Keeping Our Kids in Adventist Schools

Story by Tamaria Kulemeka

There is an elephant standing smack dab in the middle of the Seventh-day Adventist educational system, and Sadrail Saint-Ulysse, superintendent of schools for the New Jersey Conference (NJC), refuses to be silent or ignore it. In his self-published book, The Elephant in the Room: Church Schools are Drowning—Champions Needed! Saint-Ulysse cites decrease in enrollment, lack of funding and the inability of many families to afford Adventist education, as issues stifling church schools, and he “challenges parents, teachers, principals, school boards, church members and church leaders at every level to make the needed policy changes to ensure that church schools are financed in a sustainable manner.”

Saint-Ulysse, an ordained pastor and longtime educator, even suggests the church institute a funding mechanism like how property taxes fuel K–12 public schools—whatever it takes to ensure that every child has an opportunity to thrive in an Adventist school no matter how wealthy or poor their parents are.

“We need to put Adventist education on the forefront and find ways of financing it instead of closing schools,” says the former principal and teacher who has been at the helm of education in the NJC since 2009. “We know the financial burdens of families, but we have not addressed it at a sustainable level.”

Instead of providing Band-Aids for this crisis, which existed long before the COVID-19 pandemic reared its ugly head, Saint-Ulysse says more of the tithe money collected at churches needs to be allocated to help schools.

Saint-Ulysse says Ellen White stated simply and clearly what the church’s stance should be concerning its schools—that everyone should “share the expense”—citing a quote in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 216: “We cannot call ourselves true missionaries if we neglect those at our very doors who are at the most critical age and who need our aid to secure knowledge and experience that will fit them for the service of God.”

Saint-Ulysse says, “We can all contribute as Ellen White says.” 

It was in 2005 that Saint-Ulysse realized the financial trouble plaguing Adventist education. The school he had been teaching at for seven years had to shut its doors because of inadequate funding.

“It was very painful,” Saint-Ulysse says of the school’s closing. “My one and only son was there with us; he was four turning five, and at the time he was collecting pennies around the house to help us save the school. From then on, I wanted to do something [to save our schools].”

This passion and fervor, though quickened at that moment, can be traced back to Saint-Ulysse’s roots in Haiti. The youngest of 10 children, Saint-Ulysse credits his oldest sister—to whom the book is dedicated—for cultivating a love of education in his siblings and him.

“My sister was the leader of the family; she was always like a mother to all of us,” he says. “When she became a Seventh-day Adventist, she sent for all of us to come live with her [and] to the local Seventh-day Adventist school, and now all of us are [Adventists] today.”

While he is grateful for the path his sister paved for him, Saint-Ulysse says there was a period when he could not attend the Adventist school because his sister had moved to the United States, and his parents, who were farmers, could not afford to send him. After being homeschooled by his older siblings for a while, he was able to return to an Adventist school, but he had to leave again when money got tight. This time he had to settle for attending a non-Adventist school.

These early experiences left an indelible mark on Saint-Ulysse, who joined his older sister in New Jersey to attend college when he was 17 years old. Today, his mission is to ensure no child must forgo an Adventist education like he did as a child. However, he knows this mission is not one he can achieve on his own.

“We need someone to be a voice for those children with no voice yet, for someone … to say, let’s look at the elephant in the room—which are the policies that have limited financial support to our schools from tithing,” Saint-Ulysse says. “I appeal to everyone, beginning with members … contribute whatever you have. … We cannot wait for the government to offer vouchers; we need to change our policies.”

The pandemic, which left the world in turmoil and shut-down mode for many months, provided the perfect opportunity for Saint-Ulysse to concentrate his efforts on writing this long overdue book. Hoping others will join the dialogue, his wife, Malou, a principal at Meadow View Junior Academy in Chesterfield, N.J., is on board.

“We want this message out,” Saint-Ulysse says. “I am hoping my experience can be used to bless a child, and I am praying another child doesn’t experience what I experienced. I am hoping my dream will be realized. I believe every Seventh-day Adventist child deserves a Seventh-day Adventist education regardless of their family's financial standing. Let’s do it; it can be done!” 

Copies of his self-published book, including digital versions, can be purchased through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.