Feynman School Closing

[Anonymous]

[list]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Any Feynman parents adept at analyzing tax returns?
The Form 990 for fiscal year ending in 6/22 notes the number of financial aid grant given (53) for a total of $473,160 (p. 30) and also identifies a (relatively small) loan to the founders on p. 31. Query whether anyone can figure out enough of the financial situation so parents can decide what steps to take next.

Not a Feynman parent, but a nonprofit consultant who has spent many years working with independent schools. The loan is weird, IMO. Very weird. I've never seen something like that. And looking back at older 990s, it just gets weirder. Possibly multiple $24,500 loans, but it's hard to say for sure. Definitely a super weird one in FY15, where the Golds made a loan to the school but then the school loaned them money.

Nothing about the financial aid amount strikes me as unusual. The average amount of aid actually decreased a but from FY22 to FY23. There was a significant decrease in the amount of aid awarded from FY21 to FY22.

They raised very little money. FY22 and FY23 saw significant government grants ($400k+), but otherwise, fundraising was nearly nonexistent. I don't know any independent school that can survive without halfway decent fundraising. Though the lack of fundraising doesn't surprise me given that they spent virtually nothing on it. The biggest fundraising expense each year is occupancy, and frankly I'm rolling my eyes at that. You shouldn't be able to charge 5% of your occupancy costs to something you otherwise only allocated $360 out of $2.2 million in expenses. I wonder what all that government money is. Maybe private school vouchers paid directly to the school? (I'll admit, I'm not super familiar with Maryland's program, since I work primarily with schools and nonprofits in the Carolinas)

To me, the biggest red flag is the fact that 2 of the 5 Board members are not only employed by the school. but are married to each other. The second biggest is there's nearly zero turnover of Board members. That's a recipe for not exercising effective oversight--and given the sudden closing of the school and apparent financial mismanagement, that's exactly what happened here. I don't see the names of Board members posted anywhere on the website, nor do I see Robert Gold's name anywhere, despite being the Executive Director and pulling in a substantial salary. It appears the books were never audited by an outside accountant. That's terrifying to me. There's a serious lack of basic transparency.

If Feynman School came to me as a prospective client, I would run the other direction. The 990s are waving more red flags than a Chinese embassy.

As to what steps parents should take next, I can't say. I'm not a lawyer or a tax expert. I would be demanding answers, though. Demand the articles of incorporation--they should spell out what is supposed to happen when a nonprofit ceases operations, including what to do with assets. Demand Board meeting minutes--although typically organizations can keep these private, given the significant amount of government grants that last two years they may have to make these available, check Maryland law. Demand answers about those loans, ask why the 990s are so inconsistent (ex: 2021 990 Part VII Compensation of Officers, Directors, Trustees, Key Employees, Highest Compensated Employees, and Independent Contractors shows $195,913, yet Part IX Functional Expenses lists Compensation of current officers, directors, trustees, and key employees as $176,984. Those should match!)

This is *incredibly* helpful, thank you! Will consider and think through this for sure.

[Anonymous]

Interesting that the school has a GoFundMe fundraiser 6 months ago, seeking to raise $175,000 and only received $1,650.

“If these critical funds are not raised, the students will not have access to the education that they need. No other institution in area provides what they need to thrive.”

https://www.gofundme.com/f/empower-minority-students-at-feynman-school?attribution_id=sl:2a5430b1-fa62-4bea-9269-655eb8f82b72&lang=en_US&utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'd never heard of Feynman School before this thread, but this just screams some couple's passion project. I see this all the time. They have no or little business experience, find a couple friends and family to round out the Board they are legally required to have, and proceed to operate their nonprofit like an absolute dumpster fire all while proclaiming how committed they are to their given cause. They think they're unique and special and doing someone no one else is doing, except there's 5 other well-established nonprofits already doing the same work (2 of those are well run, the other 3 have enough inertia to keep going despite batpoop governance and financial practices). And no amount of presenting market research, best practices, or even going over their financials will convince them otherwise. They all think some angel donor is going to magically appear and drop huge donations on them. Meanwhile, their finances are a mess, there's no oversight by the board, and they're loving in law la land until the harsh reality of "we can't pay this month's bills and there's no more money coming in" hits them square in the face.

