After receiving word in April that the Buffalo Diocese was cutting financial aid for Notre Dame High School, Principal Wade Bianco, his staff, and the board of trustees got busy figuring out a way to reduce spending by $125,000 in a way that wouldn't hurt students or the families that depend on paychecks from the school.
"It’s an opportunity to stand alone and then get it done," Bianco said in an interview with WBTA.
There will be no layoffs, no classes cut, and no sports or other extracurricular activities cut, Bianco said.
He rattled off a series of small cuts that get the school pretty close to meeting its budget for 2018-19.
- With the retirement of the guidance counselor, that position will be merged with another administrative job, which will not only save money but mean a guidance counselor is on campus five days a week rather than just three.
- One employee is voluntarily shifting off of group health care coverage to Medicare.
- One business class, with only two students, is being shifted to online learning through Genesee Community College.
- The hockey booster club will help pay for ice time.
- The receptionist hours are being cut by 2.5 hours per week.
"It all adds up," Bianco said. "We’re just about to the number we need and we have increased participation in our annual fund from alumni because we have new strategies to do that. If we add students, compete, continue to be very responsive in how we navigate the operational side to the budget we should continue to meet cash flow for a long time."
He said he strategized with Mike Rapone and Tom Rapone on a plan that would "least affect kids, least affects families that work here, and least affects the excellent reputation of the school."
The reduction from the Diocese is a part of those made at Catholic schools and other Catholic institutions because of decreased revenue.
There may be other opportunities for savings, Bianco said. For example, the school is exploring a merger of the swimming program with another school.
"The public schools are doing that all the time," Bianco said. "So we're getting creative without losing opportunities for kids because we're a small school with big school opportunities. We offer 17 sports teams, a great music and arts program, a fantastic theater program. We're doing that for $1.4 million. That's just $9,000 per student. It costs the public almost $21,000 per student (in public schools)."
