Day schools holding their own … even in this
A snapshot of the status of Cleveland’s Jewish day schools
By Ellen Schur Brown
Editor, Family Section
“The economic crisis has certainly affected the world of Jewish education,” says Rabbi Simcha Dessler, educational director of The Hebrew Academy of Cleveland. “The Academy has seen an increased number of families who have lost their jobs and a number of donors who are challenged with the economic difficulties, as well.” The Academy has a longstanding policy not to turn away children due to financial difficulties, Dessler points out. “With all the struggles and challenges, our community deserves a lot of credit for making day school education a priority,” he says. “The Academy’s growth (demonstrates) our community’s passion for Jewish education and for ensuring a vibrant Jewish future.”
Rabbi Joshua Elkin, executive director of the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE), observes the same dynamic on a national scale. “Day schools that have a good governance structure in place, a strong board, strong leadership, and a clear sense of who they are, will be holding their own,” he predicts. These practices, which PEJE encourages schools to adopt in good times and bad, provide “insulation” from economic cycles.
“My sense is that Cleveland is a strong Jewish community with a strong federation and a history of support for day schools,” he says. “Generally speaking, it’s an environment where you would expect schools to weather this crisis.” He predicts most parents who opt for day schools will keep their children enrolled because they are convinced of the value of learning about Judaism and Jewish values.
PEJE has been holding national webinars and conferences to help struggling day schools in other communities. While some schools are panicking, others are running aggressive fundraising drives and bringing in as much money as they did last year or even more.
In a major financial restructuring, based in consultation with PEJE, Fuchs Mizrachi School has increased tuition in the past few years – by nearly double for the high school. As expected, the school has seen a jump in scholarship requests. In the fall, the impact of the tuition hike on enrollment was “zero,” claims head of school Rabbi Pinchos Hecht. Kindergarten enrollment is holding up for next year.
But with the economic downturn, fundraising has been “dismal” and will most likely fall short of the school’s $1.2 million goal (already adjusted down from $1.6 million). He estimates scholarship requests at $1.8 million. That number could grow, as five families have asked the school to suspend tuition payments due to job losses.
“It’s a recipe for bankruptcy” for the school, he admitted.
The school is consulting with the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, cutting every expense it can – except for teachers and specialists – and staff have been notified there will be no raises next year. A tuition freeze for next year also has been announced. Still, the school is considering a “minimum tuition payment requirement.” (Families that can’t afford the minimum would have the option to solicit money from family members, borrow from the Hebrew Free Loan Associstion, volunteer at the school, or apply to a special reserve fund for this purpose.)
Insisting he’s “very upbeat,” Hecht says the school community, donors and even critics tell the board they’re pleased that the school is acting “responsibly and thoughtfully” to protect the quality of education while coming to grips with the real costs of education at the school.
At Gross Schechter Day School, the full impact of job losses and economic downturns isn’t yet evident. Eleven families have lost jobs or faced salary cuts, and headmaster Rabbi Jim Rogozen has seen an increase in requests for financial aid, but tuition is coming in as forecast.
The school is keeping a careful eye on next fall’s renewal contracts, and Schechter is telling parents they must reply now – not at the last minute. Rogozen is pleased with reenrollment numbers for the fall.
Parents and even some donors have asked for restructured payment plans or waited for the new tax year to pay, and this year’s annual fund will be challenging, admits Rogozen. “My sense is we might see some slippage in the annual fund, but the year’s not over.”
He stresses that the staff is working hard to find enough contingency money (or cut enough expenses) to overcome any “midyear surprises.”
In this economy, parents “may have to make tough choices,” says Jerry Isaac Shapiro, head of The Agnon School. He has asked families to speak with him confidentially, perhaps to work out a payment plan or financial aid to stay in the school. Two families have asked to stretch their payments out over a longer period of time, but no one has left this year because of the economy, he says.
