We are officially introducing our Tiered Tuition Plan.
The plan is designed to make it easier for busy parents to clear their service hour and fundraising obligations or allow those parents who have more time for service hours and fundraising to pay a lower tuition rate.
Please take a moment to read Sr. Teresa’s letter as well as the details for each plan. Then, feel free to post your comments and ask questions of this new system.Please Note: These three different plans are in effect for next year. It is not just one or the other. Parents can choose which plan they can be on – this is your choice.
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A parent asked a question about service hours – service hours can still be done if you would like to volunteer on a field trip for your child’s class or the fiesta.
We are all aware that we are in recession right now due to financial meltdown. And a lot of parents are at risk in losing their jobs. Let’s face it, the economy is not showing any sign of recovery anytime soon. I think it is not prudent to raise the tuition fee at this time of the year. Please be considerate.
I like the gold plan – this will make my life a whole lot easier.
Tutition needs to go up higher – it is only being raised $10 a month. Teachers are paid a good rate for all of the work that they do, and all of the things that they have to do for the school.
Congratulations. st. gens!
Also, the tuition rate is not going up a large amount – Sr. Teresa explains that it is only about ten dollars a month.
In fact, if the numbers are added up, parents will actually save both time and money under the Gold Plan.
Even you choose the Blue Plan the increase in tuition fee for 2 child is $15.00 a month, the service hour from 40 hours to 65 hours and fund raising from $250.00 to $500.00. This is too much burden for me and for sure to other parents too, exept for Susan G. It is understandable to increase the tuition fee to $10.00 a month but not the service hour and fundraising
As you can see on the Tiered Tuition Poll “Gold” is up to 50%
If I choose GOLD and a Volunteer is EXTREMELY needed? Example — Having 40 hours FULFILLED for the school year as a GOLD PLAN. I prefer a cash refund of $400.00 PLEASE…
Is it O.K. to donate extra Service Hours to parents in NEED or parents who just found a new job?
Michael Felix
Please correct me if I’m wrong. Service Hours fulfilled.
My ACTUAL payment for 2008-2009 (3 Children)
$5100.00 Tuition (IN-PARISH RATE)
$ 300.00 Fundraising
$ 900.00 Reg. Fees
$ 240.00 Re-Reg. Fees
$ 300.00 Parishioner
————————
$ 6840.00 Total
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
For 2009-2010 (Tiered Tuition Plan)
GOLD $7200.00 + $300.00 Parishioner = $7500.00
$7500.00 – $6840.00 = $660.00 INCREASE per year
SILVER $ 5500.00
$ 400.00 Fundraising
$ 900.00 Reg. Fees
$ 240.00 Re-Reg. Fees
$ 300.00 Parishioner
——————————–
$ 7340.00 – $6840.00 = $500.00 Increase per year
BLUE $ 5150.00
$ 500.00 Fundraising
$ 900.00 Reg. Fees
$ 240.00 Re-Reg. Fees
$ 300.00 Parishioner
——————————–
$ 7090.00 – $6840.00 = $250.00 Increase per year
Calculations based on my 3 kids and having 40 or 65 hrs FULFILLED.
Let us clarify a few things:
Current year :
My ACTUAL payment for 2008-2009 (3 Children)
$5100.00 Tuition (IN-PARISH RATE)
$ 300.00 Fundraising
$ 900.00 Reg. Fees
$ 240.00 Re-Reg. Fees—
———————
$ 6840.00 Total
(the $300 parish fee you mention is not a fee to the school at all -that amount is tithed directly to the church and has no effect on the school income – except to give you a $500 break on your tuition rate which does directly affect the school. )
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
For 2009-2010 (Tiered Tuition Plan)
GOLD $7200.00
$7200.00 – $6840.00 = $360.00 INCREASE per year
(without ANY fundraising or service hour obligations – so for 3 children it translates to $120 per child per year or $12 per child per month)
SILVER $ 5500.00
$ 400.00 Fundraising
$ 900.00 Reg. Fees
$ 240.00 Re-Reg. Fees
——————————–
$ 7040.00 – $6840.00 = $160.00 Increase per year
(again, the parishioner fee you included does not go to the school so it is not one of our fees or a source of income for the school.)
