A Church And School On One Busy Campus

Superintendent’s Blog – 2019 Summer Series

A Note from Dr. Mayes

I find that there is a list of really good questions that I am occasionally asked by parents, alumni, grandparents, faculty and church members. The answers to these questions are easy for me to give, but difficult to disseminate during the busy school year when our community is focusing on homework, practices, rehearsals, games, performances, work, doctor’s appointments and other daily events. This summer, I would like to address some of these topics with the hope that a reduced family schedule may make it easier for families to read and absorb this information. If there are questions you have about Parkview that you would like to see answered, please email me at superintendent@parkviewbaptist.com. I hope everyone is having a great summer!   

A church and school on one busy campus – how do you make that work?

Church and school relationships gone wrong – you don’t have to look far to find horror stories.  In fact, many churches have made a decision to forgo the ministry opportunity of a school because they have heard these stories.  Under Brother Bob Anderson’s leadership, Parkview Baptist Church caught the vision and the courage to expand their church ministry into a 7 day a week school ministry that forever changed this campus and the lives of thousands of children, parents and grandparents. Things have not always been easy, but church and school leadership believes our mission is worth pursuing even during difficult seasons.

I hope that learning a little more about the relationship between the church and school will build confidence and provide transparency for our entire community. There are many details to walk through so I will do another blog next week.

• Parkview Baptist School operates as a ministry of Parkview Baptist Church.  As such, the church owns the campus and bares sole responsibility for the school, its property, and its mission.  
• Church staff is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the school except in instances where we must work together to effectively coordinate activities on our 25+ acre campus.  We share a campus calendar that includes over 10,000 recurring and new events each year.  
• The school and the church are separate corporations and operate with completely separate budgets, budgeting processes, and bank accounts, but we do have some shared expenses.  
• Sometimes I hear people say that the school “gives” the church $1,000,000.00 per year. In reality, we are paying our share of the shared expenses. These shared items include property and liability insurance, electricity, water and sewer, janitorial, lawn care, security, building improvements, and repair and maintenance expenses.
• A usage formula, calculated on time and square footage, that is reviewed each year by the church and the school administrators determines the share paid by each entity.  Martha Long and Paul Ramsey, the CFO for the school, participate in the usage formula review meetings and approve adjustments if necessary from year to year.  
• If we were an independent school without a church to share in expenses, our overhead would be considerably higher.

All processes are confirmed by annual, independent audits and we enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship.  I want to assure you there are clear boundaries between all finances.  At the same time, we remain united and steadfast in our shared mission to seek first the Kingdom of God while providing students with a college-preparatory, Christ-centered education that allows them to grow and mature in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and man.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about the relationship between the church and school!