St . Michael
Parish
612 North
Walnut Street
Plymouth, IN
46563
(574) 936-4935
Rev. John S. Korcsmar, C.S.C.
Pastor
jkorcsmar@saintmichaelplymouth.org
February 16,
2019
Dear Parent,
We know that
it is a sacrifice for you to help cover the expenses for your child(ren) at St.
Michael. We are grateful that you are willing to sacrifice for your child(ren)
to be in a faith-filled, Catholic educational environment. It takes a lot to
provide for the salaries, books, equipment, repairs, and utilities that we
need.
However,
this is also a major sacrifice for the parish and would be difficult to sustain
in the long run. Just as your sacrifices mean that you cannot afford some
things, the sacrifices from the parish mean that we are not doing repairs,
upkeep, and the programs we should. It is currently costing $7,000 per year per
student to operate the way we are. We cannot spend 70—80% of our collection on
the school and effectively maintain both church and school.
We need to be very intentional about
our expenses and our income. To keep the school at the level it is and to
maintain the parish buildings and programs, we need to:
1. Understand and communicate what it
costs to operate at this level,
2. Understand and be selective in
methods to raise the needed income,
3. Use our resources as carefully as we
can so that we can help those families that need assistance in an objective and
fair way.
We cannot
simply go on the way we have been, hoping that the necessary funds will appear.
We have to identify ways to meet our costs. The plan is to charge more closely
what it really costs and provide help through scholarships and other
plans. We move more closely to providing
the assistance on a needs-based basis.
Through discussions
with the Parish Finance Council, the Pastoral Council and the School Board we
have concluded that we need to move in a direction where the financial support
of the parish St. Michael School is more need-based. We want to be able to help
people. But we need to do it on a case-by-case basis. We plan to implement best
practices determined through discussions with other parishes and schools and
diocesan guidance.
With that in
mind, we are setting the tuition rates for the school year 2019-2020 at:
Non-Catholics, non-active Catholics: $5,600 per student
o
Active Catholic
families: 1 student $5,600
·
2 students
$10,304
·
3 students
$14,112
·
4 students
$17,696.
In order to register
for next year, all current tuition must be paid in full. Registration is not
complete until you receive a letter from Mrs. Baca from the church office.
In addition, in order to support families and reach our goals
of covering the actual cost of education we will use the following resources:
1.
Choice Vouchers
through the State of Indiana (Families must apply and qualify.)
2.
S.G.O.’s. These
are set up through the diocese and are needs-based scholarships to families
meeting federal income standards. We have asked parishioners to donate to this
fund. The diocese scholarship organization grants the funds to the school upon
the recommendation by St. Michael School.
3.
Income tax rules
now provide for use of a 529 plan to pay for elementary school tuition. Please
consult your tax preparer for more information.
4.
Parish financial
assistance. This is money set aside by the parish. One must apply through the
FACTS program.
5.
The Bishop D’Arcy
Scholarship for large families.
6. Scrip can be used as a means to obtaining credit towards tuition.
Learning
from the experience of many other parochial schools in our diocese, we use the
F.A.C.T.S. program as a way to determine which families need financial support
and how much. It gives us an objective and fair guideline that is not solely
based on family income level but does consider other aspects of family
situations.
We
encourage families, individuals, and businesses having the resources to
consider using the S.G.O. program or a direct donation to St. Michael School to
provide assistance for financial aid for those who need it. We are developing a
FAQ sheet which explains ways in which families can have to the assistance that
they need.
I am aware
that these things are not easy, but they are necessary in order to keep the
school and the parish at their current levels.
Sincerely,
Rev. John S.
Korcsmar, C.S.C.
Pastor
