Employment, revenues steady at private schools

Connecticut”™s 25 most moneyed private schools ”“ as ranked by annual revenue ”“ cut just 50 jobs in the 2009-2010 academic year when many families were still assessing the value of a private school education against the vicissitudes of a recession that threatened compensation and even careers.

What”™s more, the seven Fairfield County schools on that revenue list actually increased headcount 2 percent as a group, largely due to King Low Heywood Thomas in Stamford reporting a big employee increase.

For the past two years, nonprofits have been required to file workforce numbers with the Internal Revenue Service, providing a first glimpse at year-over-year employment trends. Those figures can be deceiving, however, given they do not count out part-time and full-time workers. Nevertheless as an employer, private schools appeared to have provided an oasis of stability even as companies continued contemplating job cuts entering the autumn of 2010, the most recent period for which schools reported employment and financial data to the IRS.

While school revenue rose 14 percent, that includes the impact of rebounding investment portfolios at various institutions, which was significant in some instances, as well as contributions that can be both a function of regular alumni giving as well as the commencement or conclusion of a capital campaign.

The Westover School in Middlebury tripled its revenue in fiscal 2010, due to a big loss it took on investments the year before. Conversely, after recording a $45.8 million gain in fiscal 2009 on its investment portfolio, the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville saw investment income plunge last year to $8.7 million. Still, it finished the year with more than $500 million in total assets, tops among Connecticut schools.

As a group, Connecticut”™s 25 elite private schools represent a formidable economic engine, spending more than $660 million in the fiscal year ending in 2010 while recording a $75 million gain to push their total assets over the $3.5 billion mark.

For anyone counting at home ”“ starting with parents footing the bill ”“ that comes out to about a $5,900 “profit” for each of the 13,000 students enrolled in those schools.

That of course is just the 25 wealthiest schools ”“ 56 members of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) reported a combined enrollment of 22,560 students in the most recent academic year, with comparisons to previous years difficult due to differing numbers of schools responding to the survey in a given year.

CAIS calculated an average median tuition of $45,000 among member schools for the most recent academic year, up from about $42,200 the year before, or a 6 percent increase coming off a historic recession.

The percentage of families receiving financial aid rose slightly to 27 percent from 25 percent the previous year, with the median award totaling $19,000.

Financial aid has long been the quiet rebuttal for schools (and colleges) charging whopping tuitions to the chagrin of some families ”“  those who can pay do, schools argue, and those who cannot get help. Still, it leaves schools stuck with the image of being hopelessly out of touch with the means of middle-class families to afford a private school education, and the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) has raised the topic in forums addressing tuition inflation.

CAIS has scheduled its annual trustees conference for Oct. 1 at the Hopkins School in New Haven. Patrick Bassett, NAIS president and former headmaster of the Pomfret School in Windham County, returns to share case studies on school governance while an NAIS colleague plans to share data on what steps schools took during the recession to weather the storm. And a Wilton consultant named Jean Haynes will share tips on helping schools improve fundraising in lean economic times ”“ her clients have included Fairfield Country Day School and Greens Farms Academy in Westport, and she held a fundraising position at St. Luke”™s School in New Canaan.