We all want a board filled with passionate supporters. Every parochial school has just that. Unfortunately, the passion and support are less obvious than desired. [...]
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Every parochial school has the potential to be operating at capacity. There are more than enough children in every neighborhood. Every community has more than enough money to scholarship the students with needs. The reality is that most Christian schools are operating below capacity. They have very little community support. Children walk past them daily [...] Periodically Christian schools struggle with financial problems. There are many reasons. A common symptom is the lack of money. However, the real reason might be donor engagement or declining enrollment. Those problems arose a few years ago but this is the first year for a budget deficit. It may appear to some on the board that the deficit is due to overspending rather than a lack of income. [...] Everybody wants an engaged board. The engaged boards are the high performance boards. How do you create an engaged board? Before we tackle that question perhaps, it would be good to define what an engaged board looks like. Every board member … [...] How do you know if the board meetings are effective? The ultimate measure is the success of the parochial school. When the students are growing and changing, enrollment is increasing, donors are more generous, and the year-end report shows a modest surplus, it is easy to conclude that the board is effective. Is there a way to evaluate effectiveness between annual reports? [...] We believe that the majority of the parochial schools across the country are struggling. By our definition, a school is struggling if enrollment has declined for the past three or more years. Fundraising is stagnate or declining. It has had an operating loss for two or more years. In short, the longevity of the school is in doubt. [...] Unfortunately, about 70% of the parochial schools are under stress. That is an unscientific number. However, based upon our experience it is defendable. [...] Independent of the economy and all of the other external factors, there are things you and the board can do to change the future. The right change will make the school more competitive. [...] |
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