(this tier comes with the current fundraising and service hour obligations – so for 3 children it translates to $32 per child per year or $3.20 per child per month)
BLUE $ 5150.00
$ 500.00 Fundraising
$ 900.00 Reg. Fees
$ 240.00 Re-Reg. Fees
——————————–
$ 6790.00 – $6840.00 = $50.00 less per year
(again, the parishioner fee you included does not go to the school so it is not one of our fees or a source of income for the school.)
the trade off here is that parents who need financial assistance will be responsible for making it up through additional fundraising and service hours.
Thank you for using this blog. We are getting some wonderful suggestions which we will probably be able to try in the months ahead. God bless.
Can we bring back the scrip as part of our fundraising? Thanks.
I think 40 hrs is reasonable but 65 hrs is just way too much for OTHER parents. CAN I DONATE MY EXTRA HOURS TO THOSE IN NEED? I’m willing to DONATE my extra hours to my friends.
What is the reason that fundraising need to go up 400 to 500 dollars.Especially now are you not aware whats going on to our economy.A lots of people loosing there job.We are not in recession right.we are in depression right.if you watching the news. It will take a year to recoverd are economy.
I have nothing against tuition increase, all I’m asking is to be more considerate, knowing we are in financial crisis right now.
I totally agree that the teachers of St. Genevieve need to be rewarded for their outstanding job they did to our kids education and to the school. But at this time of need, we need to come up with a better plan to pacify the issue of tuition increase and church donation.
The Fundraising amounts were streamlined. This means that instead of keeping track of how many children there are and how much each need to raise, the amount was made into a flat fee. These fundraising dollars go directly into the classroom for the purchases of textbooks, desks and chairs, whiteboards and materials.
Fundraising need to be based on how many children there are. It would be unfair to some parents who has only 1 child.
Just a few questions I’d like to raise:
1.) How many beneficiaries/students are extended scholarship by the school each year and how does the school fund this undertaking and or other similar endeavors? Is the scholarship funded externally by outside donors through grants or pledges?
2.)Does the school extend any form of tuition fee discounts to children/relatives of its faculty members and to what extent, if any?
3.)Does the school pay 100% or a fixed portion of the healthcare insurance premiums of all its entitled employees? Is there a limit as to how many dependents an employee can include in his/her insurance coverage?
Thanks
1. Through the generosity of various foundations, we have about 30 students that have been awarded tuition assistance grants.
2. There are currently about 5 students of faculty and staff. Each one of these students are paying the full tuition, including fundraising obligations.
How is this germane, I’m wondering?
As a parent, I believe it is relevant to bring forth into this discussion matters on the othe side of the fence which ultimately may or may not affect the financial condition of the school we all care about. At the end of the day, it is us, parents, who are going to be impacted by this.
Healthy discussions like this should be expanded to include not only ways on how to increase our revenues but also to generate suggestions or ideas on how to best allocate the school’s limited resources.
Thanks for your answers and thanks for seeking clarification on the relevance of my questions. I hope I was much clearer this time.
By the way, I believe there was one more question left on the table (# 3)
I welcome the conversation and believe it is healthy to address the issues. We certainly are not going to solve these issues here, but it is great to see that more and more questions are being asked.
I agree with Arnel Almazora. Fundraising need to be based on how many children there are. I only have one child. It hard for me to do the $200 in fundraising!
Mr. Lopez,
Thank you for your response and thanks for asking too on the relevance of my questions.
As a parent, I believe it is equally important for us to focus our attention not only on the different measures of increasing the school’s revenues to meet its growing needs but also to look into areas where we may be able to improve on the allocation or reallocation of the school’s limited resources.