Are you sure you aren't a Feynman parent? Because you couldn't have been more accurate. All of it down to the thinking an angel donor will magically appear. It is 100% their passion project. The head of school is a great educator, loves the kids, and definitely passionate, but has no executive function whatsoever. But we all put up with it because our kids were getting a great education tailored to his/her needs and were loving school. It also didn't start appearing like the dumpster fire of no executive function was a real problem until we were ambushed at back-to-school night with some aggressive fundraising pleas.

I was going to say the same thing!

However, there must have been a nearly complete turnover of families and a pretty quiet rumor mill because real problems and aggressive fundraising were present long ago. Did anyone current ever hear how they made the down payment on River Road? And then ended up in a lawsuit and moving 2-3 more times? Guess how transparent that was? Guess how long they dragged out answering where the school would be when the Tilden building was reclaimed by MCPS? And what was happening with River Road and the money donated for it?
I’m pretty sure there were missing 990s in that era.

I do get the happy kid argument. When you’re in it, that’s what you see, but the difference of a well-run school is night and day!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Naive question: if parents are paying tuition, why would the school run into so much financial trouble? Isn’t the math just adding up the costs of the things you’ll need for the year (salaries, rent, equipment, etc.) plus some cushion?

I spoke with a friend who works at a private college recently. I presume that they have similar structures to private elementary and high schools. She told me that schools rely heavily on financing and that recently it has been much harder to secure financing for private schools from lenders. I don't know why but I assume it has something to do with the fact that a lot of schools are closing these days.

Good point!

NP. I'm not sure which private college your friend works at, but I'd be looking for a new job if this is how they operate.

Private schools rely on tuition for 85-95% of their operating budgets. The gap is filled by an endowment draw (which Feynman must not have), philanthropy (the annual budget goal should be based on past giving history), and any auxiliary income (such as facility rentals). If the school doesn't have solid reason to believe that the gap can be filled through those sources, then they budget to the tuition revenues alone. Anything else is irresponsible.

While schools DO carry debt, they make payments on that debt as part of their carefully planned operating budget. Which again, is covered as I said above.

Unless Feynman saw a sudden collapse in enrollment, there's no reason for this crisis other than mismanagement.

[Anonymous]

I had a kid at Feynman 10 years ago. Great parent community, poor leadership, but my kid had a blast there.

I have no proof of this but the rumor mill back in the day was that Susan Gold's father always covered any financial shortfall. He apparently was a successful lawyer and made significant contributions.

This ending is sad to hear. Whoever the educational consultant is, your analysis was spot on. Susan Gold was an educational bleeding heart but was not good at running a business. RIP Feynman.

[Anonymous]

Tuition should not be covering 95% of operating expenses. That's absolutely not sustainable. 90% is the max, in my opinion, and ideally it's 80-85%. A school that relies heavily on tuition is suspectable to a financial crunch if enrollment drops.

Feynman definitely had no endowment, they said as much on the Go Fund Me (and a school using GFM for.fundraising? Yikes), and I verified that against the 990s.

Jerome Sowalsky must be Susan Gold's father. He's listed as making (more than one?) $7Ok loan to the school, and under "relationship to organization" is says "parent of officer." And I was definitely able to match that name to lawyer in Maryland old enough to be Susan Gold's father. Entirely possible he made true donations as well, but that sort of information isn't publicly available.

As fascinating as all this is to me from a professional point of view (this would be an outstanding case study), please know I feel absolutely awful for all the families who suddenly find themselves without a school in the middle of the year, and the breech of trust you're experiencing. I can't imagine what you and your children are going through right now. I hope.you are all able to find schools that meet your child's needs,.public or private, and that they demonstrate the transparency and sustainability your deserve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tuition should not be covering 95% of operating expenses. That's absolutely not sustainable. 90% is the max, in my opinion, and ideally it's 80-85%. A school that relies heavily on tuition is suspectable to a financial crunch if enrollment drops.

