"When Measure B failed at the polls, we had parents call the next day," said Campbell Union School District Communications Specialist Marla Olszewski. "I can't say how gratifying it was to see that as an employee."

These parents wanted to know how they could help the schools, Olszewski said.

SOS Campaign Committee Treasurer Robert Kwok said when Measure B didn't pass, people didn't want to give up. So together with other members of the community, they asked if people and businesses within the school district would be able to donate enough money to save a few of the schools' services.

The leftover money from the Measure B campaign fund helped to pay for the start-up costs for the committee.

"They have a really good group of people," Olszewski said. "They're dedicated and energetic."

So far, the committee has received checks from 75 people for a total of approximately $20,000.

But they are still a long way from their goal.

"The goal for the initial phase is less than $500,000," said SOS Campaign Chairwoman Starla Knapp.

That money will go toward keeping full-time counselors in the middle schools, restoring custodial staff at all the schools, and preventing a three-day furlough for clerical staff.

If they don't make their goal, then the primary concern is to keep the counselors, Knapp said. If they have enough money to restore a few custodial staff members, the district could rotate the custodians among the schools.

For Knapp, the key is staying positive in these tough economic times.

"I'm always optimistic," Knapp said. "I've been raising money for 25 years.

As Parent-Teacher Association president this past year at Marshall Lane Elementary School, Knapp said, she thought they would not be able to raise as much money as last year.

"But we raised more money," Knapp said. "There seems to be something about education."

The committee has already sent out a mailer to 5,000 families in the school district. At the top of the mailer are the boldfaced words "Measure B Lost, But Our Children Don't Have To!"Along with the donation form was a list of 10 reasons why people should donate and included such reasons as increasing property values, the need to maintain the quality of education, and how this all in turn helps the community. The donation is tax-deductible, and the committee is looking for every little bit they can get.

"This is Campbell's first try at this," Robert Kwok said. "What we need is for everyone to be excited about it. We need a lot of repeated publicity. We don't need a wealthy community."

Photograph by Dustin Cohen Saving Staff: Starla Knapp, chairwoman of the Campbell Union School District's Save Our Schools campaign, hopes to raise $500,000 to help schools through the 2003­04 year.

"We're looking at different ways we can approach businesses," Knapp said.

Thus far, no fundraising events have been planned, though the option is available. Instead, the committee is more concerned that the summer months will take the attention away from the lack of money. Many parents may be away on vacation and may not have seen the mailer yet.

"We're looking at sending reminder postcards," Knapp said.

While the committee has yet to set a cut-off date for donations for the 2003­04 school year, Knapp said they were looking at the fall of 2003.

Raising money for the 2004­05 school year may be even tougher, as the district could need as much as $3 million.

After-school programs will be cut in June 2004, and the prized class-size reduction program in kindergarten through third grade could be eliminated.

There are some other details to iron out as well.

At the moment, the committee has not decided if it will exist as a separate nonprofit or as part of the Campbell Education Foundation.

The foundation is a nonprofit, volunteer-based organization that works to enrich the education of students in the Campbell Union School District. Committee Secretary Ester Kwok said that recently the foundation has changed its mission statement to become broader in nature. Now the money raised by the foundation will no longer just be for teacher grants but will be for the benefit of the entire school district, she said.

"We have to be confident; otherwise we won't accomplish anything," Ester Kwok said. "If we don't do this then we won't have counselors and custodians. We have to try this."

Many of the volunteers, like the Kwoks and Knapp, have children in the district. But some, like volunteer Tish Bayer, no longer have children in the district but say this fundraising effort is needed.

"We have to maintain the quality education; otherwise we're going to see it deteriorate drastically," Bayer said.