Source: Carmel Valley News, April 24, 2008, Letters to the Editor
I am very saddened to see what has become of the Del Mar Schools Education Foundation. I know firsthand how difficult it is to volunteer for an organization in terms of fundraising, attending meetings and dealing with the community. I sat on the foundation board for nearly two years and silent auction committee that following year. I know that this current foundation has worked very hard and I commend all for that. I also think that there is a level of frustration out there right now that is being targeted toward the wrong group of people, the Del Mar Union School District Board of Trustees. This board did not create this difficult current situation. In fact, this problem of funding the foundation in a concurrent year began back in 2001-2002 when the past administration and Tom Bishop made a contract with the teachers union to supply the upper grade teachers with 180 min/week and the lower grade teachers 120min/week for on site school prep time.
When Tom realized this contract was to require that certificated teachers be in the classrooms and that teacher aides could no longer fill in for the certificated teachers for the allowed prep time, he was in a quandary as to how to fund this situation. Since the contract being signed had been agreed upon by Tom Bishop, the past board trustees and the Del Mar Union Teachers Union, the district had to find a way to fund these additional certificated teachers that were not budgeted for the coming year. The foundation was in the process of being formed with the idea of bringing in art, science and technology teachers district-wide. Instead of waiting for the following year to implement the foundation, Tom said it would be best to start the foundation for this current year. That is why the foundation has always run its fundraising for the same year. As for the funding issue it needs to be clear that this is not the fault of this current board.
As for the comments made in Bob Gans’ most recent letter stating that the donations have dropped off significantly since Tom’s resignation, has anyone looked to see just how in past years the months of February and March donations compare to this current year? Are they the same, more or less? I think it is very subjective to claim that they have dropped significantly since Tom resigned—significantly to what?
I know that the foundation refuses to say this is not apolitical move and it is acting in a non-biased way in its decision to request that the school boar accept the promised foundation decision for this current year, but then hold it until next year expecting the district to fund the entire ESC program for this year. When asked why did you do this now instead of waiting for the following September when everyone can be made aware of the new plan, you claim that people are angry and felt the foundation needed to do “something.” Being neutral and continuing down the path of fundraising without acknowledgement of these angry people is what this foundation should do. That would be doing something.
The decision that the board made regarding if a school meets its goal or not and can they hire a teacher if the goal is not met was not undermining the foundation. Any independent donation that is directed toward the district for a designated purpose needs to be utilized in the manner in which it was donated for. Since the PTA’s technically cannot legally donate money to a foundation as a pass-through, it or any Joe Blow can donate to the district for a specific purpose. That is just how it is and always has been. The board did not undermine the foundation; it just confirmed that is what has been done in the past.
I think this community just needs to take a deep breath and figure out how to get along and stop blaming each other. Maybe instead of calling it “quits,” the foundation should proceed with a low-key ask for next year. Once more positive information gets out into the community regarding the district and foundation the community will be more willing to donate. The foundation is now an integral part of this district. It would be shame to shut it down now. With the state of the economy and cutbacks staring at us in the face we may find this foundation can help the district get through this. It would take a lot of manpower in terms of time and money to reinstate this should the foundation decided to close. I guess we will find out at the May 6 board meeting.
- Corinne Hackbart
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