A financial deadline looms for Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic school.
Educators know if they fail to raise a quarter of a million dollars by the end of next week, fall classes will be cancelled.
During a morning news conference students, parents, teachers and the principal, reached out for help, in a final attempt to keep their school open.
The school needs to raise a large amount of money to get them out of serious debt by February 3rd or the school will be forced to close at the end of the spring semester.
The eleven students in Mrs. Holder’s first grade class sat quietly listening to a morning story, but just down the hall, the school principal was asking the public for help.
"At this moment, we can't continue in the economy that we have, in the situation that we're in, to ask them to go any further into debt, it’s not financially viable," says school principal, Diane Hankins.
Hankins has been the principal at Our Lady of Lourdes for the past 10 years. She says she hates that there is even a possibility it might shut down, "The last couple of years we have been very hopeful, we have seen a decline, just as all catholic schools across the nation have, but I guess because we are a small school the decline is hitting us harder."
Eighth grader, Hannah Carrigee, says the thing she would miss most about her school is the teachers.
"The teachers really care a lot about, what they teach us and about how they go about their teaching, they really care about the students."
Principal Hankins adds that the school's teachers and faculty gave up a portion of this year's salary to ensure the doors were able to open last fall.
But she says it is now up to donations to help “Our Lady of Lourdes” stay open for its fifty-second year.
The school says it needs at least $250,000 to climb out of debt and stay open.
An anonymous donor has pledged to match what is raised up to $10,000, to help the school's 74 enrolled students in grades K through 9th.
To donate to Our Lady of Lourdes, visit their website or call at (706) 689-5644.
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