Schools

Fundraising Eliminates Furlough Day For B-RS School District

The extra $100,000 in donations School-Force received over the summer allowed the school district to eliminate one of its four furlough days.

It's no secret the economy has wreaked havoc on school districts statewide, and the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District is no exception.

But last year, School-Force raised a record-breaking $1.66 million in donations—including $100,000 acquired over the summer in matching funds that will go toward eliminating one of the four furlough days imposed on the School District.

School-Force President Ardythe Andrews said Belmont parents, residents and businesses are the reason the nonprofit organization raised so much money for the 2010-2011 school year.

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"It was such a record year because of our community," Andrews said. "They rose to the occasion of being involved not only with money but with time and energy."

The previous year, School-Force—which was founded in 2001 to help save key school programs in danger of being cut due to budget shortfalls—raised $750,000.

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"We went from 60 percent participation as a district to over 80 percent in the last year," she said.

And just in time, according to Andrews, who added that the School District reached the point last year where there was nowhere else to make cuts.

"Last year, there was no more fat to trim," Andrews said.

School District Board President Cathy Wright said the extra $100,000 that came in over the summer will be spent reviving one of the district's four furlough days. A furlough day costs about $93,000.

About half a dozen parents spoke out at the School District's board meeting Sept. 16, begging the board to use the money to reopen the school libraries that were closed for the school year due to budget constraints. One parent was even driven to tears when she described seeing her daughter's dark and empty library at Central Elementary School.

But while Wright and other members of the board agreed school libraries are important to a child's education, she said the School District had previously made an agreement with the teachers' union that promised to buy back a furlough day if any extra money became available.

"It's hard; I know people are really upset about the libraries," Wright said. "These times are really, really difficult. I think just have to focus on what we did save and move forward."

Programs saved with the $1.66 million include music programs, reading specialists, a counseling position at Ralston Middle School and science specialists for fourth- and fifth-graders.

Additionally, the money allowed class sizes to remain at 25 to 1, instead of increasing to 30 to 1, according to Wright.

But the hard work is far from over, and Andrews and Wright both emphasized the need for donations for the 2011-2012 school year.


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