PARISH SUBSIDY POLICY

St. Bridget Parish

April, 2001

St. Bridget Parish regards Catholic Education as one of its highest priorities, and both subsidizes it generally and provides for scholarships, so that every parish family has access to affordable Catholic elementary education.  Every school family is expected to register in the parish, attend Mass weekly, participate actively in parish life and activities, and make an annual commitment towards the financial support of the parish.

Assumption-St. Bridget is designated parochial school, shared with Assumption parish. In addition, St. Bridget adopted the following policy for families with children in other Catholic elementary schools: 

Resolved, that if there is insufficient room at Assumption-St. Bridget School for our own parish families (that is, if a family has applied for admission and been turned down for lack of space), that St. Bridget parish will subsidize those families if they should wish to attend another area Catholic grade school.  The amount of this subsidy will be roughly comparable to the per-pupil subsidy extended to ASB families.  Those families would be expected to meet the same qualifying criteria that all ASB families need to observe to receive the “in-parish” tuition rate.

Those criteria, as stated above, are four-fold:  1) to be officially registered at St. Bridget parish; 2) to worship regularly at St. Bridget; 3) to participate with an annual pledge in the parish Stewardship program; and 4) to be actively and measurably engaged in the parish community life and activities.  Every family registering at the school that intends to receive in-parish tuition signs a statement at registration that they understand and intend to abide by these criteria.  To "worship regularly" would ordinarily mean "weekly."  To make an "annual Stewardship pledge" means that the pledge fits the understanding of Catholic Stewardship; i.e., that it is planned, intentional, proportionate, and sacrificial.  The parish pledge campaign takes place in November each year. 

For further information on Stewardship, please see:  http://www.seattlearch.org/FormationAndEducation/Stewardship/ParishStewardship.