The Campbell Reporter

Education

District takes baby steps toward improving fundraising process

By Alicia Upano

Parent frustration over Campbell Union High School District's new fundraising policy continues, but there is an effort being made by its board and administrators to make the process less cumbersome.

Parents will no longer have to wait up to four weeks to purchase items for schools, and the Leigh High School principal is taking an active approach to working with parents.

Before the policy change in 2005, parents would use their fundraised dollars to purchase needed goods, ranging from sports uniforms to student instruments. They paid vendors directly, and conducted business fairly independently of the Campbell Union High School District. Today, parents must donate monies to the district, which will purchase the items through the district office. The policy was overhauled for greater accountability.

Under the new rules, every donation requires approval by the district's board, making parents wait weeks. The delay set back the Leigh High School Instrumental Music Parents Association (IMPA) when it tried to buy a trailer for the school marching band and lease a copier for the band director.

"We very well could've lost the trailer and had to settle for something less than we wanted," said Michael Wollbrinck, IMPA treasurer.

In March, however, district trustees agreed to allow superintendent Rhonda Farber to accept donations on the board's behalf when time is crucial. For board president Diane Gordon, the change is an effort to make the fundraising policy more user-friendly.

"There never was an intent on the part of the district to make their lives miserable," Gordon said. "This is a process not much different than most other schools, but there are some things we need to tweak."

Along with the IMPA, the Leigh Sports Boosters have expressed concerns about the new policy. Leigh High School's new principal Donna Hope, however, said she is committed to getting all parent groups to follow the same process next school year and help the process move smoothly.

"Not all the steps were there this year," Hope said. "We'll do whatever we need to do to help parents understand."

While parents said the superintendent's approval of donations is a step in the right direction, Wollbrinck and Leigh booster co-president Lori Tregoning said lack of communication is still a problem.

When the district was drafting the new policy, Wollbrinck said parents offered input that "fell on deaf ears." Tregoning sent a three-page letter to the district in February, requesting specifics about which items trigger the donation process and how to fill out forms.

"Their answers to my specific questions was, 'This is the book,' " said Tregoning, who received a copy of the district's 146-page Guidelines for Parent Organizations and Booster Clubs. "Then I was really mad, because it doesn't answer my questions."

Tregoning suggests the district have a meeting at the beginning of every school year to clarify the process for parent volunteers. Further, she thinks parent groups should have a district representative oversee purchases with parent groups and school administrators, rather than having to go through the board or superintendent.

Wollbrinck agrees.

"When we buy something we have to answer for the parents. It really makes us mind our p's and q's when it comes to a budget," Wollbrinck said. "Whereas with regard to the district, people will say something and it goes in one ear and out the other. I don't think it's as accountable as we are."

Some board members and administrators liken the frustrations to growing pains, a natural part of any new process.

"I don't mind change as long as it's for the better, and they work with us on this change," Wollbrinck said.