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Copyright © 2008
Saint Joseph School of Downers Grove
School Board Corner
for Week of March 6, 2008
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!….The School Board is looking for people to join its new Finance and Development sub-committee. Read on to see what this is about.
Overview: As mentioned in last week’s eMessenger, the School Board will be communicating on a regular basis with the school community through this medium and others. Last week’s School Board Corner reported from the Town Hall surveys on parents’ general view of the school and on ideas for recruitment and retention of students. This week’s School Board Corner continues with Town Hall ideas on school finances and fundraising. Next week we will report on ideas to Change/Improve St. Joe’s School. Keep in mind as you read this that there are 386 students from 227 families attending the school, grades K-8. The goal is to have between 400 and 450 students attending the school, and to keep the school on stable ground financially.
School Finances: Kevin Delaplane mentioned several important facts at the Town Hall in his presentation on “School Finances/Proposed Budget and Tuition.” (1) $1.95 million is the total projected expenses for the school in 2008-09. (2) 80% of this pays for teacher and staff salaries/benefits. (3) Sources of revenues to meet the expenses are student tuition (50%), parish subsidy (27%), family stewardship and fundraising (21%), and miscellaneous (2%).
Tuition: We use a cost-based approach to setting tuition in grades 1-8. Overall tuition per family is paid through a combination of mandatory tuition and voluntary, tax deductible stewardship. The school is made affordable through multi-child tuition discounts and by tuition assistance (used by 14 families). The proposed 2008-09 budget reflects a kindergarten tuition increase to $1200 per child and a grade 1-8 tuition increase of about 5%. These increases will help to offset our rising costs of salaries, pension/medical insurance, utilities, and insurance.
Parish Subsidy: Father Jerome and the parish are fully committed to the school, as it reflects two-thirds of the parish budget. Although the parish has a budget deficit projected for next year, the parish has committed a $525,000 subsidy to the school for next year (2008-09), same as this year.
Stewardship: Stewardship is tax deductible. Two-thirds of school family stewardship is used to pay school costs. The overall response to the stewardship program has been very positive. However, about 40 families are consistently behind in complying with their pledges, which hurts the school’s finances. On another note, if your employer has a matching gift program, please utilize this benefit to match your stewardship contribution.
Fundraising: We have seen wonderful fundraising efforts evolve over the last few years from the Cruise the Night, to the Men’s Nights, to the Grand Raffles, to the Hoe Downs and Party Partners. School fundraising also involves the Annual Appeal, currently underway until March 31 to meet a $50,000 goal. It also includes traditional A&B and Parent Forum programs. As we look forward, new ideas and great people (Hear Ye! Hear Ye!) are needed for fundraising and for coordination of events throughout the year. To that end, the School Board is starting a Finance and Development sub-committee that will liaison with A&B and Parent Form and which will focus on coordinated fundraising, donor development, and development of a 5-year financial plan for the school. The sub-committee will consider all donor development and fundraising ideas from the Town Hall, including alumni campaigns, corporate campaigns, grandparent campaigns, student phone-a-thons, Heritage Fest events, Tivoli events, parade events, 3 on 3 basketball, and golf matches. The financial plan would set goals and create a program of old and new fundraising events and campaigns, spread out over several years on an organized basis, to meet both short term and long term goals for the school.
Perhaps one dominant fundraising theme can be the 100th anniversary of St. Joe’s School, fast approaching in 2010. The School Board will soon meet with the coordinator of Northwestern University’s successful 150th anniversary to learn about fundraising ideas that can be built around our school’s 100th anniversary. We will report to you on that meeting when it takes place.
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! If you have an interest in joining the Finance and Development sub-committee or would like to learn more, call or email Kevin Delaplane (630-969-3157 and delaplanefamily@aol.com) or Kevin Lynch (630-964-0442 and klynch@pritzkerrealty.com).