NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WTVF) – Some of Nashville’s most prestigious private schools have received millions of dollars in forgivable loans through the federal Pay Check Protection Program (PPP).
But some schools decided to return the money to the federal government when they saw that enrollment did not decrease and there was no danger of dismissing employees because of COVID.
Other private schools say they followed the program’s guidelines and plan to ask for forgiveness for the loans – meaning they won’t have to pay the money.
Private schools signed up for PPP loans last spring, when Congress passed the CARES Act and disbursed billions of dollars in emergency pandemic financing.
Traditional public schools do not qualify for PPP loans.
Franklin Road Academy received $ 2,063,100 from the Payment Check Protection Program, according to data from the Small Business Administration.
The data also shows that Harding Academy, a private school from preschool to 8th grade in Belle Meade, received $ 1,204,500, while Nashville Christian Schools Inc. in Bellevue, for preschoolers up to 12th grade, received $ 1,043,300.
PPP loans are easily forgiven, which means that they are essentially free money if schools use most of the funds to ensure that employees are not fired during the pandemic.
“It is really shocking to see the values there,” said Councilman Dave Rosenberg, when we showed him what several private schools received.
Rosenberg doubts that private schools have seen a drop in enrollment because of COVID, especially as parents have started taking their children out of public schools so they can attend classes in person.
“The PPP should be aimed at small companies that would otherwise have to fire employees,” said Rosenberg.
“Private schools have many sources of income, be it donations or tuition,” said Rosenberg.
Christ Presbyterian Academy on Old Hickory Boulevard received $ 3,189,529, but decided to return all money to the federal government when the school realized that enrollment had not decreased.
“We decided to return it because, frankly, if we don’t need it, we shouldn’t use it,” said Nate Morrow, who is head of the CPA school.
“As we passed May and June, it became very clear, very quickly, that our families would return to CPA,” said Morrow.
He said the school requested the money last spring, when no one was sure what impact the pandemic would have.
Montgomery Bell Academy also returned the PPP money it received.
The school received more than $ 3 million, but decided that it wanted to be a “good citizen” and return the money to others “without so many resources”, according to director Brad Gioia.
Padre Ryan High School, a private Catholic school, received $ 1,948,600 in PPP loans.
Nashville Diocese communications director Rick Musacchio said the school plans to keep the money and forgive the loans.
“We fully comply with the PPP program. He had requirements to keep everyone employed, which we certainly did, ”said Musacchio.
Another Catholic school, the Pope John Paul II Secondary School in Hendersonville, received $ 1,139,100 from the PPP program.
Musacchio told us that they also plan to keep the money, although the total enrollment in Pope John Paul remained unchanged during the pandemic. He added that Father Ryan lost only three students.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked: “If parents continued to pay tuition and enrollment did not decrease, have you ever run the risk of firing people?”
Musacchio replied, “Yes. PPP loans have become very important because we have been able to focus on keeping people employed, even in the face of the many challenges that we cause by COVID.”
Musacchio said that more families need financial help due to the economic crisis, and that schools have lost a lot of money with the closure of summer camps.
He said the loans helped pay bus drivers and cafeteria workers who had no work during the strike.
Musacchio also said that Catholic schools have lower tuition than some of the other schools that have provided loans, and he does not think that receiving the money has prevented small businesses from receiving it.
“There are still funds available, in PPP loans, that the government has not yet released,” said Musacchio.
Currey Ingram Academy, a day and boarding school for kindergarten through 12th grade, received $ 1,566,000.
The school’s website claims that it helps students with learning differences to reach their maximum potential.
He sent out a statement saying the school used federal money to pay employees at its “Child Development Center and Diagnostic Center, which are open to the public and were unable to operate during the extended quarantine”.
Councilor Dave Rosenberg said the frustrating thing is that public schools were not even able to apply for PPP loans.
“In a public school, you can see PTOs struggling to raise $ 5,000 to $ 10,000,” said Rosenberg.
“When you increase the distance between public and private schools, it is not good for us as a society. It is not good for us as a city,” said Rosenberg.
We contacted all schools in this history and some of them sent us the following statements.
Currey Ingram Academy Statement
Amid uncertainty about what the next academic year would be like, the Currey Ingram Academy enrolled in the Paycheck Protection Program in early 2020. The money received was to keep the Currey Ingram Academy faculty and staff, as well like our team of Child Development Center and Diagnostic Center – which are open to the public and could not function during the prolonged quarantine – they worked during the crisis. It also implemented health and safety measures to allow our students to safely return to face-to-face learning in the fall. We recognize that companies in almost every industry have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis and are grateful to have received a small portion to keep our staff employed and the community safe on campus.
CPA statement
The Church (Presbyterian Church of Christ) and the Academy submitted a claim for the full amount offered with the uncertainty of our families’ ability to pay tuition fees or the ability of church members to contribute annual donations during the pandemic. We are an organization that employs more than 250 employees whose remuneration depends on the monthly fee, and our loan guarantee was a step forward in the uncertainty of the fiscal year. However, as autumn 2020 unfolded, our tuition revenue remained stable, allowing us to return the full loan amount to other nonprofits that most needed it.
We are grateful that so many of our neighbors and nonprofits in the Nashville area have access to financial aid and stability in the uncertainty of this pandemic.
Additional information from the Catholic Diocese of Nashville
The loans helped all of our entities to avoid payroll cuts to make up for the loss of revenue during the pandemic. The loans not only kept people employed, as was the objective of the program, but perhaps more importantly, it saved many jobs that provide support services to meet a wide range of needs. For our non-school entities, the loans have allowed us to retain vital staff and experience, allowing us to provide continuity of our services to the entire Nashville community. This would include providing affordable childcare for low-income families, with a distribution arm chosen by the state of Tennessee to assist with tornado relief services and being chosen by the city of Nashville to assist with emergency relief and counseling services for families. affected by the Bombing on Christmas Day.
Loans related to our schools, for example, allowed schools to pay bus drivers and cafeteria workers, even though they had no jobs, as students were subject to “stay home” orders. The funds also helped provide PPEs and support the implementation of protocols and modifications necessary for safe reopening for face-to-face learning at the beginning of the academic year in August 2020. All of our 16 parish and diocesan schools reopened face-to-face learning as scheduled and implemented security protocols and modifications allowed them to remain open throughout the year. Face-to-face learning not only provides security and education for Catholic and non-Catholic students, but also relieves their families of the burden of providing supervision and support to students involved in distance learning programs.