ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (WXYZ) — “False hope” is the common phrase from parents whose children attend St. Germaine Catholic School in St. Clair Shores.
For the second time in a matter of months, parents had to break the news to their children that the school is closing for good. An email they received Monday officially informed parents about the closure.
“We were kind of given a sense of false hope. Hey, meet these numbers and you have an opportunity to keep your school open. And now, we’ve met the numbers,” parent Mike Kaddis said. “We showed all of the hard work and unfortunately, we’re having to tell them the school’s closing again.”
Kaddis says the community raised more than a half million dollars. That’s much more than $150,000 the Archdiocese of Detroit required for them to raise by March 1.
Kaddis says they also increased enrollment for the upcoming school year to more than 150 students.
The archdiocese sent a letter to parents saying:
While it is never the Archdiocese of Detroit’s desire to close a Catholic school, we recognize that circumstances at times require such difficult decisions. In this case, the Team of Priests In Solidum serving the Gaudium et Spes Family of Parishes has made the final decision to proceed with the planned closure of St. Germaine Catholic School at the end of this academic year, because of concerns about long-term operational viability and the ability to provide adequate spiritual care. This decision was made following prayerful discernment, discussion, and consultation with the school and parish communities and leadership of the Archdiocese of Detroit.
The Archdiocese supports the Team of Priests in their decision. We join them in thanking all who have shown their support over these last few weeks and offer our assistance and prayers to the community during this difficult time.
To 7 Action News, the archdiocese reiterated the concerns. Parents say the “spiritual care” component arose out of the blue.
“Frankly, when we started this, that was never really a parameter that the archdiocese even had mentioned,” Kaddis said.
“I can’t understand exactly what the rational was. I mean, did they have enough priest to cover all of the schools and the churches in the area? I mean, the parish is still staying open, so you still have priest going to the parish and frankly, there’s only one mass a week at the school.”
Some parents are wondering where to turn next.
“I’m just really upset and don’t know where to go after this. I don’t know where to send my kids after this,” parent Jeanette Haxter said.
Greg Glinski says it’s a heartbreaking situation for his son Grayson to go through as his family also tries to process their next steps.
“The sting of being blindsided by the way things happened and trying not to be angry. But concentrate on moving forward at the time and realizing that our parish, and our church and our school, things change. Not for the better sometimes,” Glinkski said.
The school says donations will be refunded.
