St. Jude Closing, Parents and Staff Frustrated

Parents and staff were told that the Catholic school is closing because of financial problems but reporter Ashley Thompson spoke with several teachers off camera and they’re not buying it, saying they want answers.

Parents with children at St. Jude Education Institute, a catholic school that teaches students from 7th to 12th grade, received a voice message telling them to come to a meeting, where a bomb was dropped on them. First year Principal Anthony Brock said that the school was closing.

“It’s not fair to the parents,” says Jacqui Virgil. “It’s not fair to the students. It’s not fair to the teachers and it definitely wasn’t fair to that bright, young principal that had to do their dirty laundry.”

Virgil has been a tutor at St. Jude for two years and says parents and teachers are furious at the news that the Archdiocese of Mobile has decided to shut them down.

“If you keep listening to the story and keep digging, you’ll absolutely find out it has nothing to do with the numbers because the numbers were coming in next year,” she says.

Ron Mays has kids at St. Jude and says he did not see school administration at Wednesday’s meeting.

“The executive director, not the school principal but the overseer or whatever you want to call it, Father Paul did not even show up for the announcement.”

St. Jude PTSO president Akmel Saleem says he doesn’t think school administration is telling the whole truth.

“He increased the enrollment through the Alabama Grant Fund by 230 applicants,” he says. “So I did the math. I always follow the money. That’s 1.8 million dollars the school stood to gain.”

But in just a matter of months, the school will be closed. Virgil tells us teachers have just weeks to find new jobs.

“Teachers are not being allowed to get recommendation letters with letterhead here from St. Jude and that comes from the back office.”

Those we spoke with say they believe the school will be sold and turned into something else.

The St. Jude PTSO will hold a meeting tomorrow at 6 for parents to discuss the school’s closing.