501C-3 Educational Foundation Forming
The Morrisville School District is seeking individuals to participate in a committee to establish a non-profit educational foundation to enable educators to provide additional educational experiences to enrich students' education. Send letter of interest to Dr. Elizabeth Yonson, Superintendent, 550 W. Palmer St., Morrisville, PA 19067 or fax 215-736-2413.
Monday, June 9, 2008
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11 comments:
Sounds like a good idea, which then makes me wonder why certain individuals who don't usually support good ideas seem to support this. Maybe it's because they'll have a hand in who gets a piece of the charitable largesse?
And don't we already have a 501(c)(3) in town that's dedicated to the proposition of Educational Excellence? You know, Citizens for Quality Safe Responsible Education (QSRE)! And didn't they just have a Texas Hold 'Em Fundraising Tournament? So when are the schools gonna see a cut of that coin? When monkeys fly out of my what?
I would be interested in knowing the origin of this request. I have to say that I am EXTREMELY interested in this one. I can envision two possible paths for this, though I am guessing there are several I haven't thought of.
Path 1 - Form a non-profit for the purpose of seeking grant monies available to non-governmental agencies, to provide for programs that the school budget does not (i.e. Football, Band, Chorus, French).
Path 2 - Form a non-profit to explore the creation of a charter school located in Morrisville. Once said charter school is created, close all public schools giving students a choice of registering in the new Morrisville Charter School or go elsewhere ... at their expense.
Anybody else have any ideas why this "Foundation" might be forming?
Jon,
Now that you mention it, there is the non-profit "Morrisville Brain Trust" (not intended to be derrogatory) formed in the 80's to receive donations and provide scholarship monies to graduating seniors. If this non-profit is still on the books, it could probably just be kick-started back up.
Texas Hold 'Em Fundraising Tournament? I guess I didn't get the invitation dropped off at my door like all of the other QSRE propaganda. I'm sure the decks were stacked. Did they have a gaming license?
Did Ed Bailey wear his 10-gallon hat and Sharon Hughes her barmaid outfit?
Ya had to conjure that up so soon before din din, didn't ya?
Anyway, if we can convince the private sector to pony up ~$20 million/yr (escalated at ~10%/yr, of course), us taxpayers wouldn't have to fork over dime one for public education.
Or perhaps if the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was willing to drop an endowment of ~$500 million on us, we could invest it in 30-yr tax-free municipal bonds which, at today's yield of 4.70%, would give us > $20 million/yr in revenue, and we could tell everybody to go pee up a rope. We're already doing that now in a way though, aren't we? Sorry.
The problem is, Jon, even ignoring the ludicrous side of things, those solutions won't work in the long run.
Even if B&M Gates did donate beaucoup bucks (never-mind the harsh criticism that would definately come from some locals that Mr. Gates is the devil incarnate and we shouldn't be taking his money) it would probably be earmarked for specific (additional) programs, not available to the general fund nor intended for tax relief. Most grants are like that, PLUS they are finite.
What happens if someone donates a hunk of money to keep the football program going? The board removes it from the general fund, the taxpayer saves money, and then suddenly the grant funds run out (or maybe they were only for 1-2 years and no one ever thought we wouldn't be regranted after that)? Suddenly there are NO funds for the program, and we either have to jack up taxes (a very UNPOPULAR IDEA) or drop the program all together.
Again, I think this exploration is a very interesting idea, but one that must be considered in a COMPREHENSIVE plan.
By the way, (speaking of comprehensive plans) is there any indication that this initiative springs from the newly approved Strategic Plan? Anybody read that yet? Will it be posted on the school web page?
I inquired about the 501c3 announcement. Reliable sources provided the following answers, and I'll do my best to accurately convey what I learned:
The Strategic Planning Committee initiated the goal to establish a 501 c3 Foundation as it provides the opportunity for the district to apply for certain private and corporate grants. Every grant has its guidelines, and such grants are likely be limited in scope to particular programs that benefit children directly (not be used for general operating or administrative/staff costs, etc.)
The establishment of an Educational Foundation simply broadens the possibilities for funding for educational initiatives. It also is a step toward the independent sustainability which is often an important goal and requirement of grants such as the 21st Century.
As far as the committee - looks like a great opportunity for people to get involved in a truly positive way to make a difference in the educational lives of our children.
Borows, how dare you point out the absurdity of my ideas. Now I must destroy you!
Jon,
Bring it on!
Since "the enemey of my enemy is my friend" then I guess Steve is my friend now. Of course, if the "enemy of your enemy is your friend" then Steve must also be your friend. And that makes me my own grand-pa.
uh.. my head is hurting now, I'm going to go lie down.
Sorry, didn't notice this one before. Robin Reithmeyer is the expert on this one since it came out of her strategic committee, but I'll do my best. Here's something that everyone must understand: The educational foundation will be outside the control of the school district and school board. It will have its own board and officers. The district can and will work with the foundation to try to attract grants it couldn't previously get, especially from corporations which generally give only to 501(c)3s (for the tax break).
Big, big thing: the monies can't be used for regular education purposes, so the donations won't supplant necessary tax dollars. We may be able to offset some costs (technology, etc.) but the purpose of an educational foundation is to supplement education, not to pay for basic education. Grants come in with stipulations and an institution can get in big trouble if it uses grant money not for its intended purpose. Darletta Berry-Johnson, the director of the 20th Century Grant (where the district gets most of its extracurricular money) spends a lot of time making sure that everything is in order with every dollar she gets.
Joe,
That having been said (and I agree with you 100%), my fear would be that a board looking to lower taxes would see this as a prime opportunity to offload the expense of non-"regular education" programs. Certainly sports would fall into this realm, and several in town have called for the elimination of sports, if not a "pay-for-play" scenario. Arts programs such as music and theater, both frequently considered outside of the regular educational programs of a school district, have been cut in the past. The foundation is a great idea, but it must be accompanied by a promise not to cut (extra-educational) programs already in existence.
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