I am not an accountant nor do I claim to be one but I think income and expenses are eternally married to one another and for us to have a more meaningful appreciation and understanding of the situation, I believe we have to look at these two things altogether.
I hope I was able to clear out whatever confusion I may have created.
Please disregard the preceding “duplicated” email.
I think there was a 2 or 3 hour delay in the posting of messages moments ago.
Mr. Lopez,
I think Percival Pacia deserve a definite answer regarding his question about the health care insurance and as a concern parent too we need to know all the issues that may affect the financial condition of the school. He is right that it is us, parents are the one impacted by this.
Sr. Teresa gave a detailed presentation at the PTO meeting two weeks ago. She spelled out the precise costs and income and expenses that the school has.
From what I understand, the problem is not one of lavish benefits that the teachers get. Healthcare is an expense that must be paid – cutting it will not attract teachers. Sr. Teresa has made many painful decisions, eliminating many positions last year precisely to avoid large increases in tuition.
We really should put all of this into perspective. The economic crisis affects us all – we are trying to maintain the same level of quality at St. Genevieve. We all know that there are some schools out there that cannot offer music, or band, or art, or computers instruction.
The tiered tuition plan is ultimately about giving parents choices.
Mr. Mike Felix, brought up a very good point about the new “Tiered Tuition Plan”. Based on the Tiered Tuition Poll “Gold” is up to 62% and gaining. If the majority of the parents choose “Gold” the school will be in jeopardy of losing a lot of volunteer workers. We all know that volunteer workers are extremely needed in a big event such as Fiesta and Family Day. How can you provide an added manpower to support these events?
Parents – I wanted to clarify something about these plans.
You can choose which plan you can sign up for. The poll on this blog is just for informational purposes only.
In other words, different families can sign up for different plans. We are not imposing a single plan for the whole school.
I hope this clears things up.
Mr. Lopez
We do understand the poll on this blog that we have to choose ONE plan.
I’m one of the regular with Construction Crew as a “HELPER”. During Summer Time and at the start of school year, we are called upon for inventory and some meeting in preparation for the Fiesta. On Fiesta week, most of us work from 8 to 12 hours a day due to SHORTAGE OF MANPOWER.
1) Are YOU willing or know someone? That can provide us with the HELP or MANPOWER we will need for the upcoming FIESTA?
2) Every year, I have extra Service Hours. Can I DONATE any EXTRA hours to those in need?
We do not want to make an issue of something that is merely a speculation. The message we are trying to send across is to give you guys an insight of what might happened in the event the majority of the parents choose “Gold”. I hope you guys have a backup plan to remedy this situation. We as a concerned parents we do not want the school to face this kind of dilemma later on.
These are all very good points and concerns that are being made.
There is no way that every single parent is going to choose to be on the Gold plan. Most people do not have the resources to pay the full tuition amount, which is what the Gold plan is. This is why we have the options for the Silver Plan (which is the current amount of tuition and fundraising) and the Blue plan (which is a lower monthly tuition, but more service hours and more fundraising to help defray the costs).
In the end, the number of parents under the Gold plan will balance out the number of parents under the other two plans.
Thank you to the many parents who have made helpful suggestions on our blog. We are grateful for Mr. Lopez in putting this up so parents who could not attend our PTO meeting where all of this was discussed might have a chance to ask questions.
We have decided to trust the generosity of our parents and make the fundraising fee $300.00 per family, rather than the $400.00 which the school will probably need to offset increases in benefits for our teachers and staff who work over 30 hours a week. As was announced, our teachers will not receive a salary increase this year, but we know that the benefits increase between 8 and 15 % each year. Thus the need to increase tuition by at least $100 a year and increase our fundraising fee.
We need everyone working together so that our tuition can remain the lowest possible amount and yet continue to have a vibrant school with the extra opportunities that our students have here at St. Genevieve School. Most schools in our area are cutting out music programs, after school programs, teacher aides, and technology. We want to continue to fund these programs but we need your help. Fundraising is a way to offset tuition and give you the opportunity to find these funds outside your own pockets.
