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The Avi Chai Foundation awarded nearly $2 million to support the Conservative movement’s Solomon Schechter network of Jewish day schools.

Two grants, for the Solomon Schechter School Network and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, include some $1.7 million in funding from Avi Chai and a challenge grant from an anonymous foundation, according to a statement released July 3.

Over the last 15 years, Schechter schools have been hit by 20 school closures or mergers. In the last decade, as enrollment at non-Orthodox day schools fell, Schechter schools were hardest hit, with a drop of 25 percent in enrollment between 2003 and 2008. The economy is a large factor, along with affordability, day school researchers say. — jta