Annual Operating Budget

Annual Operating Budget

Overview

St. Francis de Sales High School’s operating budget for the 2009/2010 school year was $5.6 million.

Teachers’ salaries, health care premiums, heating oil, instructional supplies, administrative fees, maintenance, etc. – the total cost of educating 600 young men last year amounted to $5.6 million.  So, to cover the cost of educating these 600 young men (including the provision of approximately $1.6 million in financial aid and scholarships to almost two-thirds of the student body), the School charged tuition, utilized interest income from the Endowment Fund and, to fill the gap, sought and received generous donations from alumni, parents and friends….

The Critical Importance of Capital and Annual Giving

Currently, the Endowment Fund stands at $5.4 million.  By comparison, many top independent schools throughout the country have endowments per student well more than twice that of the School’s.  Without the benefit of a large Endowment Fund, SFS remains highly dependent on student tuition to meet its operating needs.  Currently, income from the Endowment Fund provides for less than 4% of the School’s operating budget. 

The rising cost of education in general has consistently outpaced inflation and is even more dramatic in Catholic schools that, out of necessity, have transitioned from predominately religious faculties to predominately lay faculties.  In an economic environment of steadily increasing costs, a more substantial Endowment Fund is necessary not only to drive programmatic expansion, but also to ensure that a Knight education remains affordable for all deserving students and their families.

At the same time, and to ease annual budget constraints, a strong SFS Annual Fund -- the primary annual giving program for the School’s alumni, parents and friends -- is essential to the fiscal well-being of the School.

The Endowment Fund and the SFS Annual Fund are at the heart of the School’s capital and annual giving platforms, respectively.  Donor support is critical to the School’s ability to maintain the excellence of a Knight education for future generations of students.  And St. Francis de Sales High School is grateful for the kind generosity of its benefactors -- past, present and future....