Transcript Cooperative Proposal St. Martin of Tours Parish All Saints

St. John
Catholic School
A Case Study
in
Fair Share Tuition
7/21/2015
Tuition models:
“The Family Plan”
 Based
on number of students in
family
 Evolved as a response to increased
personnel costs
 Tends to depend heavily on parish
subsidy
 Most common model
7/21/2015
Tuition models:
Full Cost Recovery
 Cost
of education drives tuition rates
and families use a matrix to
determine their tuition
 Parish subsidies for tuition assistance
only provided to students in need
 Some variations recover less than
100% of cost
7/21/2015
Tuition models:
Fair Share
 Applies
only to parish families
 School informs families of education
costs
 Each family commits to the tuition it
feels represents its “fair share” based
on resources and needs
 Requires trust and shared commitment
from the entire school community
7/21/2015
St. John School

Located in the Greenwood neighborhood of
North Seattle
 Opened in September, 1923
 984 families registered in the parish
 44 faculty and staff – with an additional 13 staff
in the Extended Day Care
 Current year operating budget of
$2,921,681 (which includes $112,880 of parish
in-kind-services, i.e. some staff salaries and
utilities)
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Evolution of Fair Share
at St. John
1984
1987
1988
1989
1990
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Blue Ribbon Task force formed
School Commission Long Range
Plan
Parish Goals presented
Decision to implement fair share
Pastoral Letter initiating policy and
first registrations taken
The Fair Share Process
1.
2.
3.
4.
Families learn cost of education for
coming year through information packets
and “State of the School” meeting
Families prayerfully discern their “fair
share” commitment
Families turn in registration papers with
tuition commitment to facilitators
New families have additional information
and guidance
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Fair Share Values
 Biblical
standards of justice that call
the community to support one another
 Equal sacrifice from all parish families
 Prayerful discernment
 Trust
 Confidentiality
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Advantages








No judgment, no nagging, no policing
A socio-economically diverse school population
vs. an “elitist private school”
Trust based – no tax forms needed
Fewer empty desks
There is no minimum or maximum for parish
families
Spirit of trust infuses other aspects of parish life,
including volunteerism
Community not consumerism
Parents registered in the parish set their own
tuition rates
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Challenges
 Implementation
demands trust and
faith
 Communication is critical
 Entire school community must commit
to the philosophy
 You have to be at peace and trust
that God and the community will
provide
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Requirements for Success
from leadership – Parish and School
leaders must live out the values
 Demographics and economics
 An established and successful school
program
 A community ready to embrace a
stewardship message
 Strong development program in the school
 Confidentiality
 A multi-year effort to launch
 Ongoing effort to maintain
 Trust
7/21/2015
Our Experience

“It’s a multi-year learning process –
families tend to give more as time goes
on”
 “The community passes on the values of
fair share tuition from family to family”
 “With fair share, no parish family will be
denied a Catholic education because of
finances”
 “Our tuition pledges always exceeded
what we hoped to receive”
7/21/2015
Our Experience ―
Enrollment History – St. Johns
450
400
Implementation
Enrollment K-8
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
School Year
7/21/2015
07
/08
05
/06
03
/04
01
/02
99
/00
97
/98
95
/96
93
/94
91
/92
89
/90
87
/88
85
/86
83
/84
81
/82
79
/80
77
/78
75
/76
73
/74
0
Our Experience ―
Percentage of
Catholic Students K-8
Implementation
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
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School Year
07
/08
05
/06
03
/04
01
/02
99
/00
97
/98
95
/96
93
/94
91
/92
89
/90
87
/88
85
/86
83
/84
81
/82
79
/80
77
/78
75
/76
73
/74
0%
Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs)
Q. What prompted St. John to adopt the Fair
Share Tuition model?
A. Decreased revenue and increased costs in the
1970s (increasingly lay faculty and staff) with a
strong desire to maintain an accessible school
program at St. John with equitable salaries for
the faculty and staff.
Q. What tuition model was used at St. John before
Fair Share?
A. Parish administration and school commission
annually set a tuition amount that they believed
the community could support. Everyone paid the
same amount. A very few families asked for
tuition assistance.
7/21/2015
FAQs
Q. What if the Fair Share pledges are not enough?
A. As with other tuition models, if projected Fair
Share tuition income does not meet projected
operating expenses, some purchases or projects
would be deferred. However, due to the strong
history with Fair Share, budget planning can be
made with confidence equal to that used in other
tuition models.
7/21/2015
FAQs
Q. What other fund-raising activities support
the school operating expenses?
A. Strong work by the development team
has resulted in increased funding from
Annual Fund pledges; a very robust school
SCRIP program; a successful annual
school auction; and matching funds from
participating corporations and United Way.
7/21/2015
St. John Fair Share ―
“Faith in Action”
7/21/2015
Produced by
St. John School
Seattle, WA
www.st-johnschool.org
Special thanks and acknowledgement to:
Pat Gilbrough
Agnes Jacobson
Fr. William McKee
Eric Paige
7/21/2015
Dan Sherman
Peg Snyder
Michele Thornquist
Tim Thole