St. Germaine school closed by Archdiocese despite community efforts: 'They lied to us'

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (FOX 2) - It wasn't a typical last day of school at St. Germaine Catholic School in St. Clair Shores Tuesday - which closed its doors for good.

"It's sad to see it go, it is a really great school, a great community," said Kelli Jensen, a parent.

Jensen and her daughter Violet spoke to FOX 2 earlier this year when Violet wrote a letter to the Detroit Lions hoping to save her school.

"We all tried really hard, and then we donated money and everything, and it just decided to close," she said.

At the beginning of the fall semester, the school sent a letter informing its school community that it would close permanently by the end of the year, due to a lack of financial resources to sustain operations.

"I’m pretty sad about the fact that our school is closing down," said student Barry Tombrella.

The decision by the Archdiocese of Detroit comes despite it giving benchmarks for fundraising and attendance to the school community, that parents say were all reached.

"We were given promises that were flat-out broken," said John Carlisle, parent. "We were just lied to. And it’s just a shame because the people who are hurt the most are a bunch of little kids who have no involvement in this. We did our best to help them and they were let down by a bunch of grown-ups."

All the money raised through the fund-raiser has been returned.

The last day was spent with a picnic, games and well-wishes.

"I'll be really sad to miss all these kids, but there's a bigger force at play here - and I have to remember that,," said Colleen Maciejewski, principal, St Germaine.

"There's definitely a lot of mixed emotions," Jensen said. "And we're all sad to see the school go."