After more than a century of educating girls, St. Margaret’s School is facing an uncertain future. If the school is unable to collect on $2.1 million in pledged donations and enroll 79 students for the coming year by July 1, the school will not reopen in the fall, Trustees warned parents last week.
The Trustees of Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia (CSDV), the organization that owns and oversees the operation of St. Margaret’s, is warning parents of enrolled students that the school may not reopen in the fall.
In an email sent to parents on June 5, the President of CSDV, Henry Broaddus, said “the Trustees see St. Margaret’s ability to open next fall as being at risk” because the school has thus far failed to make adequate progress in meeting two specific goals laid out for it in an agreement reached with the school earlier this year:
1. They must enroll 79 students who are prepared to pay a “substantially higher percentage of the annual cost of a St. Margaret’s education” and
2. all $2.1 million in pledged donations must be received.
“The school’s budget relies on enrolling 79 students,” the letter reads. “As of June 5, 52 families have signed contracts, of whom 42 have paid an enrollment deposit.”
The school has until July 1 to meet these goals, but the Trustees were sufficiently concerned about the school’s ability to meet its targets that they took what is described in the letter as “the unusual step of communicating directly with families” to offer them assurances that deposits will be returned for anyone choosing to opt out of the contract by August 1.
In response to this unexpected missive from Trustees, a group of alumni and supporters calling themselves “Save Our St. Margaret’s” (SOS) announced on June 7 their intention to file suit seeking to prevent the CSDV “from prematurely closing the school.”
“The complaint also notes that any public announcement of closure at this time would irreparably damage ongoing enrollment and fundraising efforts, effectively creating a self-fulfilling prophecy,” SOS said in a press release. “SOS is requesting that the Court bar any such announcements until after June 30, 2025, consistent with prior commitments.”
In a separate email sent out to alumni, SOS attempted to rally eleventh hour support for its cause.
“Never in the School’s history has it been more urgent for all alumnae and friends to stand together in its defense,” the email reads, before encouraging supporters to “write to the Diocese of Virginia, the Trustees of Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia, the Virginia Attorney General, and your elected officials to voice your support for St. Margaret’s and urge a delay in any decision until we can fully demonstrate our financial viability” and to contribute to the legal fund.
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