From the Board: Exploring a School Foundation and the Success of FLES

The Board of Education held their last meeting of 2011 at Quaker Ridge Elementary School on Monday December 5th. Among the items on the agenda was a presentation by Lynne Shain, the Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Sarah Whittington, the schools’ World Language Coordinator on the success of Spanish being taught in the elementary school years- the FLES program. The numbers support what was perhaps the obvious outcome; children who are taught a foreign language earlier- in this case as early as the first grade- fare far better than those who wait until the traditional middle school years to learn it in terms of language proficiency. Students also appear more excited and comfortable with the language when they learn it earlier. In a video presentation on the findings, Scarsdale Middle School foreign language teacher Jenny Adler says that the difference she sees between the kids who were taught Spanish in elementary school is the enthusiasm they bring to speaking the language. “I used to beg them to come up an present in front of the class. Now I’m begging them to sit down, be patient and wait their turns to get up and speak Spanish in front of the class.”

The FLES program is clearly a success. Most people would agree that speaking a foreign language is of increasing importance in a global society and also may lead to success in other areas of education for the students. I would argue, more time and energy does not need to be spent studying the advantages of teaching World Languages in elementary school.

Following that presentation, the Board heard from Ellen Miller-Wachtel, who chairs the steering committee for a foundation to support the Scarsdale Schools.

Some background on this; in the Spring of 2010, due to the economy and potential budget cuts, the community wanted to look for new ways to generate revenue for the schools. A Revenue Committee was formed. Late this past spring, it was decided that creating a foundation would be the best way to do this. Many members of the Revenue Committee became members of the Steering Committee for the foundation.

The committee studied several public school education foundations across the country, but paid particularly close attention to communities in Westchester that resemble ours -- and who have foundations; namely Edgemont, Chappaqua, Bronxville and Mamaoroneck.

As Miller-Wachtel explains it, these districts have raised substantial funds for their schools. Most of them were formed in the 1990s during times when their districts were faced with budget cuts.

The foundation would be a not-for-profit organization “dedicated to raising funds to enhance the educational, athletic, artistic and personal growth of Scarsdale public school students. The Foundation supports programs, projects and services that are consistent with the philosophy of education of the Scarsdale Schools”

The committee proposes that the funds could be directed to three different types of projects or activities that due to the current economic and budgetary constraints are ‘endangered.’ These include: Research and Development, Technology and Physical Infrastructure Upgrades and Improvements.

The committee also recommends a fourth category with funds and flexibility to support a ‘greatest needs projects” and to provide general operating support to ensure the Foundation’s effective operations.

Miller-Wachtel explained that it is critical that the BOE remain completely responsible for determining how the money is spent in the schools. It must pre-approve any project that would use Foundation funding and the amount of money spent. Neither the Foundation nor any particular funder would be able to implement a project that is not pre-approved by the BOE and consistent with its priorities and strategic planning. (For instance, you cannot put fund a new auditorium to ensure your child is the lead in every school play.)

The committee will reach out to the community, PTAs and other community foundations to discuss this concept and get reaction. In their research they did not find that the implementation of a foundation any cannibalizes other fundraising activities in the communities they studied.

In terms of putting this into action, they are currently evaluating reasonable prospects of fundraising and are seeking advice from professionals in this area of development. They are considering retaining proper assistance.

Longer term, they discussed whether the foundation would be staffed by paid employees or volunteers. While a staffer of course would cut into costs, as the committee saw in Bronxville, having a person dedicated to this job leads to a lot more money being raised.

With the state of the economy still in doubt and the tax-cap vote casting a long shadow over budget talks, this may be an idea whose time has come. Now, it is nearly impossible for Scarsdale residents, alumni and others to come up with all the money that the district would potentially need if the tax-cap doesn’t pass. In the long term, funds from a foundation could smooth out any bumps in the road.

Unrelated to this presentation, it was also noted at the meeting that the Scarsdale High School Class of 2011 raised $15,000 put to new bleachers. Clearly, fundraising is something that is already done well here. Hopefully the establishment of a foundation could tone down residents who are irate about school spending. They could simply choose not to donate to the foundation.

Making quick and efficient use of their time, the Foundation could be put into place as early as Fall 2012.

Here is the complete text of Miller-Wachtel’s statement to the Board:

The Education Foundation Steering Committee was appointed last summer by School Board president, Jill Spieler and is comprised of Joyce Hirsch, David Shuster, Josh Silverman, Eric Staffin, Florie Wachtenheim, and Beth Zadek. Dr. McGill and Liz Guggenheimer are liaisons from the Administration and School Board, respectively. I have had the privilege to chair the committee. Our charge is to review the purpose and feasibility of a foundation that could raise and distribute funds to enhance the education of children who attend Scarsdale Schools and propose an appropriate structure for the foundation. If the Board of Education and the community support the creation of the foundation, our further charge will be to make the foundation a reality. I am proud to say that this has been an extremely productive and committed group, and we have much to report.

