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Day-school aid among year's top budget priorities
Federation adds education funds for five agencies
RANDI BAROCAS
Staff Writer
Increases totaling $118,478 in the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix's base allocations to its nine constituent agencies will help make Jewish day-school education and a variety of other services available to the local Jewish community in the coming year.
For the first time ever in its base allocations process, the federation's board has specifically designated $25,000 - $5,000 each to five constituent agencies - to provide scholarships to help defray the cost of Jewish education, said Fred Zeidman, director of planning and allocations for the federation.
Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, Tri-City Jewish Community Center, Bureau of Jewish Education, Solomon Schechter Day School and Phoenix Hebrew Academy each received the additional funds.
"The need (for educational scholarships) is always demonstrated in requests we get during the year and at allocation time from the agencies. This year, the federation board adopted a resolution in support of day-school education," Zeidman explained. "The Commission (on Jewish Continuity and Community) was saying that this seems to be a community priority. We want to make sure we earmark some dollars to be used for Jewish education scholarships.
"The scholarships were intended to offset tuition on a financial-need basis. With the bureau, the intent was that it be used to fund financial-need-based scholarships for Hebrew High students. They could also use the money to provide scholarships for adult education programs as well."
The JCCs will be able to use the additional money to provide scholarships to children in their preschool programs, and Solomon Schechter Day School and the Hebrew Academy can provide scholarships for their day-school programs, Zeidman said.
While the commission determined that each constituent agency should receive at least a 3.1 percent increase over last year's base allocation, several agencies received significantly more.
The federation's base allocations for the 1998-99 budget year, beginning Aug. 1, totaled $1,139,073. The individual allocations and the increases over 1997-98 are as follows:
- Jewish Family and Children's Service received $223,900, which includes a $32,950 allocation specifically for its Sun City office. The agency received increases over last year of $23,950 for its main office and $2,950 for the Sun City office;
- Kivel Campus of Care received $204,373, an increase of $6,373;
- Valley of the Sun JCC received $170,950, an increase of $38,355;
- Hillel received $149,550, an increase of $9,550;
- Bureau of Jewish Education received $132,950, an increase of $8,950;
- Phoenix Hebrew Academy received $100,000, an increase of $8,000;
- Tri-City JCC received $72,950, an increase of $12,950;
- Solomon Schechter Day School received $61,750, an increase of $6,750;
- Greater Phoenix Va'ad Hakashruth received $22,650, an increase of $650.
Officials said Valley of the Sun JCC was given an increase of nearly 30 percent to help pay the salary of its new executive director, Mark Shore, who begins his position on July 1. Of the total increase, $29,000 will go toward Shore's salary, $5,000 is reserved for scholarships, and the remainder will be used for other JCC programs, such as a luncheon lecture series for members, a jazz concert and the expansion of the center's youth and adult basketball league programs, said Heath Blumstein, interim executive director of the JCC.
"(That increase) has to do somewhat with developing the new site (at 40th Street and Shea Boulevard) and rebuilding the administration of the JCC," said Zeidman. "They made a case for an increase in their allocation to reflect the fact that, for the first time in a long time, they would have a full-time, professional paid executive director."
The Tri-City JCC also received a substantial increase - more than 20 percent over last year's base. The money, according to its executive director Ilene Blau, will be used to lease additional space for senior and youth programs at its present facility at 1965 E. Hermosa Drive in Tempe.
"I have requested from the school district another area of the building to use to make into more classrooms," Blau said. "The purpose of asking for more square footage (stems from) my desire to move the area where the seniors meet (to better accommodate their needs)."
Blau said the JCC presently leases about 20,000 square feet of a former elementary school from the Tempe Elementary School District. She hopes to lease the remainder of the school - about another 4,000 square feet - but is waiting on approval from the school district, she said.
Jewish Family and Children's Service received the largest allocation this year - $223,900 - which includes $32,950 specifically for its Sun City office.
Much of the increase will go toward the salary of a new case worker dedicated to serving the Jewish community, Zeidman said.
JFCS Executive Director Gail Parin said the new case worker would be the "single point of agency contact for all incoming calls or walk-ins that need service, information or help from the Jewish community."
"We wanted a central point for Jewish clients to come into the agency and deal with an individual who is knowledgeable about JFCS resources and what is available in the Jewish community to assist them," Parin said. "That provides better (program) coordination. ... And we think this would be an excellent use of federation moneys."
Parin said the allocation will cover half of the case worker's salary, with the remainder coming from federation program allocations, which have yet to be released to Jewish News.
The federation's constituent agencies, as well as non-constituent groups in the community, apply annually for program allocations, which total $271,033 this year. That amount is separate from the base allocations. Recipients of program allocations are determined by the Commission on Jewish Continuity and Community and approved by the federation's executive board.
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