Message from the Board and School Chair, April 2020
Dear Parents,
What a few weeks this has been! All of us have had to absorb vast changes in an exceedingly short period of time: changes for parents juggling work–or facing the loss of a job–and having children home 24/7; changes for teachers asked to transform teaching methods within just a week or two. The world is changing, too, and while no one has a crystal ball, parents, teachers and schools need to continue planning and working toward the future. The school’s leadership bodies are working to secure our financial stability. Re-enrollment is the foundation of our planning and we want to do everything we can to welcome you back when our doors reopen.
What We’ve Done
This year we expect a loss of revenue of around $200,000 (mostly from camps, aftercare, and diminished returns from our spring gala and Annual Support Campaign), but we have taken immediate actions to cut costs and keep the operating deficit as small as possible. Tightening our belts now is our best chance at being able to start next year strong. Administration has gone through our budget with a fine-toothed comb, cutting or deferring expenses throughout the school, and revisiting the terms of our contracts with vendors. The Board and Finance Committee are meeting weekly, researching the various loans, relief programs, and stimulus options, as well as what we can renegotiate, such as our mortgage on the facilities and the rent we pay to use the land next to the tracks. It is too early yet to know what these measures will yield. Finally, and most reluctantly, we’ve furloughed most of our part-time hourly faculty and staff. Depending on how enrollment numbers for the fall progress, additional cuts may be necessary.
While we are still discussing how best to get through spring, the Board of Trustees is also busy developing strategies for navigating an uncertain fall. Most significantly, we don’t know when our campus will reopen and we don’t know how many families will rejoin us when it does. Most of our trustees are also parents and we understand the hardship and anxiety you may be experiencing. We want to offer all the support we can, while working to ensure the school’s financial and physical stability. We expect that the campus will remain closed through June, and that summer programs will be canceled. We will confirm these dates as soon as we can. We will also wait a bit to make decisions about end of the year events such as promotions and graduations, holding out for better news. The end of April will likely bring more clarity. It is next year that poses the greatest challenge.
How You Can Help
The Finance Committee, chaired by trustee Oliver Schramm and consisting of administration, trustees, faculty and parents, is examining what accommodations we can offer in light of parents’ shifting finances; our goal is to maintain our community and find ways to allow families to return who need greater flexibility. To this end, we are waiving both the re-enrollment deadline and any associated fees. If you are able to make a commitment to next year, we would be grateful to know. In the next week, we also plan to survey families on the factors that may impact their school choice for next year. Please, if you have any questions or concerns you need to resolve before you can consider re-enrolling, contact our Admissions Office or the Business Office! We want to understand your circumstances and will consider any reasonable request. You will shortly hear about a special Resilience Fund we are creating for emergency relief, aimed at supporting parents and retaining staff.
These are hard times, but we are a strong community. We know classes are finding ways to stay in touch and support each other, and teachers and families are finding new ways to be creative together. Trustees, teachers, and administrative staff remain committed to providing an outstanding Waldorf education to our community well into the future. We will keep you apprised of changes as we clarify them, but more than anything, we look forward to the time when this crisis is past, and we can all watch the children dance around the maypole, carry their lanterns through the dark, and sing their hearts out together. That day will come!
Sincerely,
Maya Muir, Board Chair
Jamie Quirk, School Chair