That leaves Menaul School administrator Michael Gaylor in the position of trying to guess what the GA committee will recommend, and whether the school will have enough funds to complete the current year, let alone have classes next fall.
In the past fiscal year, the college-preparatory school, which has an enrollment of approximately 350 students in grades six through twelve, received $1.1 million in donations. This year, they have received only $608,000.
The drop-off in giving has occurred primarily in the area of private donors.
“We have more donors today than we’ve ever had in the past,” says Gaylor. “So we get more support, but that support is less in terms of individual gifts.”
Last year $315,000 of the budget came from the PC(USA)’s Christmas Joy Offering. Private donors, including churches and individuals, accounted for $762,000. This year, the amount of money coming to the school from private donors has decreased by half.
With 61 percent of its student body made up of students of color, Menaul School is one of eight ethnic schools and colleges affiliated with the PC(USA), and one of only two secondary schools so affiliated. Of the students, 44 percent are Hispanic, 13 percent Native American, 3 percent African American, 2 percent Asian and the balance are Anglo.
Over the last several years, tuition has increased. For the 2002-2003 year it is $7,700; for the 2003-4 year it will be $9,500. The school offers between $350,000 and $400,000 per year — the equivalent of 10 percent of the school’s budget — in financial aid, but, according to Gaylor, this doesn’t meet the need.
Pre-paid tuition is received in late spring, and in past years, Menaul School has tapped into this money to pay for the previous year’s operating budget. But at the February board meeting, members decided this was no longer an appropriate means of keeping the school operational. As a result, the school will put pre-paid tuition funds in escrow and seek other means of additional support, including asking for the General Assembly and synod loans. Gaylor says its the first time in the school’s 122-year history that it has asked the General Assembly for a loan.
Although Menaul School finds itself in the middle of a tremendous financial crisis, none of those affiliated with the school are thinking of giving up.
“This is the most difficult position I’ve ever been in with an organization,” says Gaylor, who came to Menaul School in May 2000. “If we get through this year there will have to be changes made in how the school operates while at the same time honoring our historic mission. But I do believe we can come out of this stronger than we’ve ever been.”
“We’re in a prayerful mood; we’re in a hopeful mood. We’re saying to ourselves: this is an institution worth saving,” says Frank Yates, board member and pastor of St. Andrew church, Albuquerque.
Founded by Sheldon Jackson
Menaul School was founded in 1881 by Sheldon Jackson, who arrived in Albuquerque at a time when doing ministry in the western U.S. earned him the title of “foreign missionary.” For most of its history, the institution served as a boarding school for places in northern New Mexico and Native American reservations that did not have adequate secondary education.
In 1972, the national church turned over control of Menaul School to a local board of trustees. Since then, the Christmas Joy Offering has constituted the major part of financial support the school receives from the national church. In addition, the school receives generous amounts of money from churches around the country.
“We would not be here if not for the Presbyterian Church,” adds Gaylor.
In May 2000, the boarding program closed. Now, although the school still strives to fulfill the historical mission of serving students indigenous to New Mexico, its students come primarily from Albuquerque and the surrounding areas.
According to Gaylor, Menaul School has always lived on a shoestring. At one point, the school sold off land in order to meet operating budgets, but that money has since been depleted. Part of the problem is that tuition costs are too low to support the school.
Yates believes that “the heart of the problem is that we don’t have an endowment.”
According to Gary Luhr, executive director of the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities, however, the biggest problem faced by most educational institutions is a decrease in endowment funds due to the declining value of the stock market. Nevertheless, Luhr believes that Menaul School is in a uniquely difficult financial position.
The school’s long term goal is to establish an endowment program. In the mean time, if giving increases and loans are approved, the funds will be allocated first to financial aid, then to instruction and instructional support, says Gaylor.
“Students whose families have attended Menaul School for generations don’t have the resources to pay for tuition,” remarks Gaylor. “So the more financial aid we can provide, the more students we can help.”
For more information about the Menaul School, contact Jill Criswell, advancement director by e-mail at [email protected]; phone 800/301-7727; or by mail at Menaul School, 301 Menaul Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, N.M. 87107. The school’s Web site is: www.menaulschool.com.
Amy Starr Redwine is a freelance writer living in Denver.
