Student starts fundraiser to save Ingleside Catholic school; ‘We’re kind of hoping for that miracle’
After news spread that St. Bede School was at risk of closure, a high school senior started an online fundraiser to save her former grade school. The campaign has reached more than a third of its goal within 15 days.
At a school board meeting on Dec. 12, three members of the Archdiocese of Chicago told the board and community members the school will close on June 4, 2024 unless $400,000 is raised by Jan. 26 to cover a budget deficit.
The deficit is largely from the upcoming loss of a tax credit scholarship program, Invest in Kids, that is expiring, said Tina Lutzke, athletic director at St. Bede School.
“We’re kind of hoping for that miracle,” Lutzke said. “It just takes one person hearing the story that maybe wants a tax write-off by the end of the year. We couldn’t not try to save our school.”
Unbeknownst to Lutzke, an alum of St. Bede and mother to multiple students, her daughter, Susan, started a GoFundMe campaign on Dec. 13 after learning of the school’s ultimatum.
After Susan Lutzke, now a senior at Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, launched the campaign to save St. Bede, the school administration, school board, parent association and athletic association quickly joined the effort.
“I can’t imagine St. Bede School closing, it was such a big part of my childhood,” said Susan Lutzke, who attended the school from age 3 to 14. “I’m asking the community to help support by donating to Fund the Falcons, and continuing the legacy of providing a meaningful education, and that’s why I started the GoFundMe campaign.”
More than $147,000 was raised in the first 15 days of the fundraiser.
“We’ve tapped into a lot of resources so far, so we’re worried about keeping the momentum going,” but so far, every day has been amazing,” Tina Lutzke said. “It’s been really great to see the community come together.”
The school was told 55 other Catholic schools in the diocese were given the same ultimatum: to cover a budget deficit or face closure, she said.
Attempts to reach the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Catholic Education were unsuccessful.
St. Bede School opened in 1958 under Our Lady of the Lakes Parish. There are currently 194 students in preschool through 8th grade who attend the school from all over western Lake County.
More than 10,000 students across all schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago system will be affected by the loss of the Invest in Kids program.
Invest in Kids provides tax credits to residents who contribute to a scholarship granting organization. In return, the organizations provide scholarships for low-income families to attend qualified, nonpublic schools.
Thirty-one St. Bede students receive a total of $145,000 in scholarship aid from the state tax program, Tina Lutzke said. The student population is also about 40% Hispanic.
More than 9,000 Illinois students received the tax credit scholarship during the 2021-22 school year, according to a report from the state’s Department of Revenue obtained by Chalkbeat Chicago.
Of the students who received scholarships to attend private school in 2021-22, 57.6% were white, 29.7% were Latino, and 17.8 % were Black, according to Chalkbeat Chicago.
President of the St. Bede School Parents’ Association Miranda Ripley said she hopes the school can remain open in the community for decades to come.
“My children have been attending St. Bede School for the past seven years and it has been a wonderful experience, from the dedicated teaching staff focused on academics, to the welcoming nature and sense of community (that) has been an integral part of our daily lives,” Ripley said in a news release.
The 65-year-old school offers numerous extracurricular activities, like church choir, altar servers, prayer society, band, student council, a variety of clubs and an athletic program for students.
The two nearest Catholic grade schools to St. Bede were closed in 2016 and 2020.
In 2018, St. Bede School was named a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education.