Feynman definitely had no endowment, they said as much on the Go Fund Me (and a school using GFM for.fundraising? Yikes), and I verified that against the 990s.

Jerome Sowalsky must be Susan Gold's father. He's listed as making (more than one?) $7Ok loan to the school, and under "relationship to organization" is says "parent of officer." And I was definitely able to match that name to lawyer in Maryland old enough to be Susan Gold's father. Entirely possible he made true donations as well, but that sort of information isn't publicly available.

As fascinating as all this is to me from a professional point of view (this would be an outstanding case study), please know I feel absolutely awful for all the families who suddenly find themselves without a school in the middle of the year, and the breech of trust you're experiencing. I can't imagine what you and your children are going through right now. I hope.you are all able to find schools that meet your child's needs,.public or private, and that they demonstrate the transparency and sustainability your deserve.

Most independent schools schools are only getting 5-8% of their operating budget covered by philanthropy. So whether or not you think that shouldn't be the case, it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tuition should not be covering 95% of operating expenses. That's absolutely not sustainable. 90% is the max, in my opinion, and ideally it's 80-85%. A school that relies heavily on tuition is suspectable to a financial crunch if enrollment drops.

Feynman definitely had no endowment, they said as much on the Go Fund Me (and a school using GFM for.fundraising? Yikes), and I verified that against the 990s.

Jerome Sowalsky must be Susan Gold's father. He's listed as making (more than one?) $7Ok loan to the school, and under "relationship to organization" is says "parent of officer." And I was definitely able to match that name to lawyer in Maryland old enough to be Susan Gold's father. Entirely possible he made true donations as well, but that sort of information isn't publicly available.

As fascinating as all this is to me from a professional point of view (this would be an outstanding case study), please know I feel absolutely awful for all the families who suddenly find themselves without a school in the middle of the year, and the breech of trust you're experiencing. I can't imagine what you and your children are going through right now. I hope.you are all able to find schools that meet your child's needs,.public or private, and that they demonstrate the transparency and sustainability your deserve.

Most independent schools schools are only getting 5-8% of their operating budget covered by philanthropy. So whether or not you think that shouldn't be the case, it is.

Interesting. Our k-8 said tuition covers only 80-85% of the operating budget, and presents that as if it’s not out of the norm (this is a well-established school at no financial risk). I haven’t checked into others to be able to claim what “most” do, however.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tuition should not be covering 95% of operating expenses. That's absolutely not sustainable. 90% is the max, in my opinion, and ideally it's 80-85%. A school that relies heavily on tuition is suspectable to a financial crunch if enrollment drops.

Feynman definitely had no endowment, they said as much on the Go Fund Me (and a school using GFM for.fundraising? Yikes), and I verified that against the 990s.

Jerome Sowalsky must be Susan Gold's father. He's listed as making (more than one?) $7Ok loan to the school, and under "relationship to organization" is says "parent of officer." And I was definitely able to match that name to lawyer in Maryland old enough to be Susan Gold's father. Entirely possible he made true donations as well, but that sort of information isn't publicly available.

As fascinating as all this is to me from a professional point of view (this would be an outstanding case study), please know I feel absolutely awful for all the families who suddenly find themselves without a school in the middle of the year, and the breech of trust you're experiencing. I can't imagine what you and your children are going through right now. I hope.you are all able to find schools that meet your child's needs,.public or private, and that they demonstrate the transparency and sustainability your deserve.

Most independent schools schools are only getting 5-8% of their operating budget covered by philanthropy. So whether or not you think that shouldn't be the case, it is.

Interesting. Our k-8 said tuition covers only 80-85% of the operating budget, and presents that as if it’s not out of the norm (this is a well-established school at no financial risk). I haven’t checked into others to be able to claim what “most” do, however.

