EC Approves Innovative Budget

Tuesday, 02 March 2010 09:49

The membership of Eastern Christian School Association met on February 26 to approve an innovative and bold 2010-2011 operating budget which supports Eastern Christian School's future focused strategic initiatives and includes a number of highly creative sources of alternative revenue.

The $8,363,182 budget approved by the Association provides support for continued educational excellence and enrollment growth at Eastern Christian and for the long term sustainability of the school. Headline objectives targeted in the budget include no increase in tuition and a significant increase in the scholarship budget of the school in order to maintain the affordability of an Eastern Christian education and to grow enrollment. The budget also includes increases in the compensation and professional development budgets for faculty and staff members in order to continue to position Eastern Christian as an attractive workplace for top quality teachers and support staff.

Eastern Christian announced that it was moving forward with three innovative programs to provide alternative sources of revenue which will help to maintain affordability for current Eastern Christian families and sustain the financial health of the school for future generations. These programs include

• The formation of ditto, an upscale, 11,000 sq. ft. retails store scheduled to open in North Haledon in the summer of 2010.
• The establishment of Eastern Christian summer programs for both local and international students.
• The installation of solar energy generating equipment on Eastern Christian's three campuses with a goal of significantly reducing the school's use of externally generated electricity.

Eastern Christian's Board of Directors and administration believe that the creative, bold and decisive actions included in the budget continue the school's focus on the future and directly support educational excellence, affordability and the sustainability of Eastern Christian School for generations to come.