Isaac Shapiro has been proactive in speaking to large donors, claiming, “we are raising more money than ever before.” Meanwhile, Agnon has had more inquiries and more applications for kindergarten than in previous years, but Isaac Shapiro says, “None of us takes anything for granted.”
An anonymous third party system determines “discretionary education income,” and Agnon partially bases financial aid on that number – not income.
In 2004, the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland established a $20 million Fund to support day schools. The Fund allocates $150,000 annually to each of four partner day schools. Agnon and Schechter use the money, which works out to about $5,000 per family, for an across-the-board tuition rollback. The Hebrew Academy and Mizrachi use the money for scholarships.
The Fund will continue helping day schools, says Federation president Stephen H. Hoffman. The Federation, he adds, is thinking about “the extent of the financial challenges day schools will be facing in this environment. We’ve met with the executive committee and major donors to keep (this issue) in front of decision makers.”
While committing to do “everything we can to make sure our schools survive,” he continued, “I think schools are going to have to contemplate programs (or cutting programs) they wouldn’t have contemplated before. I don’t believe schools will be able to maintain business as usual” in this economy because of fluctuations in tuition, scholarships and allocations.
Mosdos Ohr HaTorah, a rigorously Orthodox school, is not one of Federation’s partner schools at this time, and that status is unlikely to change in this economy, says Hoffman.
Mosdos has been accredited for 30 years by the state of Ohio, but is not funded by Federation. “I think it’s time for Federation to fund us,” says Rabbi Shmuel Berkovicz, head of the school. “We do get help from the JECC, but there should be Centennial money for us.”
At Lippman Jewish Community Day School, head of school Linda Brotsky says she hasn’t had any requests mid year for additional aid, and no one has left the school because of tuition costs, but enrollment is down by about 10%.
Schools are getting more creative with fundraising. BINGO night every Sun. and Mon. brings in $150,000 a year, with extra funds raised through cookie sales and book sales. Mosdos operates Mosdos Press, a publishing business that sells textbooks and literature anthologies “containing only wholesome material” to schools around the world, including Christian schools.
Keeping tuition affordable and costs down will continue to challenge day school administrators in the foreseeable future.
More info:
Associated Movement: Community pluralistic
Enrollment: 363, up from 349 last year
Tuition: From $6,050 for kindergarten to $8,150 for 8th grade
Grades: Preschool-8
Teachers/staff: 58 full-time equivalents
New this year: The middle school moves over to Siegal College making room to add a third kindergarten class. Increased emphasis on curriculum integration across disciplines, technology. Accommodating different learners.
Details: www.agnon.org
Fuchs Mizrachi School
Associated Movement: Orthodox/Zionist
Enrollment: 473, up from 467 last year
Tuition: From $7,442 for kindergarten to $16,500 for high school
Grades: Preschool-12
Teachers/Staff: 80
Building update: Move-in date to building under construction on Shaker Blvd. is Jan. 2010.
Gross Schechter Day School
Associated Movement: Conservative
Enrollment: 343, up from 333 last year
Tuition: $6,500 for grades K-8 (includes Centennial Fund Rollback).
Grades: Preschool-8
Teachers/Staff: 60
Lippman Day School
Associated Movement: Community
Enrollment: 90, down from more than 100 last year
Tuition: $6,160 (Jewish families get a subsidy from the Millennium Fund of between $1,100 to $2,100 depending on the grade.)
Grades: Preschool-8
Teachers/staff: 25
New this year: Linda Brotsky promoted to head of school. Working with JESNA on strategic planning: how to maintain a day school in a small community.
Mosdos Ohr Hatorah
Associated Movement: Rigorously Orthodox
Enrollment: Close to 500, up from about 460 last year
Tuition: Undisclosed
Grades: Girls, Preschool-12; Boys, Preschoool-8
Teachers/staff: 70
The Hebrew Academy of Cleveland
Associated Movement: Orthodox
Enrollment: 775, up from 768 last year
Tuition: From $7,795 for kindergarten to $11,075 for high school
Grades: preschool-12
Teachers/staff: 130