At a February 13 school board meeting, representatives of Vashon Schools Foundation (VSF) presented a giant check for $100,000 in support to the school district — and promised to continue to help bridge the gap between state funding and essential resources provided by local schools.

Because the school district’s annual budget calendar differs from that of VSF’s, the check represented only part of a total of $221,570 raised by the school foundation in 2024.

A significant portion of that larger sum — including $88,000 raised in a GiveBIG campaign to fund the district’s staffing of a school nurse and a middle school counselor — has already been disbursed to the district, while a remainder will be committed to the district’s 2025-26 school year.

Disbursing funds raised in 2024 on a longer timeline allows the foundation to support essential school funding on a reliable basis, said Vashon Schools Foundation Kennedy Leavens.

“The programs we fund have families, kids, teachers and sometimes even jobs counting on these funds,” Leavens said, in an email. “We take this commitment seriously — and that means that we don’t have the luxury to adapt our spending if we fall short of a fundraising goal during the year. That’s why we always make our financial commitment to the schools from funds that we have already raised and have in the bank.”

At the Feb. 13 board meeting, Leavens and two other VSF board members, India Alarcon and Betsy Gleb, profusely thanked islanders for their generosity — including an increasing number of island families who have pledged monthly contributions to the district — and detailed VSF’s plans to up its game by presenting its first gala auction on November 15.

A slide show broke down the impact of their work, showing where 2024 VSF donations will go, in addition to the $88,000 to fund the nurse and counselor staff positions.

This includes $20,000 for Vashon Youth & Family Services counseling and resource connection programs; $15,000 to fund artist residencies (reaching 1,100 students) through a partnership with Vashon Center for the Arts; $25,000 for Vashon Nature Center’s Scientists in Schools programs (reaching 41% of all district students); and $15,000 for social-emotional support programs delivered for students in grades 5-12 via the district’s partnership with Journeymen.

VSF also distributed $25,000 in grant funding for StudentLink programs.

Watch for VSF’s next GiveBig Campaign in May, and an additional Back to School Campaign set for September, in advance of the foundation’s gala in November.

Find out more and donate at vashonschoolsfoundation.org.