Though rumors have circulated about Owensboro Catholic Schools’ inability to pay its teachers for the rest of the semester, OCS President Tom Lilly said Monday that isn’t true thanks to a forgivable loan that was awarded in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The loan is part of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program — which was enacted with the recent federal stimulus package to help small businesses cover employee wages for an eight-week period during the crisis. As long as payroll remains the same for the next eight weeks, that loan will be forgiven, Lilly said.
Lilly said the process of applying and receiving the SBA loan has been a tumultuous journey throughout, calling the funding “a godsend” for OCS.
“I believe the rumors started because we weren’t sure whether or not we’d receive the SBA loan,” Lilly said. “This has put extra hardships on us.”
OCS schools aren’t funded by the state, but rather through local parish support, tuition and fundraising. Lilly said around one-third of OCS’ income comes from parishes, though most of that $3 million is allocated toward families with lower socioeconomic standing.
“We have a much larger percentage of families that make less than $50,000-$60,000 a year than people might realize,” he said.
OCS also receives around $5 million in tuition, and the school district tries to raise between $600,000-$1 million a year to help cover costs.
But with churches shuttering in-person services, parishes have received less tithing than usual — around 40 percent less, Lilly said.
“To date, parishes are doing the best they can do,” he said. “A lot of them have received help through SBA loans as well. We thought, ‘What if they’re down 60 percent?’ They’re very generous with us when we need it.”
With 1,200 students and 750 families impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, Lilly said he’s proud of OCS teachers, who he said are doing a great job teaching from home.
“We’re hoping this loan gets us through the next contract year, and we think it will,” he said.
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