Simon Chiu has been wrestling with an unusual dilemma: how the Catholic high school he leads should spend one of the most extraordinary windfalls in Silicon Valley.
A $15,000 investment by Saint Francis High School five years ago turned into $34 million this past March when Snapchat parent Snap Inc. SNAP +4.56% went public.
Since the school hit the jackpot, Mr. Chiu has had to weigh competing ideas for what to do with the money. Students speculated they wouldn’t have to pay tuition next year. Parents asked whether annual fundraisers, including a Christmas boutique sale, were still necessary. Some advisers urged school officials to construct a new chapel and science laboratories.