're very, very hopeful. We appreciate the support of the community, the parishioners and the parents."
The last official update from the archdiocese came more than a week ago. At that time the school had $332,000 in pledges - $110,000 of it cash in hand - and 70 students registered. The archdiocese made clear that the $400,000 had to be cash in hand, not merely pledges, by Monday's deadline.
The archdiocese said a decision regarding St. Alphonsus School's future may not come until Friday, no matter what the numbers indicate Monday.
"The Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools is working with the school and parish to verify the enrollment numbers and fundraising dollars," a statement released by the archdiocese Monday reads. "We will provide additional information later this week."