Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/698448
14 June 30 • 2016 INTEREST-FREE LOANS FOR MICHIGAN JEWISH RESIDENTS APPLICATIONS OPEN JULY 1 TO JULY 31 COMPLETE AND SUBMIT ONLINE: jewishcollegeloansmi.org 6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 300 Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48301 248.723.8184 info@jewishcollegeloansmi.org ADMINISTERED BY WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS WHAT IS THE WILLIAM DAVIDSON JEWISH COLLEGE LOAN PROGRAM? A Need-based, interest-free loan program for Jewish Michigan residents who are U.S. Citizens. • Qualifying students must be enrolled in full-time accredited colleges or universities in Michigan. • Free Application for Student Financial Aid (FAFSA at www.fafsa.ed.gov) to be completed for eligibility. • Financial need determination includes demonstrating active pursuit of all available funding resources. • Post-application interview with a Hebrew Free Loan WDJCLP staff member. • Two co-signers required. • While attending school, required annual loan repayments are $100. • No fee to apply. 2083560 continued on page 16 Day School Funding In an unprecedented move, Frankel Jewish Academy forgoes two annual allocations from Federation. Keri Guten Cohen | Story Development Editor I n a move without similar prec- edent, Frankel Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield has forgone its annual allocation from the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit for the 2015-2016 fiscal year and for 2016-2017. Until now, neither the school nor Federation has mentioned this infor- mation to the community or to parents of FJA students, who will pay base tuition of $22,500 in the coming aca- demic year. The JN learned that the school's projected Annual Campaign allocations for both years have been covered by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous. The current allocation report for fis- cal year 2016-2017, which is posted on the Federation website, states (in Note 10): "Due to a generous contribution, Frankel Jewish Academy has been able to meet their financial strategic plan for FY 2016-17, allowing funds to be redirected toward vital community needs." In 2015-2016, FJA's allocation was $141,817. After an equal contribution was made to Frankel, that sum was returned to Federation to be used spe- cifically as part of a project to improve security to Federation agencies, explained Scott Kaufman, Federation CEO. "Right after the Sandy Hook shoot- ings [where 20 children were slain in a school in December 2012], we decided there was no debate; we just had to make everything safe," he said of a three-year Federation-funded security project. In the fourth year, half would be paid by Federation and half by agencies. "We were scrambling to fill that hole. FJA made a donation to everyone else. We said thank you." The high school did not request an allocation from the Annual Campaign for 2016-2017. Funds that would have gone to FJA in this fiscal year were directed to day school scholar- ships instead, said Linda Blumberg, Federation's director of planning and agency relations. Rabbi Azaryah Cohen, FJA Head of School since 2015, told the JN that FJA still will be receiving community assistance. Frankel, which had 220 students for the 2015-2016 academic year and expects about that many next year, continues to receive dollars from the Federation-administered Shiffman Family Tuition Assistance Fund. In 2015-2016, FJA was given $297,065. According to Blumberg, FJA's Shiffman allocation for 2016-2017 is $255,307. Schools also get funds from the Jewish Education Trust, but Blumberg said those numbers don't come in until September. The only other time a Federation agency returned funds was "when Jewish Family Service gave part of their allocation one year to JVS for housing assistance and financial coun- seling when JFS received additional funds from FEMA for emergency assistance, and JVS needed more fund- ing for these urgent-needs programs," Blumberg said, referencing the major flooding in various communities in August 2014. This instance seems to be in a dif- ferent category. JFS returned a partial allocation because of overfunding; both years, FJA declined its whole allo- cations because it says it was covered by donor contributions. The student commons area at Frankel Jewish Academy FJA Facebook (1-27-15) metro »