Parents’ Association Financial Report: Fall 2021 to February 2022

The Stuyvesant High School Parents’ Association (PA) has shared its budget report for the 2021-2022 school year with The Spectator. This report outlines how the PA has gathered and distributed its funds starting from July 2021 until February 2022, in addition to their plans for the spring semester.

REVENUE BREAKDOWN

In this time period, the PA generated $536,645 in total revenue, an increase of $59,426 from the $477,219 generated in a semester of the 2020-2021 school year. While total revenue has increased, the revenue distribution is similar to that of previous years, with profits from Annual Appeals, Matching Gifts, and Spring Feast sales still being the main sources of revenue.

The PA’s expenditures on Program Services this school year have primarily targeted supporting academics and extracurriculars at Stuyvesant that are not funded by the Department of Education (DOE). It is important to note that program services allocated for this school year required $90,889, a significant drop from the 2020-2021 school year’s $136,537. Much of this change was due to a $58,399 decrease in spending on general support, a category that mainly involves funding of academic platforms such as Jupiter, PupilPath, and Talos.

PROGRAM SERVICES BREAKDOWN

However, while spending on general support decreased, expenses on Parent Communication/Education increased from $563 to $2,634. Furthermore, School Programs Support, a category that consists of support for extracurricular activities and academic subjects such as Speech and Debate, the Public Schools Athletic League, and computer science, increased drastically from $1,145 to $50,137.

Another notable difference from remote learning was the PA’s allocation of $25,000 for the 2021-2022 school year toward covering the cost gap that Stuyvesant faced in securing the rights to hold graduation at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The PA hasn’t reported how it has used these funds yet, but the payment will go in the category of Senior Activities, a significantly small portion of the pie chart.

Aside from Program Services, the PA’s budget is spent on appropriations during two rounds each school year: one in the fall and one in the spring. This ensures that all club activities, academics, and athletics throughout the year are provided with adequate funding. During both the fall and spring semesters, teachers, coaches, student leaders, and staff are given the chance to apply for monetary support from the PA through the Appropriations Committee.

Due to the return of in-person learning, the number of requests for funding clubs, instruments, textbooks, and labs this year compared to the 2020-2021 school year rose considerably. In the fall, eight of eight requests from Extracurricular Programs were funded, with seven being fully funded while one request was partially funded. While a fully-funded club receives its requested amount of money from the PA, a partially funded one obtains less than the solicited amount and has to obtain the remaining funds elsewhere. Sixteen of 17 requests (13 fully and three partially) from Academic Departments and all requests (seven fully and one partially) from Extracurricular Programs were funded.

APPROPRIATIONS BREAKDOWN

The trend of an increasing number of requests during in-person learning became more apparent in the spring, with 42 applications for funding compared to 26 in the fall. Requests from Extracurricular Programs increased to 18, with all of them being fulfilled (13 fully, five partially). All requests from Academic Departments were granted (13 fully, five partially).

As a result of the greater number of requests for funding, spending on appropriations increased from $45,187 last school year to $59,906 this year. Though appropriations for academics increased by $22,287, those for extracurricular activities decreased by $8,074. This is largely due to changes in how clubs and academic departments are funded, now receiving a set amount of funds determined by the PA as part of the Program Services expenses. This change is beneficial for many clubs and academic departments, as it allows them to have greater flexibility over how they can allocate their funds.

Overall, the Stuyvesant PA is satisfied with its performance this year. The PA believes that its communication with the Stuyvesant administration has improved from the 2020-2021 school year regarding strategically leveraging various sources of funding and distributing funds between the DOE and the PA. The association strives to continue supporting Stuyvesant’s students and staff in the spring semester.

ACADEMICS BREAKDOWN