From the start, St. Louis U High has been a product of its environment. Each day, students and families of differing backgrounds, as well as social and economic situations from around the city and county all help to contribute to the complex community that is SLUH. Even during a global pandemic and nationwide economic turmoil, this fact still holds true.
Over the past few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged not just public health but also the United States economy. Stocks have plummeted, businesses have closed, and tens of millions have lost their jobs. Even an established institution like SLUH is not immune from this turmoil. High unemployment, financial stress, and overall anxiety during these times have all contributed to an environment where donations and giving that are critical for the school are hard to come by. Plus, the cancellation of events like the scholarship golf tournament or the in-person Cashbah have all contributed to a decrease in donation revenue.  
“I would dare to say this is probably the most challenging time since the (Great) Depression for us as a school in a financial situation,” said President Alan Carruthers. “You have a reality where at one point, the market was down around 30 percent and that impacts … people across the board. It’s affected business and our donors, it's affected people’s psyche and their anxiety, and it’s affected the ability for people to make a gift to the school.”
Market uncertainty has also affected the endowment, which is a major source of revenue when donations fall short. Meanwhile, the fixed costs of maintaining SLUH, like teacher salaries and costs for maintaining the building, have steadily increased. While much of the focus has been on preventing the spread of the virus and ensuring a safe return to campus, many on the third floor have been working diligently to combat this disparity between cost and revenue. 
“People have to understand (that SLUH is) like most businesses,” said Carruthers. “I think people have this feeling, and have for a long time, that SLUH just has a ton of money, but they have to think about the scale of what we're doing here.” 
“The challenge we have is, even though students are at home three days a week … we still have a lot of costs that still happen,” Vice President of Administration Joe Komos said. “Just between the things we have had to do to make the school safe … I would argue that in every area where we have savings, we have more incremental costs. Right now from the standpoint of the school’s budget, it has kind of had a neutral impact.” 
Additionally, SLUH families individually are feeling the hit of the pandemic, causing the financial needs of families to rise. With roughly 40 percent of SLUH families receiving financial aid in a normal year, the school’s finance team already faces the challenge of raising millions to keep SLUH running. Nationwide economic turmoil only compounds the challenge. 
“We have a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the endowment, we have a lot of uncertainty with fundraising, but what we know is that a lot of our families have needed help and we have increased the amount of financial aid,” said Komos. “I think at the end of the day we are going to maintain our mission and do a good job at educating our students and we’re going to, most specifically, maintain our culture of admission based on (academic) ability and not financial ability.” 
“SLU High does a tremendous job of making sure we’re accessible to every qualified boy and that we have excellence in all areas. Those are challenging things,” said Carruthers. 
For their part, the United States Congress has made several strides to aid business during these times, many of which SLUH has readily taken advantage of. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, for example, was passed earlier this year with bipartisan support to help small businesses. Assistant Principal for Mission Jim Linhares worked over the summer to ensure SLUH didn’t miss out on the opportunity for the government grants.
“My office was sort of the point between the state, on the one side, and SLUH's needs on the other. It's a worthwhile process when you finally get access to these funds,” said Linhares.
The money, which SLUH received late in the summer after weeks of consulting government agencies and the St. Louis Public School System, was immediately put to use throughout the building. The new HVAC system, plexiglass shields for the Commons, and the faculty summer professional development program were all paid for using the CARES Act money. 
“We didn’t want to hit the go button (on renovations) until we knew for sure we had the CARES money because we were looking at a lot of costs to open the school,” said Komos.
Another form of federal aid the school received was through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP),  passed by Congress to keep employees from being laid off during the initial quarantine period. SLUH received a grant for an eight-week period. Because payroll represents around 80 percent of total costs, the loan allowed a buffer for the school following the quickness of the shutdown and the sharp drop in revenue from donations without having to furlough or lay off any employees. 
“As we moved into the chaos of March and April, it allowed us to keep everyone on payroll,” said Komos. 
Despite facing significant financial adversity this year, SLUH families can rest assured knowing that the 200-year legacy of St. Louis U. High remains unscathed, thanks to both government funding and the diligence of SLUH’s administration and Board of Trustees.
“We will manage the budget well and provide the financial aid that is needed and we will work hard financially to balance the ups and downs created by the current environment and try to address any uncertainties that come up,” said Komos. “We’re gonna meet the need. We are not gonna lose any of our families.” 
“Under our current circumstances, we’re going to be ok,” said Carruthers. “The ability of us to respond and react has been (because of) our willingness and hard work during a summer period to get done what needed to get done so that we could ensure the long term prosperity of our school and the people we serve.  I’m very proud of what we’ve done.”