There are several schools closing their doors in this archdiocese due to lack of enrollment. We thank God that we have a very attractive school, with very dedicated teachers who are both committed to their Catholic faith and your children and are willing to work with lower pay than they would receive in public schools. We also thank our parents who are willing to sacrifice so that their children will profit from a quality Catholic education in an atmosphere where they can grow and learn not only academics but especially their Christian faith and character education. God bless. Sr. Teresa
We understand that you have to raise the fees so that you may provide for the teachers and students but when you don’t gamble and play golf you can only sale so much candy and QSP.(especially today)
Scrip was a really good idea and if it wasnt so unorganized it probably would have worked out better.
I would also like to say that as working parents we go by the calendar to make appointments and schedule out of school activities and if its not updated regularly it makes it impossible to keep it together.
Mr.Lopez the web and the blog are great and it would be a lot better if you could get the teachers to use it on a regular basis.(DAILY).I’m sure they have a couple of minutes during quite reading that they can put in homework and update notes to parents. I mean if they can make time for phone calls then they should be able to put the childrens needs into the schedule daily .
As a parent, we want to put our kids to a better school. I tried to put my son in a public school in kindergarten, but i have to transfer him to a private school because he got bullied by other kids. There is no questions , our school is one of the best.I don’t have to worry about my son getting bullied again. But i don’t think that this is the best time to raise the tuition fee. Be considerate, a lot us are suffering from the recession.
By the way, i’m giving my thumbs up to all the teachers. They really deserve to get a better benefits. They work so hard for our kids.It’s just so sad that it’s such a bad timing for everyone. I was hoping that we can all work it out and be fair to all.
Thanks for your comment, Lani.
Just to clarify: tuition is only being raised $10 a month.
If parents want to avoid service hours or fundraising, then they can choose to pay the premium tuition rate.
If they want to keep things as they are, then they choose the Silver plan.
If they want to pay a lower monthly rate, but do more to help the school, then they will choose Blue.
Also, Sr. Teresa has lowered the proposed Fundraising Fee for next school year.
Thank you to the many parents who are taking the survey on our new tuition plan. This plan will help all of our parents, those who do not have the time to do service hours or fundraising and those who are in a bind financially. Our tuition is the lowest in San Fernando Valley even with the $100.00 increase and I think that it would be hard to find any other private school who offers more in the way of academics, extra curricular activities, help to struggling students, music programs, technology, and a warm and friendly environment that we work so hard to provide our students.
We must raise tuition gradually each year slightly due to the benefits increase, inflation. We are being fair to all in the slight increase as we are not trying to make a profit but just trying to come out at the end of the year with no deficits.
On a more positive note, we have everyday at least 3 to 4 new families coming to enroll their children in our school. They have heard wonderful things about St. Genevieve, its teachers, students and want their children to become part of our school. This is very encouraging as many schools are losing students while we are daily gaining them. Thank you for all your support and for making the sacrifices that you are to send your children here.
God bless,
Sr. Teresa
It’s normal that the tuition is going up it’s typical. You’re not increasing the tuition at an unbelievable amount. I expect it every year. However it is difficult to sell the fundraiser. No one wants to buy. I feel like St. Gen’s is always asking for money through out the entire year on top of all the fundraiser fees. I give my kids money every other day for some kind of fundraiser or for a charity. I understand that we are supposed to help others. With the fundraiser going up I would hope St. Gen’s would understand that I can’t be so giving every other day.
I’m lucky to have my job right now and I think everyone needs to take into consideration times are going to get tougher and financially people are going to struggle more.
It’s unfortunate that the teachers will not receive an increase this year but in reality who is getting a raise in this economy right now? If anything people are lucky to have their jobs. You see 300 people fighting for the same job.
I would like to know why the fiesta raffle tickets are not included in the fundraising?
I was wondering if you could bring back the scrip program?
Are you going to have more choices for the fundraising in the next school year?
Hello,
I would like to raise a question regarding the Casino Night that’s been on my mind for a while.
