St. Alphonsus Liguori Catholic School to close due to funding issues in Prospect Heights

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, Ill. (WLS) -- A school in Prospect Heights announced it will close its doors due to lack of funding.

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The community of St. Alphonsus Liguori Catholic School protested against the decision on Monday.

"We want to save our school, because we're really devastated," student Olivia Trecizak said.

Parents said they were blindsided by the decision to close the school. They said if they had been given the chance; they would have tried to raise money to keep the school open.

"My family is first gen in the U.S.," volunteer and alum Sara Duncan said. "My mother came to the U.S. from Iraq. She found this school - her and her sisters. We started attending the school at a very young age, we graduated. My mom now works here."

Father Greg Wojcik made the following announcement to the school:

"The school and parish worked diligently to avoid this outcome by establishing a focus on budget efficiency and enrollment over the past year... Despite solid efforts, enrollment declined sharply this school year and the projection for next year is similar, making the school's deficit unsustainable."

Those rallying against the decision said they weren't aware of funding issues.

"Now, we are in this position where we don't know where to send them," volunteer soccer coach Greg said. "All the schools around us our packed."

The community set the goal to raise $500,000, however, they've been told that even with if they raise the money - the school is set to close.

"I also told them that we're not going to go down without a fight," parent Aly Ortiz said.

Parents told ABC7 that the students who participated in the rally on Monday were not allowed back into the school.