INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE
Sixty-three years ago, St. Hilary School was established as the first ministry of St. Hilary Parish. As it has grown, the school has served as a catalyst for the growth of the parish to its present size of nearly 3,000 households. The school is as vital to the vibrance of the parish as the parish is to the school it supports. Families have come to the school seeking an academically excellent Catholic faith-based education for their children and have immersed themselves in the larger parish community in the process.
Behind the success of the two-time US Department of Education Blue Ribbon award-winning school are the teachers and educational staff who impact the lives of hundreds of students each day. At St. Hilary School, teaching is a higher calling. The school’s teachers and educational staff not only train minds, they shape hearts and transform lives for Jesus Christ. The core of the school mission is to “keep Christ at the center of all that we do”. In today’s world, this is more important than ever, and St. Hilary School’s teachers and educational staff live this mission every day. With the Catholic faith as their guide, they go far beyond being dedicated to their profession, nurturing students and building character by modeling love, kindness and compassion. Yet, these treasured employees have not always been compensated to a level reflective of their value.
It has long been a goal to pay the St. Hilary School faculty and staff a wage that equals approximately 80% of that earned by their counterparts working in the Copley-Fairlawn School District. Over time, however, the gap between that benchmark and the actual wages paid has widened. In October 2022, a group of teachers attended a meeting of the St. Hilary Parish Finance Council to present data on their salaries in comparison not only to those paid at other schools, but also to wages earned in other types of employment.
Time For Change
After hearing the staggering facts that employees working in the fast food industry and other similar occupations can earn more than St. Hilary School teachers, the consensus was that the time had come to take action. A commitment was made to increase the pay of St. Hilary School faculty and staff incrementally over a period of two years to bring it in line with the 80% of Copley-Fairlawn School District wage benchmark. The first year increase is being implemented in the 2023-2024 school year, funded in part by a tuition increase. The second will be phased in during the 2024-2025 school year.
Because this scenario will resemble the proverbial dog chasing its tail, though, as Copley-Fairlawn Schools salaries continue to rise and St. Hilary School wages try to keep pace, and because continued increases will not be sustainable without the funding to back them, a campaign was begun in the spring of 2023 to help ensure that salaries for St. Hilary School teachers and educational staff will continue to remain competitive into the future. Investing In Our Future: A Campaign To Support Our Educators, kicked off at the school’s annual Celebration event, which is the school Parents’ Association’s largest fundraiser. During the event, a Raise the Paddle initiative was held, raising $80,500 in just minutes on that March evening. Since then, donations have continued to come in, with all funds being added to the Teacher Salary Fund that was established in 2004 through the St. Hilary Parish Foundation. Intended for the purpose of supporting St. Hilary School teachers and educational staff when it was created, the Teacher Salary Fund received a significant boost through the Raise the Paddle initiative in March, but much work remains to meet the campaign’s $3,000,000 goal.
Success of Campaign is Crucial
Teaching in a Catholic school is a vocation. St. Hilary School’s educators do what they do because they love the school, its students, and - especially - sharing their faith as they teach. But over time, as the school’s salaries have become far less competitive with those of its public school counterparts, and as the teachers and educational staff commit many uncompensated hours outside of the school day to work with students, lead clubs, plan special events, serve on committees, and much more, coupled with the grim reality of a national teacher shortage, the need has become critical and the time to act is now.
To retain St. Hilary School’s outstanding teachers and educational staff and recruit more of them in the future, it is crucial to be able to offer a competitive salary and compensate the school’s educators for the extras they provide. This underscores the importance of the Investing In Our Future campaign and the essential need for the Teacher Salary Fund to keep growing. Fundraisers will continue to support this campaign, with both 50% of the school’s proceeds from the annual We Give Catholic Giving Tuesday campaign and an annual Raise the Paddle at the school’s Celebration fundraiser promised to the cause. Chaired by St. Hilary School parent Brianne Alaburda, a committee to support the campaign is also hard at work planning additional smaller fundraising events, personalizing the campaign through the educators it supports, and seeking out fresh sources of philanthropic giving through the school’s alumni and grandparents.
Private donors are invited to contribute at any time to ensure that St. Hilary School is able to sustain its mission through the hands and hearts of its teachers and educational staff. Why wait for the next fundraiser when you can make a difference right now? Simply click here or contact St. Hilary Parish Foundation Development Director Diane Sarkis today at 330-608-4787 or d.sarkis@st-hilaryfoundation.org. Your support will ensure that St. Hilary School can continue to transform lives for Jesus Christ for years to come.