Schools and parents know what it’s like to be strapped for
cash.
Hollister – Schools and parents know what it’s like to be strapped for cash.
They are the first ones to hold the bake sales and car washes to raise money for often unfunded, yet vital components of their kids’ educations like art, music and foreign language instruction. Now, several rural schools in San Benito County have gone one step further by creating foundations and endowment funds to pay for the programs they say are the future of rural schools.
It took parents at Tres Pinos Elementary several years of legal research, writing grants and brainstorming sessions to create the E Cubed Foundation. Today, the 130-student school has raised over $100,000 – money which has allowed the school to create a regular art and drama curriculum that had previously been sporadic due to a lack of funds.
“What the foundation has done is help us formalize the donation process,” said Marie Hoffman, a founding member of E Cubed and mother of two boys who attend Tres Pinos.
Rural schools have traditionally suffered from a lack of funds because money from the state and federal government is doled out based on attendance – the fewer kids a school has, the less money it gets. But they have also benefited from a tight-knit relationship among community members who have tended to pull together in times of trouble.
E Cubed, which stands for Encourage, Enrich and Educate, began with a grant from the Woolpert Foundation, a private charitable group created by relatives of Liz Woolpert, a former parent at the school. That got the ball rolling for other donations from parents and matching grants from companies where Tres Pinos parents worked. Last April the foundation held a day of horseback riding and barbecue, its biggest fundraiser to date that netted over $60,000.
Following the successful fundraiser, foundation members began talking to various school boards about joining them and fund raising together. But half a year into the endeavor, they haven’t gotten a lot of interest.
“Rural school parents are accustomed to doing things on their own,” said Leslie Schwabacher, vice president of the foundation. “They are ranchers and they are independent and they like it that way.”
Although they were approached by the foundation, parents at Southside Elementary decided to create an endowment fund rather than work with Tres Pinos. For years the school held rummage sales and other traditional fundraisers to pay for physical education and send kids to science camp and other educational trips. But now, parents, always at the forefront of fundraising efforts, won’t have to work so hard. Instead, they can relax and watch their initial investment of $60,000 grow, using the interest whenever the need arises.
“There have been a lot of budget cuts recently,” said Kathy Tiffany, president of the fund, which was started in May of last year. “And unlike fundraising, the endowment is there forever.”
Parents and community members in Panoche also recently began a nonprofit foundation, called Friends of Panoche School, and have already raised $6,000 which they intend to use to supplement the school’s music and art programs.
Other schools say they have a strong network made up of parents and other community members, who always chip in when the need arises, and have no need to either partner with E Cubed or create their own fund-raising organization. And there are those who say they aren’t opposed to working with Tres Pinos, but just haven’t reached a decision to what extent they want to do so.
“We are interested in it, but it’s a matter of getting together and figuring out how we can contribute,” said Tim Williams, principal at Bitterwater-Tully Elementary near King City which has 26 kids.
Schwabacher, president of E Cubed, still has hope that one day, perhaps in the very near future, Tres Pinos parents can work next to other rural parents on the common goal of ensuring that their kids have all the tools they need to succeed.
“Our dream is to reach all rural schools because the possibility of us getting something as a group is higher than doing it alone,” she said. “It will take time, but I think we will get there.”
Karina Ioffee covers education and agriculture for the Free Lance. Reach her at (831)637-5566 ext. 335 or
ki*****@fr***********.com
