One of the truly wonderful aspects of being a contract charter high school is that we are able to offer our program tuition-free! This is a real help to most families who have students at Mount Carmel Academy. With the funding we receive from the State of Texas through H.I.S.D., we are able to cover teacher salaries and other costs associated with educating your children.
However, state funding only covers part of the cost to educate a student.
The operational needs of the school remain! Our funding from H.I.S.D. only covers 65% of our cost to operate.
Therefore, we have reviewed our financial needs and are asking that every family at Mount Carmel Academy make a pledge to donate $150.00 to MCA each month.
Please consider these facts about our three major sources of funding:
(1) HISD provides MCA money based on our average daily attendance. This ADA Allotment is calculated by HISD from attendance records taken each day at 10:05 am. (This is why it is so important that a student not be absent except when truly sick or contagious.) And yet, in the best of circumstances, the ADA Allotment represents only approximately 65% of the money needed to run the school.
(2) The second source is fund-raising. That’s fund-raising in the form of donations, carnivals, auctions, raffles, daily sales, gifts, contributions and parental pledges.
(3) Lastly, we receive funding through grants.
We continually apply for grants and have received major amounts this way. But grants are given for specific purposes only, usually for "things", not for overhead and day-to-day operations. Plus, with most grants, the money has to be spent first - then submit the paid invoice to get reimbursed after the fact. So, if we don’t have the money in the bank first, we can’t spend it to get reimbursed, meaning the grant may not ever get used.
Fund-raising requires effort not just by the school staff and regular volunteers, but from all of us - the parents of students at the school. It's a major way we can show support for the school. When MCA applies for grants from major philanthropic foundations, the first thing they ask us is: "Do we get financial support from all of our families?" They ask justifiably "Why should we support your endeavor if your own families won't?"
We expect that you will want to help make sure that this "school of choice" stays open and has ample funding to give your student the support he or she needs to learn. I believe you can put people into two categories: givers and takers. Today, I'm challenging everyone to take this opportunity to be one of the givers.
That's why we're calling this donation plan our G.I.F.T.S. Program: Giving Is Fundemental to Success.
The good news is that the Internal Revenue Services has granted MCA status as a "501c 3 Public Charity." Therefore, donations to Mount Carmel Academy are tax-deductible. Furthermore, for those of you who were paying tuition for your children last year, MCA gives you the opportunity to share a small part of the savings from having no tuition this year, and to get a tax deduction for that sharing.
There is a pledge card attached to this letter. Please review your own financial situation and then fill out the card with a pledge you can honor throughout the coming school year. We will all be blessed by your help and generosity!
Paul Sobieski
President
Mount Carmel Academy
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