School administrator: 'We need your help'

COAL TOWNSHIP - Sister Margaret McCullough, administrator at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional School, reflected on this year's 50th anniversary of the high school, explained the financial challenges involved in maintaining the facility and talked about the sacrifices made by parents to have their children receive a Catholic education during a recent interview with The News-Item.

McCullough, who intends to send an appeal letter requesting monetary donations from friends of Lourdes to help offset significant financial obligations facing the Catholic school, stated, "On Sept. 13, 1959, doors were opened to Our Lady of Lourdes Regional High School. This was a very happy occasion for many people, but for some students, it was bittersweet. Students from Mount Carmel Catholic and Shamokin Catholic had to leave their familiar settings to become part of something new - a regional school."

McCullough said the school has changed a lot since its opening. She said those changes include expansion of the school and the recent additions of an elementary school and pre-kindergarten program.

But with all the changes, she said one thing remains the same: Sacrifices are made by thousands of parents to send their children to Lourdes.

"We are passing on the Catholic faith by supporting our churches and this school," she said. "Parents make great financial sacrifices to send their children here in a time where many people are not choosing Catholic schools. We have a number of families who have a yearly tuition bill of $7,000 to $10,000, which is like having two mortgages."

She added, "We need your help. The glory days of the 80/20 ticket fundraiser are over. Our yearly fundraisers do what they can to help the budget, but we are relying on a struggling community that has been plagued with unemployment and the closing of two major sources of employment in Fleetwood Motor Homes and Paper Magic. The school needs daily operational funds. We did not meet our yearly budget three times during the past six years. Therefore, we have three loans for a total of $152,000 that we chip away at each month. There are a number of areas in the school that could use attention, including windows, bathrooms, roofs and the parking lot. Families could use tuition help."

McCullough, who praised the school's dedicated and experienced faculty, said the average salary of a teacher with a master's degree and 30 years experience is $37,000.

"How many new college graduates make more than $37,000?" she asked. "These teachers at Lourdes have been making sacrifices for years. It is hard to keep new teachers when our starting salary is $5,000 less than the public schools. The funds are just not there. Like numerous families, we live paycheck to paycheck."

She concluded, "Catholic education is expensive. It is costly to our parishes (Mother Cabrini, Our Lady of Hope, St. Joseph, Divine Redeemer, Holy Angels, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Our Lady's and St. Patrick), which pay $897,062 toward the yearly budget. Family tuition brings in another $898,092. We have the lowest tuition in the diocese at $1,800 for an elementary student and $3,425 for a high school student. Yet, we still need an additional $600,000 to meet our budget this year. You can see how much we are in need of your help."