The priest in charge of St. Ignatius Catholic Church and School has written a letter in response to concerns over the oversight and management of the school’s finances.
In the letter sent Friday to school parents, Parish Administrator Naveen D’Souza states that “school finances are being managed prudently and carefully.”
Here are highlights from the 4-page letter, which is embedded below:
- School finances are separate from church finances but are consolidated in the church’s budget and financial reports
- School accounts are not audited by a local audit firm, but both the school and church accounts are audited by the Archdiocese of Detroit (which oversees the Cayman Islands parish)
- As the school is part of the church, all school property is owned by the church
- The school itself is not registered as a Cayman non-profit — but is under the umbrella of the church, which has been a registered local non-profit since 2018
- For many years, the school ran a budget deficit, and was subsidised by the church
- In more recent years, the school has operated at a surplus, and the school was able to begin to set aside funds for the proposed Sports Hall Complex
- For the fiscal year ending 30 June 2020, the school’s total income was $7.53 million and expenses were $7.44 million.
- The school’s reserves stood at about $6.2 million, of which $4.74 million was earmarked for the Sports Hall.
- More than $500,000 in donations has been raised for the Sports Hall.
- The Sports Hall has been estimated to cost nearly $6 million.
- The school is obtaining approvals for the project from local government and the archdiocese.
- The Sports Hall reserve fund is supported by a separate sub-bank account and all donations received to date are tracked and accounted for separately.
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