They were joined by school alumnae.
Alumna Kathryn Ott Lovell told the demonstrators that they must raise more than a million dollars in cash before January 25th to fight the Philadelphia Archdiocese plan to close the all-girls Catholic school.
"We must raise $1.2 million in roughly 10 days," said Ott Lovell. "Let me repeat, we must raise $1.2 million to be permitted to appeal our closing."
A week ago, the archdiocese announced it would close Saint Hubert and three other high schools because of declining enrollment. 45 elementary schools will merge or close. The archdiocese is offering schools a chance to appeal the decision if any facts are in dispute.
The plea for cash to help Saint Hubert stay open got immediate results. Ott Lovell announced that the family of a 1949 alumna pledged $100,000. Another donor gave $10,000. Cash and checks were being collected outside the school and online.
"We face a significant challenge in raising this $1.2 million quickly to have any real hope of keeping Saint Hubert open as an archdiocesan high school," Ott Lovell told those gathered at the rally.
But the archdiocese says Saint Hubert's fundraising effort isn't necessary and any rumors about a required cash payment are simply not true.
"It is just not true," said archdiocese spokesperson Donna Farrell. "Aall you have to do to get a meeting is ask for a meeting. Can you imagine? We would not do that to people. Not true."
Ott Lovell now concedes that she and the Saint Hubert Alumnae Association got bad information. She said they are thrilled that they don't actually need to raise more than a million dollars.
Still, the school has a deficit of about $625,000. She said fundraising will continue to try to bridge that deficit and bolster the school's appeal effort.
