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School to Community Connection |
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Issue 104 Public Schools Need To Look At Alternative Funding Sources Last year at this time, our community faced unprecedented cuts in school programs and personnel at the Healdsburg Unified School District. Times were tense. But, thanks to strategic, coordinated fundraising efforts along with some newly released State monies, almost all programs for this school year were put back in place. A take-charge interim superintendent was hired. And things seemed pretty much back to normal. But, now we are in January. And January, on a school calendar, is all about projected budgets for programs and staffing for the next school year. And, January has become the beginning of a reoccurring reality--not only for California public schools, but for public schools all across our country—the reality that we will not receive enough State monies to pay for the quality programs we want and we expect to provide. But, unlike last year, we need not experience the sense of panic that we felt last year when faced with a decline in State funding. Public schools derive their income from the State in the form of ADA (average daily attendance) monies, allocated for each enrolled student. Before Proposition 13, when California’s educational system was ranked #1 in the United States, local school districts received additional property tax monies from their local governments which allowed wealthier communities to provide an extremely high quality/high cost education to the children. I am all too familiar with this utopian time; I taught English at Gunn High School in Palo Alto. Now, the only monies guaranteed to public schools are the ADA monies, (along with some additional State and Federal grants with mandated expenses) which simply do not cover the costs of a high quality educational program such as what we provide in Healdsburg. Since my time at Gunn High, my professional experience has been largely in independent schools and in independent school finance. I am finding now that school finance in public schools is increasingly similar to that of the independent sector. Independent schools also develop budgets which identify their program and personnel costs, their projected income from tuition and then the deficit which MUST be covered by fundraising. Essentially, they create a “deficit budget” and go into each school year knowing what additional monies, over tuition, must be raised to break even. Like independent schools, our public school districts are now facing anticipated budget deficits, and are forced to seek alternative, additional funding to pay for desired programs--a very new experience for the public school community. But, as demonstrated by the independent schools, not an insurmountable task. To meet this challenge, the Healdsburg Education Foundation has announced its Annual Fund Campaign, and has been raising significant funds since last July to provide those monies needed to fund the anticipated budgeted deficit. This spring we know we will be faced with many of the same financial constraints we faced last year. But, this time, when we announce budget cuts, be they in athletics, staffing or whatever, we can put these “cuts” in perspective: we are actually announcing our budgeted deficit, the program costs that are not being met by the State ADA funding. And, just as we did last year, the school district and the Healdsburg Education Foundation, along with the many other volunteer organizations, will continue to work together to find ways to fund these programs. Don’t get me wrong. This challenge is significant and will take a significant effort on the part of every member of this community. But, this community is passionate about its children. And, given this passion, this commitment to our students and our schools, can anyone doubt that we will be successful in meeting those financial challenges which will continue to face us in the future? I sure don’t. By Mary Burke, HUSD School Board Member
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