Sandy Springs Going After $25M in Grants As the Solution?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s possible that the “consultants” are compensated only as a percentage of grants received, but even so, they lose any shred of credibility based on their press release and “projected” yield. What grants are they expecting?

As a PP wrote, hard to imagine a less grant-friendly time for education.

I think another poster said this what exactly is ssfs doing (educating homeless people?) that would appeal to donors outside of the school community? Or what return on investment do they provide that an investor would be interested? I just am confused by this move

[Anonymous]

I don’t think they are seeking “investment” in any kind of traditional sense. In other words, I don’t think they are planning a bond offering to buy down more expensive debt or other similar structure. Unless it was genuinely philanthropic, their bonds would not be considered investment grade which would make borrowing costs prohibitively high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think they are seeking “investment” in any kind of traditional sense. In other words, I don’t think they are planning a bond offering to buy down more expensive debt or other similar structure. Unless it was genuinely philanthropic, their bonds would not be considered investment grade which would make borrowing costs prohibitively high.

Either people invest in the or they donate to them. And unless you’re tied to the school why would you do either? The school’s mission isn’t anything that has global urgency.

[Anonymous]

I am a seasoned grant writer who has worked in the educational field (writing for after school programs and other initiatives that targeted at-risk youth). This move makes no sense.

Not only do you have the issue that a PP mentioned above, about how a private school with no particular focus on underrepresented groups can claim to benefit the community, but you also have an incredibly constrained funding environment.

In 2025, all philanthropic and governmental donors are swamped with requests, as folks have sought municipal/state and private donor funds to make up for funding cut by the federal government.

Think about it. If you were running a family foundation or even a state-level grant program, and someone said to you "You can either fund this program that provides lunchtime reading support to 3rd graders, or you can find a private school that has already mishandled their finances," which would you choose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a seasoned grant writer who has worked in the educational field (writing for after school programs and other initiatives that targeted at-risk youth). This move makes no sense.

Not only do you have the issue that a PP mentioned above, about how a private school with no particular focus on underrepresented groups can claim to benefit the community, but you also have an incredibly constrained funding environment.

In 2025, all philanthropic and governmental donors are swamped with requests, as folks have sought municipal/state and private donor funds to make up for funding cut by the federal government.

Think about it. If you were running a family foundation or even a state-level grant program, and someone said to you "You can either fund this program that provides lunchtime reading support to 3rd graders, or you can find a private school that has already mishandled their finances," which would you choose.

I'm also a grant writer and you're absolutely right, now is not a good time unless they're trying to tap into some niche, Quaker-related foundations or funds. Really weird. If I were a grantor, I'd be way too leery of SSFS's track record (no matter if some of the BoT are gone and there is a new HoS) and would wait a few years before considering funding the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a seasoned grant writer who has worked in the educational field (writing for after school programs and other initiatives that targeted at-risk youth). This move makes no sense.

Not only do you have the issue that a PP mentioned above, about how a private school with no particular focus on underrepresented groups can claim to benefit the community, but you also have an incredibly constrained funding environment.

In 2025, all philanthropic and governmental donors are swamped with requests, as folks have sought municipal/state and private donor funds to make up for funding cut by the federal government.

Think about it. If you were running a family foundation or even a state-level grant program, and someone said to you "You can either fund this program that provides lunchtime reading support to 3rd graders, or you can find a private school that has already mishandled their finances," which would you choose.

That last paragraph takes the words right out of my mouth.

And why does a school that’s paying hundreds of thousands in salary for the positions of hos, cfo, marketing, advancement, alumni relations - none of these people can figure out how to seek and apply for possible grants? How can the school save money if they can’t figure out how to streamline operations and utilize the people they do have on the payroll to do the work that they’re being paid for?

[Anonymous]

I agree that this feels amateurish and unprofessional.

This school will not survive.

[Anonymous]

Maybe this is a dumb question. Why do they need grants? I thought the whole point was the coalition had raised millions in a week. So what happened? Those pledges never came through??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe this is a dumb question. Why do they need grants? I thought the whole point was the coalition had raised millions in a week. So what happened? Those pledges never came through??

They raised enough to keep it open for a few years at most. They’ll need more if they want to stay open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe this is a dumb question. Why do they need grants? I thought the whole point was the coalition had raised millions in a week. So what happened? Those pledges never came through??

They raised enough to keep it open for a few years at most. They’ll need more if they want to stay open.

I still don’t get it. They raised to pay off loans and debt that was a short term problem due to all this construction that had happened in a decade. After that aren’t they supposed to stay open through steady enrollment and retention and keeping costs down so their tuition covers their cost? How did they operate for 60 years? Are we saying they will forever stay open on half the students by constantly getting ppl to donate the rest because they don’t have a sustainable business plan?

[Anonymous]

It's Infrastructure Week!

[Anonymous]

I can't imagine that the education a child receives is going to be good here. Why would any of the teachers stay in such an uncertain situation? I would take a look at the faculty turnover this year and see what that says about the future of the school....

[Anonymous]

Oh yikes. This is so naive, like the kind of move our first-year Board members at the private school board I’m on suggested when we have gone through financial struggles. I agree with the PP above- any grants that exist are going to go to far more needy and responsible organizations, not an independent school that literally closed once already. This is the kind of magical thinking that distracts from practical work and hard decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine that the education a child receives is going to be good here. Why would any of the teachers stay in such an uncertain situation? I would take a look at the faculty turnover this year and see what that says about the future of the school....

We did stay for next year but realize the experience with half the kids will not feel the same. We haven’t decided about the next year.

[Anonymous]

This absurd overpromising is a sign that there are still not experienced people in charge. This is not a good sign for the schools future.

They basically took the pitch of this firm — hook line and sinker. No critical eye in this whatsoever. Naive to think there are magical grants out there for the operational of private schools.