Why is St.Genevieve Parish promoting gambling by having Casino Night, which can lead to an addiction in the future?
The majority of people visit the casino for entertainment. Playing the games is an enjoyable experience and the lure of winning money adds to a one’s excitement. Some players enjoy the adrenaline rush and experience a high that accompanies the thrill when they risk their money on the games. For some this feeling can be seductive and alluring and some players succumb to the darker side of gambling, addiction.
Addiction is a compulsive need. What starts as a pleasurable experience turns into an uncontrollable destructive craving. Some people become addicted to alcohol, drugs, food and gambling. When the thrill of the game outweighs everything else, the player has crossed over the line from player to addict. Gambling, like all addictions can be devastating for the person and his family.
Our children are influenced by us, they observe our behavior and often mirror what we do.
As parents and Catholics do we really want our kids to witness us going to Casino Nights and gamble? What message are we sending to our kids?
Gambling can be as addictive as alcohol or drugs.
Even just promoting gambling at school (Casino Night) sends the wrong message to our children.
Is this really the message that the school wants to send to our kids?
Please help me understand this.
Thank you.
Please help me with my COMPUTATIONSfor my three kids
(In-Parish Rate)
Tuition Paid 2007-2008 $ 4,900.00
Tuition Paid 2008-2009 $ 5,100.00 ( $200.00 INCREASE)
Silver Plan 2009-2010 $ 5,500.00 ( $400.00 INCREASE)
*From Mr. Lopez BLOG – If they want to keep things as they
are, then they choose the Silver plan.
If the increase is $100.00 per child multiplied by 3 kids = $ 300.00 ONLY. Why is the increase of $400.00 for the SILVER PLAN?
I don’t understand – the logic of some of these parents – if the economy is bad, doesn’t it occur to you that it might affect the school too? Cutting healthcare is not an option.
Teachers at this school work hard – get paid close to nothing – put up with our kids and still won’t get a raise this year –
If $100 a year is too much for your child, then there are many many public schools that they can go to. I speak for many parents who love ST. Genevieve, who love our students and will help out in any way we can.
Sr. Teresa is an improvement over Sr. Bertha and the old, stingy ways. We have so many more opportunities for our kids. I really do not get why there are so many misinformed parents!
Remember that you get what you pay for…
This blog entry is in defense tof the PTO Board members who came up w/ the idea of Casino Night.
In light of those negative reactions toward the forthcoming fundraiser — I, on the other hand, wishes to commend the people behind this event — both past & present. You have my 100% support!
The event does raise controversy re PROS & CONS — no doubt there. But dear parents, dont you think our kids know better than be influenced & succumbed to the idea of gambling just by mere holding such event? Im confident in our children that they know what’s right & what’s wrong. They have been groomed & molded by our reputable teachers to be good kids. St. Genevieve is a school of character, aint it? So I really believe that holding such fundraising doesn’t necessarily influence & push our kids into gambling.
This Casino Night is another fun-filled after-school activity w/ the primary intention of raising funds to help our school. Now for those parents who still does, and continue to question the idea of Casino Night — why dont you come forward & give us suggestions of any other fundraising activity.
So here’s hoping for more support for our Casino Night from other parents out there ….. thnx.
Thanks again for posting your comments. Here is an attempt to answer a couple of questions that were posted yesterday.
NEW TUITION RATE
The school finance committee met (there were 6 of us – myself, 2 parents of students here and 3 who have an extensive understanding of budgets, one works with USC another with LA Unified and another was involved in the oil industry finance). The two parents also work with budgets and finance.
The Archdiocese has asked us to make our tuition the amount that it costs to educate one child – for us here at St. Genevieve it amounts to $4,100.00 per child. There are families that have one child, some with two, some with three or more.
I do not want to charge $4,100.00 per child as this would make it impossible for some of our parents to afford this amount – for two it would be $8,200.00 and for three it would be $12,300.00. But at the same time the committee felt that for families with two children it would be important that they provide more than just $800.00 for the second child as the other families have to pitch in the other $3,200.00 for that second child.
