After careful discernment by the Board of Trustees, Carolina Friends School applied for and received a loan to support staff compensation as a part of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Like most independent schools, this pandemic has already impacted our operating budget through lost revenues from our Summer Programs and increased expenses as we prepare to return to campus. This reality along with the current economic uncertainty led us to seek additional funding to ensure we can continue to pay our staff, maintain our physical spaces, and anticipate and meet the costs associated with adapting our program and learning environments as a result of COVID-19, including staff development, new equipment and supplies, enhanced cleaning protocols, and alterations to our physical spaces.

We are engaging in careful budgeting and fiscal stewardship to ensure that we can continue to deliver a robust and meaningful program for our students now and in the future.

While we are doing our best to provide families with the tuition support they need, tuition rates will remain the same throughout our continuous learning model regardless of our delivery in-person, virtual, or a hybrid. This ensures compensation for our exceptional teachers, who bring a commitment to our values and philosophy and their unique affinity for and talent to fulfill our mission. Many of our other operational costs also continue regardless of our delivery model — maintaining our beautiful campus, supporting our technology infrastructure, paying annual dues associated with our accreditation and other professional organizations, etc.

If state and local requirements prevent the School from operating in person, we will credit Extended Day charges in all units, Early School through Middle School, for all days missed. Students enrolled in Student Enrichment classes or our Student Success Program may elect to continue in those programs remotely and will be charged appropriately. Fees for Middle School Exploratorium, Upper School End-of-Year, and other co-curricular programs will be modified depending on whether the program continues.

As a result of COVID-19, economic concerns throughout the country and within our CFS community have grown exponentially. Some families are currently experiencing unexpected financial hardship as well as significant uncertainty about the future. We will continue to address the financial needs of families through:

• Emergency tuition relief
• Tuition payment flexibility
• Tuition insurance

Emergency Tuition Relief

Families who are facing hardship due to a loss of income are strongly encouraged to apply for emergency tuition relief as those needs become apparent. We will continue to accept and review new applications on a rolling basis. Decisions on new or adjusted applications for tuition relief take approximately two weeks to process. To apply:

1. Upload a letter explaining your situation to your existing TADS adjusted tuition application (if you need to create a new application, you can reference the TADS Welcome and Worksheet).
2. Email Nancy Hayes (nhayes@cfsnc.org) to confirm that you are requesting support.

Tuition Payment Flexibility

If you find that your family will need support through flexibility with your payment options, please contact Kim O’Neil in the Business Office.

Tuition Insurance

Our tuition insurance plan can pay 60% of the unused yearly insured fees provided the student has withdrawn from school for a non-medical reason after attending more than fourteen consecutive calendar days beginning with the student’s first class day of attendance in the academic year. Withdrawal or absence of more than 31 consecutive days due to illness or injury are covered at 75% of the unused yearly insured fees.

While there is a cost associated with this program, it can provide additional financial protection should a family need to withdraw their student at some point during next school year. View the 2020-2021 brochure for further details. To enroll in the program, families must elect and pay the tuition refund plan premium prior to August 1. Please email Kim O’Neil in the Business Office
to enroll.