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Funding what school budgets don't
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Central Bucks School District used to have one and could get one again soon. Pennridge School District never had one, but may get one. Why not? Every other school district seems to have one. The entity in question is a fund-raising arm in the form of a quasi-private foundation. It helps pay the bills. More Philadelphia Suburbs news
Central Bucks School District used to have one and could get one again soon.
Pennridge School District never had one, but may get one.
Why not?
Every other school district seems to have one. The entity in question is a fund-raising arm in the form of a quasi-private foundation. It helps pay the bills.
North Penn, Souderton, Quakertown, Neshaminy … name a district and they probably have one.
“The cost of education keeps growing …,” said Bob New. “The cost of technology is going (up) too fast for district budgets to keep up with. To do it takes a major effort. Budgets can’t keep up.”
New is the president and founder of the Mid-Atlantic Education Consortium Association, which represents about 500 education foundations from New York to Virginia. An education foundation is, by New’s definition, “any nonprofit organization that is supportive in two ways, with financial support and to be an advocate for a district. An education foundation is really going out and trying to find funds for programs that cannot be handled by school districts under current budget terms.”
In tough economic times, education foundations could be the answer to ways of enhancing educational programs or even helping to offset some of the cost associated with big-ticket items, such as putting turf on fields.
The idea of education foundations began in California in the 1980s as a grassroots effort when school budgets were drastically slashed after a ballot initiative known as Proposition 13 was enacted in 1978 that put a cap on property taxes.
Last month, New made a presentation to the finance committee of the Pennridge School Board about getting an education foundation started. The meeting was initiated in large part due to the turf field Pennridge may install on a field behind the high school.
New has been in contact with Central Bucks, too.
“We had an education foundation that we initiated in the late ’80s,” said Central Bucks Superintendent N. Robert Laws. “It pretty much died, for lack of a better term. I have thought on occasion if it’s something we should revive. We are still registered in Harrisburg, but I don’t know if it was ever very active.”
Therein lies the rub with education foundations — to be successful, much depends on community involvement, because fundraisers are so vital in bringing in money. Some of that community involvement includes going after alumni of the schools to see if they would be interested in contributing time and/or money, New said.
“I’ve seen them be very successful and I’ve seen them be very unsuccessful,” said Pennridge Superintendent Robert Kish. “A lot of it depends on the attitude of the community. You can’t leave it up to board members or district personnel. You have to get the community involved. You have to identify people who are interested enough and engaged enough and have the time to do it, because this isn’t something that happens easily and without effort.”
Kish was discouraged when only one person came to listen to New’s presentation after invitations had been sent to 12 community members. Kish said those invited but not attending had different reasons for not showing up. Still, the Pennridge School Board intends to discuss, and perhaps vote upon, starting an education foundation at its next meeting on May 19.
“If the board is willing to try it, I will support it, but I’m wary,” said Kish. “I want to believe it will work, but with so many variables right now, I’m not sure of who in the community is willing to show up and do it.”
A good example of how successful an education foundation can be needs to look no further than Souderton, where one has been in place since 1992.
“It’s provided many grants and block grants for teachers and schools in the district,” said Frank Gallagher, the district’s executive director of the education foundation. “It’s been responsible and provided the funds necessary to start up the robotics club at the high school and in some of the elementary schools. It’s provided funds for the school musical this year… parent workshops, for different wellness activities throughout the school and for different character education programs. And that’s just a small sampling.”
An education foundation has several board members and volunteers, which can be made up of district personnel and community members. New said a successful foundation usually requires 30 to 40 people. Souderton has about 35, although that number changes from year to year.
Souderton’s foundation just held a dinner-dance auction on April 18 that raised about $20,000, and this fall it will conduct its third annual golf outing, which is typically good for another $15,000 for the foundation.
“The emphasis has to be on providing an extension of activities that go above and beyond the curriculum and extend the curriculum,” said Gallagher. “You have to be conscious of what your community wants and what they’re willing to support.”
Quakertown implemented its education foundation in 2003 and has about 25 members at any given time. So far, it has brought in about five different guest speakers who speak to the students during the day then, in the evening, to community members who are interested in attending.
“It’s something a school can rally around and see a direct benefit from,” said Quakertown Superintendent Lisa Andrejko, who sits on one of the foundation’s committees. “When people pay taxes, they say, ‘Where does my money go?’ With a foundation, you can see the effect oftentimes right away. It’s always a positive experience for people who want to see where their money goes.”
Because contributing to an education foundation is a tax write-off, Merck & Co. Inc. contributes heavily to North Penn’s Education Foundation.
Some of Neshaminy’s money for its foundation comes from teachers who can volunteer to have a percentage of their paycheck deducted and sent right into the foundation.
With an economy that may or may not be in recession, starting a foundation now may not be the easiest thing in the world to accomplish, because as Laws said, “You can only tap the community so many different ways for support. We would have to look at that very carefully.”
One of Andrejko’s goals for the foundation is to look at some way to combine other fundraising arms associated with schools, such as booster clubs and PTAs, into one.
“Everybody asks for money, so we need a coordinated effort around that to meet our needs together,” she said. “That way the community is not hit up by every different club and organization.”
Still, with budgets being constrained under Act 1 and becoming leaner and leaner, at least the exploration of starting an education foundation may be too good to pass up for those districts without one or those that have underutilized or inactive foundations.
“I definitely think it’s a good idea,” said Bill Sarnese, a Pennridge board member and finance committee chairman. “It certainly doesn’t cost the taxpayers anything, and there are other benefits to it, too.”
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