I argued on the part of families who already have more expenses with two children and we compromised with parents of two children paying half of the first tuition for the second and an additional $1000.00 for the third or more. It won’t help us to come up with the missing funds for the second or third child, but it will certainly help so that we are not left with a deficit at the end of the year.
Many schools are now charging the full tuition per child with no discounts for families. This way they do not have to worry about their income and how to provide for families with more than one child.
So this is the break down of the Just The Tuition:
ONE CHILD: $3,000.00
TWO CHILDREN: $4,500.00
THREE CHILDREN: $5,500.00
NOT INCLUDED IN THIS TUITION:
* Registration Fee: $300.00 per child which covers books for the year, testing, school supplies for the teachers, office machines which run off all the papers for the year, and desks and chairs, and the laptops.
* Fundraising Fee: $300.00 per family
This helps us pay the benefits and salaries of our teachers
* Service Hours: $400.00 or the hours worked
* Re-registration Fee: $80.00 per child
I hope this helps to clarify any questions regarding the new tuition scale. Remember that you may apply for a scholarship and there are some scholarships that are given based not on income, but on family need. All you have to do is to:
* Fill out the Catholic Education Foundation Scholarship
* Attach a copy of your Tax forms
* Attach an additional letter if your family does not fall within the range
Hope this helps… Sr. Teresa
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND MORE POWER TO YOU ST. GENEVIEVE SCHOOL!! I WAS HOPING THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY ALL THE ISSUES WILL BE RESOLVED.
Just a suggestion, CHUCK E. CHEESE every 3rd or 4th Friday
of the month after school from 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm.
All parents have every right to ask questions. And we are thankful that most of the questions we have raised have been answered to some extent. This blog was created as a forum to understand all the issues we have in the school, especially the increase of the tuition fee, fund raising, casino night, and many more. This blog also served as the 2nd medium of information to most parents who can not attend the PTO meeting.
We need to face the fact that the economy is in bad shape right now, and we need to understand that everyone will be affected by it, even the school. The increase in tuition fee of $100 per student is not new to us. But, the Fundraising need to be based on how many children there are. It would be unfair to some parents who have only 1 child.
Most parents are aware that the teachers of St. Genevieve really work hard in giving our children the best education they could possibly get, and I agree that they deserve to be rewarded for a tremendous job they have done to our children.
Many people in all walks life are facing layoff, cut of hours work, cut of work days, and many more. Every company is trying their very best to eliminate downsizing of employees and they even put a hold on employee increase, just to justify in keeping their valued employees.
I know some parents who are in financial hardship right now, in spite of their financial status, that did not deter them form sending their kids to St. Genevieve. These parents love St. Genevieve so much and they never crossed their mind in sending their kids to a public school in spite of financial problem. And raising questions about tuition fee is not a mortal sin, it is a moral duty and obligation to inform the parents of what to expect.
Good morning:
The Chuck E Cheese idea is great but they only allow us 2 visits per year for fundraising. Next year we hope to add a couple of options for additional fund raising. We hope this will help parents meet their obligation of $300.00 per year. We do not have a surplus of monies at the end of the year because we also have the summer program which takes additional money to run it. We never gain during the summer months because we try to keep the tuition for summer school and summer camp low so that as many parents who work will be able to afford this.
We do not want to start up the scrip program again because:
* many stores are closing and their gift cards are worthless
* there were some scams and some schools lost money
* it is very time consuming and we do not have the monies to hire someone to take care of this
* the Archdiocese has suggested that schools not get involved in scrip
We can however get linked up to escrip through food stores and maybe this is another way parents can earn fundraising fee credits. We will look into this.
Thank you for your lively and insightful discussion and thoughts. Have a great weekend. Sr. Teresa
Sr. Teresa:
I thank you for handling situations with such professional understanding that I doubt anyone else could have the way you did. I am honored that my daughter is part of such a great school.