Membership

April 2019: The Board of Commissioners for Beth Israel has, at the recommendation of the Beth Israel Friedel Tuition Committee Board, voted to make some changes to the Friedel Jewish Academy Subsidies starting for the school year 2020-2021.

The goal of the Beth Israel Friedel Tuition Committee is to make recommendations to the Board of Commissioners regarding a financially sound, fair, and effective policy for helping member families pay Friedel Jewish Academy tuition.

a. We propose to set an overall limit on tuition expenses at $100,000 for each school year.

b. Base tuition payment would be set at $2,000 each year per student, available for the children of eligible members who wish to take advantage of this benefit. Any additional payment would be needs-based with limit of $2,000 in additional payments per student. Thus, the maximum amount available from Beth Israel, per student, would be capped at $4,000 each year. The needs-based payment would be available once the parents have first availed themselves of other sources of financial aid, such as the Jewish Federation of Omaha. There is no intent to deter anyone from enrolling in Friedel.

The process for seeking financial aid would include a confidential request for a scholarship and the submission of proof of need based on the JFO model.

c. Implementation of the new policy for currently eligible members would apply to the 2020-2021 school year. This will give families adequate time to adjust to the changes and make any necessary preparations. Once the new program is determined, it will apply to new members immediately.

d. Eligible Members: Primary members. Dual primary members would also be eligible for the subsidy. Secondary and Gateway members would not be eligible. They must join as full members to take advantage of these benefits.

e. There may be some grandfathering. For example, a current Gateway family would continue to receive Friedel benefits at the new reduced rate until the Gateway period expires. Following that period, the family would have to rollover their Gateway membership to a primary one.

f. A scholarship committee should be formed following the Federation model with committee members being anonymous.  

For information about Scholarships through the Jewish Federation of Omaha, please visit: 

http://www.jewishomaha.org/education/scholarships-and-grants/

http://www.jewishomaha.org/education/scholarships-and-grants/