Two Charedi schools sound alarm over financial blackhole

The governors said the school was “unable to meet essential day-to-day financial obligations”. The JC understands that boys at the school were sent home early on Tuesday, the day the letter was issued.

While the governors acknowledged “some positive response to our urgent letter” before Pesach, they warned that “the school cannot operate effectively without the full and timely support of the local community”.

The letter added that two communal figures (askonim) had “stepped in” to keep the school going over the festival period.

“We are grateful to two local askonim, who at short notice have stepped in temporarily to allow us to keep the school open for both kodesh and chol [Jewish and secular studies] as from tomorrow.”

Parents were urged to “make every effort to support your moisad [institution] in every possible way”, with the school expected to launch a formal fundraising campaign shortly.

Pardes House had been charging fees of £7,710 per pupil per year, according to an Ofsted report in 2021, though this later became a “voluntary” request. Its most recent inspection last July referred only to “voluntary contributions”, without specifying a sum.

At nearby Shiras Devorah High School near Golders Green, which educates 98 girls aged 11 to 18, governors described the situation in stark terms.

In a letter sent to parents of pupils at Shiras Devorah on Tuesday, chair of governors Akiva Adler wrote: “The school is still facing an extremely serious financial situation, and urgent action is required from every parent to ensure we can continue operating beyond this immediate moment.”

Adler said that several governors had personally borrowed “tens of thousands of pounds” to ensure staff were paid before Pesach and described the current financial position as “urgent”.

He added: “We have done everything in our power to ensure that school can open tomorrow as scheduled in the school calendar.”

Both schools rely on voluntary contributions from parents to cover their costs and could be impacted by the Labour government’s manifesto pledge to remove the 80 per cent discount on business rates for private schools. The policy was due to come into effect shortly but was voted down by the House of Lords last month.

Shiras Devorah is also fundraising for a new building. A campaign for the project has raised £669,256, but speaking to the JC, Adler said the appeal had affected families’ ability to contribute to day-to-day costs. “Because we are putting a lot of money into the new building, the financial situation has become harder with paying for the running of the school,” he said.

Adler said: “We have no school fees anymore because of the whole VAT problem...We can’t force parents to pay... All we can do is ask them to help.”

He added: “All of the governors' lives are put into the school to make it happen. We're not making money from this.”

The school, which opened in 2018, had always operated at a deficit of around 60 per cent, he said. “Each child’s education costs £12,000 a year; the amount we are asking parents to volunteer is seven to eight thousand [per pupil], but most families can’t pay that. It is a tremendous expense.” 

A spokesperson for Pardes House told the JC in March that the initial letter to parents was intended “to set the scene for our upcoming fundraising campaign, launching in the next few weeks, to ensure parents understand the seriousness of our financial situation and the consequences of not being able to meet our liabilities”.

He added: “In recent years, our parent body’s generosity and the wider community’s support have been crucial to maintaining the school’s operations, and we are confident this campaign will receive the same response.”

Pardes House declined to comment further.