Masters Pandemic Finances

No manual exists for navigating a school through a deadly pandemic, but Masters’ Chief Financial Officer Ed Biddle drew from the next best resource – a comprehensive report analyzing the effects of the 2008-2009 recession on independent schools across the nation. After school shut down unexpectedly last March, Biddle quickly called up the author of the study, Jim Pugh, whose 12 takeaways from the...

In economics, there’s the concept of the price maker and the price taker. Price makers influence the market price and enjoy pricing power, but price takers must accept the prevailing market price. Independent schools are used to being the price makers, according to Masters’ Chief Financial Officer Ed Biddle. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, they have been forced to be price takers. “When yo...

Retirement contributions to resume After a fiscal year during which Masters suspended contributions to employees’ retirement funds, the school will resume contributions during the 2021-2022 fiscal year. The new plan falls short of pre-pandemic levels, but encourages more employee involvement, according to Chief Financial Officer Ed Biddle.  Masters employees previously received a retirement contribution wort...