Proposal would redistribute donations
DISTRICT HEADQUARTERS — A controversy over whether or not wealthy schools within the district should be forced to share some of their cash donations raged on at Thursday night’s school board meeting.
Nine people spoke during public comment on a proposed gift policy that would require every school to put 15 percent of its donations into a central pot. The collected money would then be ferreted out to all schools based on their size and need.
The gift policy was drafted by Superintendent John Deasy, who said Santa Monica and Malibu schools have long suffered from vast inequities. While McKinley Elementary in Santa Monica raised only about $30,000 from donors last year, Pt. Dume Elementary in Malibu amassed $300,000 or more.
“A tiny fraction is what were asking for,” Deasy said, adding that Malibu High School’s stated goal for fundraising is $1 million.
Critics on Thursday called the proposal unethical, possibly illegal and definitely a deterrent to would-be benefactors. The gift policy will go before the school board in January for discussion and action.
Sandy Thacker, co-president of the Parent Teacher Association at Webster Elementary School in Malibu, thinks the policy will quell donor enthusiasm, while possibly violating the PTA bylaws that govern how donations are handled and distributed by school officials and volunteers.
“We feel that it will decrease fundrais-ing in the district,” said Thacker, whose 450-pupil school got $180,000 in direct donations alone. “Parents will be less likely to donate because their full donation won’t go to the school.”
Thacker added that the schools will suffer because money will be collected next school year, but not distributed until the following year under the proposal. She suggested creating a voluntary program in which donors can fuel district coffers, pointing out that disadvantaged schools have access to other revenue sources and grants.
However, other Malibu residents praised the plan.
“I think that we need a policy that will bring equity to our district,” said PTA volunteer Laura Rosenthal, who has two sons in Malibu schools. “One of the things that I really wanted to address... was a perception of certain people in Malibu that some schools in Santa Monica do not do their share of fundraising.”
Rosenthal alluded to the feelings held by some that it is unethical to share the money raised for one school with other schools. She said there is also a misperception that Santa Monica schools don’t work hard at fundraising.
“We need to have a district-wide policy that will address these issues,” she said.
“And whatever that policy looks like, it needs to have this as a basic tenet.”
Deasy said the district still needs to hash out the details of redistributing non-cash donations, but added they occur much less frequently.
Under the plan, the money would be allotted to the schools based on the number of students currently enrolled, with additional consideration given to the respective number who receive free or reduced-price lunches, those who are below basic proficiency levels, the number of English language learners, as well as the number of severely handicapped.
Rosenthal admitted there will still be vast inequities in local public schools, even if the proposal moves forward, but said it is a step in the right direction. Deasy said he hopes officials can agree that it’s the right thing to do.
“I am very optimistic that this community will want to do what it can, in our ability, to solve this problem — a long-standing problem,” he said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 6, 2003. Read the original PDF.