Report from the Business Manager
THE FISCAL YEAR that ended on
June 30 marked the ninth consecutive
balanced budget, the
largest gift in the history of the
school ($4.5 million), as well as
the completion of four new
classrooms and a remodeling of
the English, history and college
counseling offices.
In addition, the Investment
Committee undertook a thorough
and rigorous review of the
school’s endowment allocations
and shifted proactively to a more
sophisticated investment strategy
designed to preserve capital and
increase yield in these increasingly
uncertain economic times. |
 Rick Cowan |
The Putney Summer Programs
generated record revenues this
season. With more than 150
students enrolled in each of the
two sessions, Tom Howe and his
team have filled all nine dorms
for the entire summer. Summer
Programs has become not only a
vital revenue source but an
excellent recruitment tool for
the academic year as well as one
of the finest programs of its type
in the nation. Congratulations
to Tom and the entire summer
programs staff!
The school inventoried its
farm equipment for safety and
wear and ultimately purchased
$100,000 worth of modern, efficient
and safe farm implements.
We also contracted a local architect,
Bannister & Greenberg, to
produce a report on the structural
condition of the farm
buildings as well as to document
all buildings and surrounding
fields. This task is nearly
complete and will be combined
with the school’s own internal
review to develop a schedule of
deferred maintenance projects.
The end result will be a significant
improvement in the farm
buildings and a decrease in operating
costs. While we use much
of the food produced, and get
significant revenue from selling
extra milk, operating a farm as a
classroom costs a significant
amount of money.
throughout the United States.
The Putney School is no exception.
The school strives to
balance these competing demands
in a fair and thoughtful manner.
The old music wing attached to
the Main Building was razed in
the summer of 2004 to make
way for a much needed suite of
classrooms and an academic office.
Thanks to board member and
architect Peter Coombs ’63, we
were able to replicate the design
of the old wing while providing
modern and pleasant classrooms
that feature bamboo and cork
floors along with maximum
energy efficiency. For alums
who worried that the old architecture
of Putney was being lost,
most people do not even notice
that we have rebuilt the old
music wing into the new
English wing!
Despite our successes over the
years in developing a more robust
academic experience, physical
plant improvement, endowment
growth, employee retention and
balancing budgets, a major challenge
remains; the cost of school
operations continues to increase
faster than inflation.
This is a result of issues as diverse
as growing expectations around
the availability and reliability of
technology, life safety regulations
(sprinkler systems, asbestos and
lead paint removal, etc.), the cost
of state mandated school busses,
and the absolute need to have
staff that meets the expectations
and market demands of the modern
world of boarding schools.
The days of dormitories without
sprinklers, students traveling in
trucks and vans as well as classrooms
that feature nothing more
than a blackboard, table and
chairs are long past. The growing
complexity and regulation of
physical plants combined with
ever increasing market expectations
has an impact that is being
felt by small boarding schools
As always the business office
welcomes questions, comment
and suggestions from its varied
and growing alumni body.
Randy Smith
rsmith@putneyschool.org
 Bryant Dossman ’06 displays a solar-powered model car that was
part of his Project Week presentation this spring. As we go to press,
regular gas is selling at $3.25 per gallon in Putney. |
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