The Vashon Schools Foundation launched its annual spring fundraising drive this week with the goal of bringing in $247,000 for the island’s public schools.
The drive officially began on Monday and will close May 5 with GiveBig, a fundraising event hosted by the Seattle Foundation, which matches a portion of the donations made through the program on that day.
“The funding that the community generates is critical to keeping the core and also to creating and enhancing what kids need to really thrive,” said Ruthann Howell, the president of the foundation.
Now in its fifth year, the Vashon Schools Foundation has raised nearly $2 million to help fund vital staff and programming efforts that the state does not provide for. This year, in concert with the district, the foundation has put forward a dozen initiatives to be funded through the drive. Among the first tier of priorities are mental health and suicide prevention efforts in grades K through 12; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) program enhancements across all grade levels and new math textbooks for grades nine through 12.
Members of the foundation stress the importance of donations to high quality education, particularly because state funding to school districts across the state is still below 2008 levels, according to Howell.
Helping students thrive is the motivation behind the mental health initiative, said Donna Nespor, the foundation’s administrative coordinator. In previous years, the foundation raised money for the nuts and bolts of education: to keep teachers employed and address concrete classroom needs, but attention to healthy emotional development will bring a more holistic approach to learning and students needs.
“It is a basic part of our education,” she said. “If that is not in place, students are not going to learn math or science or the arts.”
Indeed, Howell said, those involved in this year’s campaign are looking more broadly at education and redefining what is central to it.
“We are redefining the core. The core is more than what the state funds. The core is what our kids need,” she said.
This mental health initiative is slated for $58,000; donations will provide start-up funds for curriculum, staff training and program coordination, according to Superintendent Michael Soltman.
Other top priorities, STEM and science program enhancements, are to receive $52,000, which will be used, in part, to enhance elementary science programs, Soltman said. The district is recruiting local scientists to provide real-life science experiences in the classrooms, aligned with the new Next Generation Science Standards, which 26 states have adopted to guide science education. Funds will also go to curriculum and equipment renewal: new microscopes, graphing calculators and other learning tools.
In recent years, the foundation has attempted to raise larger sums of money than it is this year, Howell noted, and fell short as the economy improved and the sense of crisis no longer loomed. Last year it raised about $335,000 out of a $500,000 goal, similar to fundraising results in 2013.
Now the district is on more solid financial footing than it was a few years ago, according to school board chair Laura Wishik, thanks to higher than predicted enrollment and careful budgeting practices.
Foundation board members say they believe this year’s goal is a realistic one and are looking for a broad base of families to contribute — either one time or with smaller donations on a monthly basis.
“We want the community to feel very good about investing in success,” Howell said. “We anticipate this is a very reachable goal.”
Vashon Schools Foundation: Priority One
Mental Health & Suicide Prevention $58,000
STEM & Applied Science Programs $52,000
Advanced Math Topics Textbook Adoption $16,000
Bilingual Preschool Materials & Development $12,000
English Language Arts Curriculum Development $9,000
Japanese Language Textbook Adoption $3,000
For more information about the foundation, including items in the second tier of priorities and how to donate, see vashonschoolsfoundation.org.
