[jschnieders]

I am the CFO of a Catholic High School in the midst of an enrollment dip and a capital campaign when the pandemic hit. While we still operated and collected tuition, we were forced to cancel in person fundraising and athletic events for nearly two years, so two successful PPP loans were used so we did not have to dip into reserve funds at any higher rate than expected. We were able to retain all staff with PPP funds.

[jschnieders]

1) What is the recommended investment mix for holding cash reserves for a school? Our funds are invested at 60% equities/40% fixed income along with our other endowed funds.

2) Our reserve requirement is 6 months of expenses, but as expenses have gone up and reserve balances are down, we are now under that threshold but facing need to use those reserve funds for emergent building needs. Any advice? Use them or seek other sources?