PORTAGE PARK — Our Lady of Victory Catholic School is again facing a budget crunch, though the school's principal is optimistic that a fundraising campaign will be successful.
At a special meeting called at the Northwest Side school Tuesday night, parents and parishioners were told that the Archdiocese of Chicago is requiring $330,000 in pledges and $100,000 in cash to be on hand by Feb. 14 to avoid possible closure this coming June.
The school’s Commit to the Flame campaign has raised $270,000 so far, leaving a $60,000 deficit for 2014-15. The school does have outstanding pledges of $69,000, which would cover the shortfall. Our Lady of Victory Principal Jennifer Hodge is asking those pledges be honored by the end of January.
Hodge is confident that the school, at 4434 N. Laramie Ave., will meet its fundraising goals and remain open.
“We did it last year and we can do it again. What I love about us is that we’re a fighting community,” said Hodge.
Last January, the archdiocese announced it could no longer afford to cover the annual deficit of $500,000 in the school's budget. The school was given approximately two weeks to show it could transition to self-sustainability.
A massive fundraising campaign was launched that raised $750,000 in cash and pledges and the archdiocese agreed to let the school remain open.
Hodge said she understood the archdiocese's decision to no longer cover the budgetary deficit.
“In a business you have to be self sustaining. We rely on tuition and fundraising but we’ll need the help of the community to be successful. Our Lady of Victory is our school to run and our school to manage,” she said.
The projected deficit for next year (2015-16) is $250,000, presuming the school's enrollment increases by 10 percent as expected. It had an enrollment of 190 students this year.
School officials are seeking pledges of $400,00 by April 25 to help ensure the school's financial stability. As of Monday, $184,000 has been pledged and $22,000 has been contributed for 2015-16.
School board member Greg Hanna said that area companies had been extremely helpful in raising money for the school.
“Lots of local businesses in the area that our students would visit stepped up with large amounts of money and really helped us out,” said Hanna.
DNAinfo.com previously reported the archdiocese's plan to merge several schools on the Northwest Side, but the Rev. Robert Fedek, Our Lady of Victory’s pastor, said OLV was not a part of those discussions.
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