By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer

ATLANTA—Though they failed to raise the $862,000 necessary to keep the school open, many parents and members of the Our Lady of Lourdes community feel their efforts to do so were a significant accomplishment.

In a decision made July 1 by Father John Adamski, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, and supported by the parish pastoral and finance councils, Our Lady of Lourdes School will not re-open for the 2001-2002 school year. Parents of the students who were enrolled at the school for the fall were notified by letter July 9. The parish will no longer operate a before- or after-school program.

Father Adamski said that about $600,000 was raised in an attempt to keep the historic school, which was founded by St. Katharine Drexel and opened in 1912, operational.

Donors who supported Our Lady of Lourdes School, Father Adamski said, will have their money returned to them, unless the donors specify the funds to go toward a particular need.

“The basic premise is that all money will go back to all identifiable donors,” Father Adamski said.

A June 30 deadline to raise the necessary funding to operate a self-funded school was set by the pastor and a task force made up of parents and other Lourdes supporters. A gap remained between what was raised and what the parish determined was needed for the school to open in 2001-2002. Father Adamski said that the parish was in the process of determining how the school building will be used.

In April Archbishop John F. Donoghue announced that the archdiocese could no longer fund Our Lady of Lourdes School, a pre-kindergarten through sixth-grade school, or St. Anthony’s School, Atlanta, a pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school. At the same time, it was announced that Sts. Peter and Paul Parish School, Decatur, would become a regional Catholic elementary school and would be improved in staffing, curriculum and facilities by the archdiocese. Current students from St. Anthony’s and Our Lady of Lourdes schools were automatically admitted to the regional school if they applied by April 30.

The archbishop’s decision left St. Anthony’s and Our Lady of Lourdes parishes free to continue the schools if they could fund them on their own. While Our Lady of Lourdes had been striving to raise the necessary funds, St. Anthony’s, which was on probation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools because necessary paperwork was not filled out, felt the hurdles could not be overcome by this fall.

Mary Avery, a member of the Lourdes task force, a school parent and school secretary, said that 110 students were enrolled at Lourdes, with the hope that the school would remain open. Though they failed to raise the total amount necessary, Avery feels that the fight to keep the school open was a growth opportunity for all. Her spirits remain high.

“When you’re surrounded by good people, it’s easy to remain positive,” she said. “God has truly surrounded Our Lady of Lourdes with angels. I really look at it as a learning experience. The parish grew, faith-wise. Before, people counted on an entity, meaning a body of people, but through all of this we have learned to depend more on God and our faith.”

Avery said she is looking at other schools for her child, but “not necessarily Catholic schools.” Because St. Peter Claver is now nearly at capacity, as are most other archdiocesan schools, Avery feels that the “option to attend Catholic school is now closed to us.”

“I wish St. Peter Claver all the best and much success,” she said. “I just want them to be aware of all the dynamics that are necessary to run a school . . . That’s what all the Catholic schools should learn from us.”

St. Peter Claver School, which is close to capacity with the exception of pre-kindergarten, has enrolled 38 transfer students from Lourdes and 35 transfer students from St. Anthony’s.

The archdiocesan Office of Catholic Schools also promised to provide transportation to and from St. Anthony’s and Our Lady of Lourdes schools to St. Peter Claver Regional School at the expense of the archdiocese for the balance of the school careers of all existing students from the closed schools who registered at St. Peter Claver its initial year.

Donald Sasso, Secretary for Catholic Education, said that there are currently 40 students whose parents have expressed interest in the bus system. At this point, Sasso said, the students will be picked up at Lourdes and St. Anthony’s, but when it is determined where the students live, cluster points may be established as pick-up and drop-off points for the St. Peter Claver bus.

Although the Lourdes effort did not raise sufficient funds in time, Avery said that it was encouraging to see the widespread support that the community received.

“We received so many letters supporting the school,” she said. “I think that we have bridged the gaps with other Catholic communities and with the community of Atlanta in general. I think it has been an eye-opening experience for all the churches.”

Helen Smith, a member of the Lourdes task force whose daughter, Samantha, would have been a seventh-grader at the school, said that she fought to keep the school open not only for her daughter but for other children.

“This is beyond just my child going here,” she said. “I’m not meaning to brag, but my child is not going to have problems in any other school environment. Other children don’t have the options she will have. Wherever she will land will be a positive environment for her. But there are other children who would have received something special (from Our Lady of Lourdes) that won’t receive that. I’m sad to see that happen.”

Smith had covered her bases, enrolling her daughter at both Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Peter Claver. She said that Samantha more than likely will attend the regional school, though she admits she feels somewhat “forced into that decision.”

“I’m sure we can get past that, though,” she said. “A lot of this is about the transitional aspect. A lot of this is working through some of my own bitter feelings.”

However, Smith feels confident that she did the right thing in fighting for Our Lady of Lourdes.

“Going into this, I knew that it was in God’s hands ... If it was God’s will for the school to remain open, it would remain open. If it was not his will then the school would close,” she said. “Ultimately, there was nothing that we could do.”

“Personally I felt I needed to do everything I could to help something that I see as valuable to stay in place,” she continued. “I think we have done what we could to keep the school open.”

Sasso said that he respected the attempts made by those who supported the school.

“The Our Lady of Lourdes community is to be commended for its valiant effort to keep Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School operational. The commitment to Catholic education in the Our Lady of Lourdes community was very evident throughout this painful and stressful time,” he said. “I believe the Our Lady of Lourdes community probably now has a deeper understanding of the problems we faced in attempting to provide quality Catholic education in a financially feasible manner with the conditions we were facing.”

“I only pray that now where healing is needed, God’s grace will provide for it.”