Enrollment at Central Texas Christian School, which houses pre-kindergarten through 12th-graders, has seen an enrollment rise of more than 70 students since 2006, and has doubled its enrollment since 2000.
“We seem to fit a niche in the area,” said Jim Bell, CTCS director of development and communications. “We’re the only private interdenominational Christian-based school in the area. We’re not associated with any churches, so we can draw in a bigger crowd.”
Across the country, private schools seem to be getting hit hard by an economic crunch that has seen energy and food prices rise. An article on the subject estimated that some Christian-based schools in Virginia had seen enrollment numbers drop from anywhere between 2 and 10 percent.
Job loss and the rising costs of goods seemed to be the problem experts in the AP article mentioned when discussing reasons for the enrollment drops.
For parents in Temple, choosing between sending children to private schools or public schools hasn’t seemed to be a problem, even at a steep cost.
Yearly tuition at CTCS can cost parents anywhere from more than $2,900 to $5,400 per student depending upon grade level.
“I’ll admit that the tuition costs can be a burden for parents,” said Ed Thomas, CTCS superintendent. “We know that times are tough, and we try to work diligently with our parents when it comes to cost.”
There is a small percentage of parents who have funding issues, he said, so school officials work on fundraisers and other means of offsetting costs.
“I just think some of our parents do whatever it takes to pay the tuition,” Thomas said. “They make a lot of sacrifices because they believe so strongly in their child’s education.”
Bell said the school’s academic success has helped attract students.
“We’ve seen high test scores when it comes to the SAT and other standardized tests when you compare us to other schools, so I think that helps in terms of our image,” Bell said.
At Holy Trinity Catholic High School, principal Robin Couvillon said enrollment has stayed steady, with about 100 students attending the school over the last few school years.
Yearly tuition at Holy Trinity is more than $6,600, on top of more than $1,100 in fees.
“I think there are three reasons why we seem to keep a level number of students,” Couvillon said. “First, we have a well-known quality of education in the area and we have consistently scored well within our district when it comes to academic events.
“Second, I think that our small student population allows us to work with our students on a more-hands on approach, which can be important to parents,” he said. “And lastly, I think we’re a safe environment for students.”
Couvillon agreed with administrators at CTCS.
“I think it’s important to our parents that their students receive a faith-based education, and they’re willing to pay for it,” he said.
Although the majority of parents with children attending Holy Trinity front their child’s tuition costs, Couvillon estimated that one-third of the school’s population receives financial aid.
“I think we’ve done a good job working with parents who may not have the resources to fully fund their children’s education,” he said. “We have financial-aid information on our Web site that parents can fill out prior to enrollment.”
Many of the students attend school with help, and are only paying out-of-pocket fees.
“We have a separate committee from our school board that directs financial aid, and they’re very active,” Couvillon said.
Both schools said they are experiencing the burdens of rising prices when it comes to things like utilities.
“We have to live within the bounds of our budget, which is funded using enrollment money,” Couvillon said. “And costs have risen for us as well.”
Thomas echoed Couvillon’s thoughts.
“We try to keep our expenditures in line and are watchful of everything so we don’t have rising (tuition) costs,” Thomas said.
Some Temple-area parents had mixed opinions when it came to private education.
“Who has that kind of money?” Joe Merrill asked about parents who pay for private schooling. Merrill said he has children attending the Temple Independent School District. “I don’t have $5,000 a year to spend for each child and pay for them to go to college someday.”
Linda Johnson, who has children attending CTCS, said she had no problem paying the cost of tuition.
“I think my kids are getting a quality education,” Mrs. Johnson said. “It’s worth it.”
dfearson@temple-telegram.com
