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Foundation plans annual fundraising phone-a-thon
By Rebecca Ray
After outdoing themselves and raising a record $980,000 last year, members of the Saratoga Education Foundation hope to outdo themselves again. On Feb. 10, they will hold their annual phone-a-thon as a last big push to raise $1.1 million to maintain basic educational programs in the Saratoga Union School District.
During the phone-a-thon--which typically involves more than 150 parents, school employees and other helpers--volunteers call district residents and ask for tax-deductible donations.
Foundation members hope to raise money for hands-on science instruction, as well as library, music, physical education, visual arts and technology programs, in the elementary school district for the 2002-2003 school year.
Although state officials recently announced that they will increase funding for education, the amount the district will receive from the state, federal and local governments won't be enough to maintain the quality of the programs, say foundation co-presidents Mimi Thomas and Madeline Morrow. Thomas and Morrow point out that the district's reputation is one reason why people want to move to and stay in Saratoga.
So far, foundation members have raised about $490,000 from previous fundraisers they held this school year.
The foundation, which is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization, formed in 1982, when the state began to allocate less money to public schools, and the schools had to cut certain programs. Since the foundation's inception, it has raised more than $4.7 million. The three elementary schools and one middle school in the Saratoga Union School District receive 98 percent of the donated money, while the other 2 percent goes for administrative purposes.
Almost one-quarter of the money that the foundation raised last year is paying for the salaries of four science teachers and aides in the district, while the second-biggest chunk--19 percent, or $190,659--is funding the salaries of four library technicians and one instructional media teacher. Nearly $157,000, or 16 percent of the money, is paying for one instructional technology teacher, one tech support/web maintenance technician and one part-time tech support worker. The music program for grades K-5 is benefiting from $124,451, or 13 percent, while the district is using 12 percent for its K-5 physical education program. One full-time visual arts teacher and one part-time visual arts aide are receiving $81,737, while the remaining 9 percent of the foundation money is funding a differentiation specialist and other classroom programs. The differentiation specialist helps students who need extra support in certain subjects.
The district was actually able to spend $991,067 for the 2001-2002 school year because of an extra $11,067 that was left over from the previous year.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
