This year’s senior class at Luther South High School may be the last graduating class at the private school due to declining enrollment and financial challenges the school has faced for years.
This year’s senior class at Luther South High School may be the last graduating class at the private school due to declining enrollment and financial challenges the school has faced for years.
“We are on financial life support right now as we try to come up with enough money to stay afloat,” Anthony Rainey, principal at Luther South, told the Defender.
As it stands now, the school must vacate its 21-acre campus by July 31 unless it can reach an agreement with its mortgage lender, St. Louis-based Lutheran Church Extension Fund. The school is $1.6 million behind in mortgage payments largely because of declining enrollment, said the Rev. Paul Anderson, executive director for Luther South.
“It is our goal to remain open. We will be submitting a plan to the lender next month basically asking for more time so we can present a long-term business plan,” Anderson said. “If that does not work or if a generous donor does not step forward, our doors will swing closed for good.”
He explained that a total of $2.3 million is needed to keep the school open, and after paying off the mortgage debt, the remaining $700,000 is owed to various vendors who provide various goods and services to the school. Luther South has an annual operating budget of $2.5 million, and its top revenue source is the tuition it collects each month.
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