Isabella Sanchez ’16: Episcopal’s administration decided last month to cut back on non-tuition financial aid assistance and examine more closely how funds are provided for activities such as student trips, in response to a deficit in the non-tuition financial aid budget. Speculation has arisen concerning what this entails for students and their families.
Lawrence Capuzzi, a member of the Business Office, said, “Every year the board of trustees approves a budget that the finance committee sets and within that budget there is a certain amount set for non-tuition financial aid.” This year, it became evident in late October that this budget had already been spent.
“The school is in a deficit spending position,” according to Tom Kossuth, Associate Director of admissions and Director of Financial aid. “At this point, we are still looking at three and a half more months of covering expenses, [and] because of this we have had to make some adjustments.” These adjustments mean many students will not receive the same amount of assistance, or any assistance, with certain expenses that aren’t deemed essential to attending Episcopal.
However, Dr. Catherine Hall, Assistant Head of School, emphasized that there is truly no major change.
“Though it may seem that way,” said Hall, “the only different thing is that now we are paying a little more careful attention to the budget.”
“In the previous years people have made requests for assistance and it has been given quite blindly,” explained Capuzzi. “We have been setting a plan for next year in order to better identify what those essential things we need to really help with are.”
Examples of essential things include textbooks and uniforms. Hall continued, “Things that are necessary to play a sport will be covered, like cleats for soccer.” Also covered are “outside courses that […] from an academic standpoint, a student may really need to take in order to be successful in our program. A lot of it is case by case.”
However, some students expressed concern over the change. Maya Johnston ‘17 said, “A lot of sports are doing trips whether it be to Florida or somewhere overseas and I’m curious to see whether those things will still be covered. I think that if it isn’t, a lot of students who can’t afford the trips will feel excluded even if they are really good varsity athletes.”
In response, Hall stated, “We would never want students to feel as though they were left out of their sports team and we know how important these trips are to team development. We are really working hard to come up with the best solution for this.”
According to Hall, possibilities include team fundraising and adding the cost of those who can’t afford it to the total cost for everyone.
“We will definitely find a way to restructure some things in order to make sure that students can still fully participate in these trips.”
Other students expressed concern about what these new restrictions may mean for them. Marina Rivera ‘16, said, “It creates a more significant divider between the socio-economic classes in our school because those students with less resources will be given less chances for extra opportunities.”
Joesi Rider ’15 agreed, stating, “I think that by restricting the financial assistance it may take away from the overall experience as it will take away some opportunities for student who can’t afford the more expensive things like overseas trips. I think its good to be more selective in order to stay with the budget, but the aide for even the things that are less essential should still be there.”
Chris Redden ’15 added, “It is concerning to know that I may not be able to attend the same trips and events as my friends during senior year.”
“I was fortunate enough, though to receive the aid for several trips and things,” continued Redden. “I feel bad for the students in the younger grades who may not be able to get some of these same opportunities I got because they can’t afford it.”
Hall maintained, “It has been a matter of being fiscally responsible and making sure the money we do have in the budget can we spread as widely and as effectively as possible for students. In an ideal world we would love to send every student on every trip and give everyone every opportunity, but the reality is knowing and managing what we can actually physically fund.”