To: Woodland School District Board of Directors
From: Michael Green
Date: November 9th, 2011
Regarding: Proposal for Fundraising reform and levy enhancement.
Two years ago Mr. Shoup presented to the board a plan that would comprehensively eliminate all fundraising by students in the district and replacement of that funding with levy funds that groups could perform community service to earn. His was a comprehensive and arguably a revolutionary plan.
Over the past several months a team of individuals has been meeting to hone this plan into one that is narrower in scope, and cost, with the thought that the concept could be expanded in the future once we find success with a more limited scope.
On Monday, November 14, John will present a draft of this plan to the board in hopes that the board may consider it and request inclusion of funds to support it in the 2013-2015 Program Levy.
There are three elements to the plan:
Policy: The committee is recommending adoption of a new policy, number 4238 that restricts fundraisers to those that are not invasive, disruptive, or potentially create poor public relations for the school, activity, or district. With the elimination of these fundraisers the schools anticipate a loss of income into their ASB/PTA that supports clubs, activities, assemblies, field-trips, etc. The committee proposes a $14,000 enhancement that will be equitably distributed to school ASB funds. In order to access these funds student groups may be asked to perform community service.
Shift of Responsibility: Currently schools & ASBs are responsible for paying for officials (about $25,000) and Football helmet reconditioning and replacement (about $8000). The responsibility for these will be shifted to the school district general fund.
Reduction in student fees: Currently student athletes pay to participate in athletics. $75 per sport at the high school and $50 at the middle school. We believe this creates a substantial hardship on many families in our community and restricts the opportunity of many to participate. The team proposes substantially reducing these fees ($40 & $25 respectively). It is expected that the reduction in fees will result in a reduction of revenue of about $18,000. These funds are currently deposited in the general fund and are used to support transportation and supervision costs for athletics.