Financial aid for students
Thanks to the generosity of donors past and present, the Archdiocesan Family Grants for Elementary Students and the High School Scholarships have been allocated and awarded for next school year (2009-2010).
The difficulties of the current economic and financial environment have increased the demand for grants and scholarships at the same time that the total fund of the Archdiocesan Educational Endowment has dropped to near the principal amount. Endowments can only spend what they earn from interest earned due to investment in the markets; endowments cannot spend what the donors have donated. Those funds are invested to provide scholarships in perpetuity.
There were nearly 4,000 applications for financial assistance this year, and the Department of Catholic Schools was able to fund more than 1,700 of these requests in amounts of $500, $750, or $1,500, depending upon family income, school tuition, and available resources of the Archdiocese. The families who qualified for financial aid presented financial statements from 2008, most commonly their tax returns, and were placed in a tiered ranking system. Financial Aid was distributed to the neediest families until all funds were allocated.
That is not the entire story. Since January, the Department of Catholic Schools has received countless calls from families who have lost their jobs this year. However, we have no emergency fund at the Archdiocese to help these families until they get back on their feet with a new source of income. Many families are being forced to make a difficult decision of funding their children's education, paying the mortgage, and paying for everyday living expenses.
Some of our traditionally "middle class" families are making the choice to forego retirement investment or sell property in order to give their children the best education they can probably no longer afford. The prospect of sending their children to the public schools becomes a real decision for some parents. These are hard-working families that simply cannot find a job in these tough economic times.
Schools have been mindful of the parents' economic situations and have cut costs wherever possible. For some of our schools, this means combining classes. As always, the primary focus is providing quality education to our students, even in times of declining resources. For our schools that do not have tuition income that covers the cost to educate the students, the "gap" is funded with donations, parish subsidy, and fundraising activities.
The ultimate solution is to increase enrollment at our schools. With increased enrollment, ideally 30-35 students in a classroom, students have a richer and more diverse learning experience. Financially, fixed costs are spread out over more students, so the paradox is that increased quality of education comes at a reduced cost per pupil. With increased resources, schools are able to implement additional programs, such as technology, science, arts, thus further increasing the quality of education.
What can be done to help these families and our schools? There are many ways that the people of the Archdiocese can help individual families and individual schools provide a Catholic education for their children, including a generous response when the second collection is "for our schools." People also can contact pastors or school principals and offer to sponsor a student for a year or for the entire time they attend Catholic School. Similarly, donors can offer to fund "the gap" for one or more students. The Department of Catholic Schools can help individuals, families and companies explore ways to contribute to the Educational Endowment that is in place or even start your own Fund or Endowment.
Annette Brown is Assistant Superintendant for Planning and Finance at the San Francisco Archdiocesan Department of Catholic Schools. She can be reached at browna@sfarchdiocese.org.
By Annette Brown
From July 24, 2009 issue of Catholic San Francisco.