Your school probably has a decent sized endowment or is earning revenue through camps or facility rentals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No idea if they have spots and if so in what grades but places to call in Montgomery County with K-8th grades to ask about spots:

Bullis
St Andrews
Green Acres
Washington Episcopal
Barrie
Friends Community
Christ Episcopal
Sandy Spring Friends (although they are having their own challenges after a sudden HOS departure)
St Elizabeth’s and any other catholic parish school you can find
Charles E Smith Jewish Day
Woods Academy
Stone Ridge (all girls)
Grace Episcopal Day School

Best wishes to all. That’s an awful situation to be dealing with and I hope you are able to find a new school quickly.

Honestly I wouldn’t even limit your calling to just this list. With the change in administration, I bet there are afee families planning to leave the DMV and maybe there are unexpected slots opening up at the more well-known/ tend-to-always-be-full schools, too. It can’t hurt!

[Anonymous]

I would look at Green Acres for spaces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a shame this school is so poorly run. The head of the school is a gifted educator, but an abysmal administrator.

Communication was non-existent.

I worry the parents are going to have a difficult time getting transcripts.

I would not be surprised if Feynman just allowed a lease to expire without renewing, because they forgot to get to it. I suspect that is why they had to change locations in the first place.

Current parent and I agree with that assessment. Re transcripts — they are legally obligated to provide those, but I fear you are correct that timeliness could be a problem…

We had to convince our new school to adjust their expectations of what a former school provides, including the timeliness. Fortunately, Feynman has this reputation now, so the new school should be understanding on why a teacher recommendation (which inexplicitly required the head of the school to review and authorize) may be missing from the application.

Good luck all. Once we left, the other parents agreed with us that it was almost hard to adjust to a new school that is actually responsive and transparent. We had become so numb to the disfunction.

We looked at Feynman in 2017. It gave off so many red flags during our visit that we immediately crossed it off our list.

Tiny number of students, a lot of teacher turnover, inability to articulate details of the curriculum and how (specifically) it responded to the needs of gifted children, lack of transparency about finances, poor governance (the founders controlled all decisions), lack of professionalism, and more.

Curious how people could have missed all this.

[Anonymous]

Because when you are desperate to find a good fit for your very unusual child, you are willing to overlook a lot. Let’s stop casting blame on the victims here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because when you are desperate to find a good fit for your very unusual child, you are willing to overlook a lot. Let’s stop casting blame on the victims here.

THIS! I feel for these families (we don't know any currently at Feynman) and the families affected by the Whittle fiasco (we knew several). We decided not to pursue either of these schools because we preferred more stability/certainty but I 100% understood the reasons why other families decided to take/consider them for their child/family. Wishing you best of luck in finding a path forward for this year and next (if this year is temporary).

Get transcripts/LOR asap!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tuition should not be covering 95% of operating expenses. That's absolutely not sustainable. 90% is the max, in my opinion, and ideally it's 80-85%. A school that relies heavily on tuition is suspectable to a financial crunch if enrollment drops.

Feynman definitely had no endowment, they said as much on the Go Fund Me (and a school using GFM for.fundraising? Yikes), and I verified that against the 990s.

Jerome Sowalsky must be Susan Gold's father. He's listed as making (more than one?) $7Ok loan to the school, and under "relationship to organization" is says "parent of officer." And I was definitely able to match that name to lawyer in Maryland old enough to be Susan Gold's father. Entirely possible he made true donations as well, but that sort of information isn't publicly available.

As fascinating as all this is to me from a professional point of view (this would be an outstanding case study), please know I feel absolutely awful for all the families who suddenly find themselves without a school in the middle of the year, and the breech of trust you're experiencing. I can't imagine what you and your children are going through right now. I hope.you are all able to find schools that meet your child's needs,.public or private, and that they demonstrate the transparency and sustainability your deserve.

Most independent schools schools are only getting 5-8% of their operating budget covered by philanthropy. So whether or not you think that shouldn't be the case, it is.

Interesting. Our k-8 said tuition covers only 80-85% of the operating budget, and presents that as if it’s not out of the norm (this is a well-established school at no financial risk). I haven’t checked into others to be able to claim what “most” do, however.

Your k-8 is correct - this is not out of the norm - we experienced the same at every well established DMV private school our kids attended. (places like Holton, Potomac, Maret, GDS, STA/NCS, Sidwell)