In spring 2010 the Board of Education created a Revenue Committee composed of residents and administrators to consider additional sources of revenue to support the Scarsdale Schools. Some of the members of the current Steering Committee also participated in the Revenue Committee. The Committee gave a written and oral report in spring 2011, which included a recommendation that the School Board consider supporting the creation of an educational foundation in Scarsdale. This entity would be a separate not-for-profit corporation with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. School Board members discussed the merits in a public meeting and agreed that it was time for Scarsdale to try to establish a foundation to support the schools, subject to community support. Factors contributing to this view include budgetary challenges in an uncertain economy and the newly-imposed tax levy cap. In this environment, it may not be practical to assume that the same public funding levels will be available to support the level of programming and infrastructure that has historically defined a Scarsdale public education.

The Committee undertook a tremendous amount of research, both online and in the field, to learn about education foundations in Westchester County and throughout the country. We considered their names, missions, governance, fundraising, and uses of monies raised. We paid careful attention to comparable communities. In Westchester, we studied the education foundations in Bronxville, Edgemont, Chappaqua and Mamaroneck where significant amounts of money have been raised each year to augment school programs. Based on analysis of the information we learned, as applied to the Scarsdale community and schools, we are making the following recommendations:

• We believe it is advantageous to the Scarsdale Schools to establish an Education Foundation and we propose that it be named “The Scarsdale Schools Education Foundation”.

• We propose that the mission of the Foundation be expressed as follows:

“The Scarsdale Schools Education foundation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising funds to enhance the educational, athletic, artistic and personal growth of Scarsdale public school students. The Foundation supports programs, projects and services that are consistent with the philosophy of education of the Scarsdale Schools”.

We propose that the Foundation raise funds that could be directed at three different kinds of projects or activities that are “endangered” as a result of current economic conditions and/or would be valuable educational innovations but could not otherwise be supported during the regular budget process due to competing priorities and expenses. We would also encourage fundraising in a fourth undesignated category to enable sufficient flexibility for the Foundation to support “greatest needs projects” as well as to provide general operating support to ensure the Foundation’s effective operations. The 3 designated categories are:

• Research/Development and Innovation: examples might include creation of a Center for Innovation that researches and develops future learning environments and teaching strategies, often using new technology, and a program of Skills for the 21st Century aimed at understanding and developing the original thinking that enable people to solve complex local, national and global problems.

• Technology: examples might include making all schools wireless, investing in smart boards, smart tables and other technology.

• Physical Infrastructure Upgrades and Improvement: examples might include building dedicated videoconferencing spaces, enlarged physical education/athletic space for fitness and athletic training, multimedia production facilities, added music and drama rehearsal and performance spaces.

In identifying these priorities, we had the benefit of a draft outline of School district needs prepared by Superintendant McGill and attached as Exhibit A.

Critical to the conception of the Foundation is that the BOE remains completely responsible for determining how money is spent for the Scarsdale Schools. It must pre-approve any project that would use Foundation funding and the amount of money to be expended. Neither the Foundation nor any particular funder would be able to implement a project that is not completely pre-approved by the BOE and consistent with its priorities and strategic planning.

We believe it is imperative that the community and the schools embrace the concept of an Education Foundation. To that end, we will reach out to community groups, including PTAs, other community foundations in Scarsdale, and interested individuals to discuss this concept and hear community reaction. We would also appreciate if the BOE provided an opportunity for community comment on this proposal at one or both of its meetings in January. As you know, there are a significant number of organizations in Scarsdale that raise funds for the overall district and for individual schools. Our research showed that this should not be a concern in relation to development efforts of the Foundation. In communities with both Education Foundations and active fundraising community groups, there has been no evidence of fundraising cannibalization. As in those communities, the Scarsdale Schools Foundation would have a different structure and focus than other community groups.

It is also important that the relationship between the BOE and the Foundation be determined in advance and memorialized in a Memorandum of Understanding. We envision the BOE being involved in identification of funding priorities, having representation on the Foundation board, receiving periodic reports about the Foundation’s finances and development efforts, and providing district support (such as meeting space) where possible and permissible. However, the particulars still need to be worked out. Among the important issues to be explored are: How do the Foundation and the BOE stay connected and keep interests aligned? What processes can be put in place for effective operations and communications? There are successful models in place. We will review all and determine “best practices” among them to recommend for implementation in Scarsdale.

The Committee is in the process of evaluating the Foundation’s reasonable prospects of fundraising. There are open questions as to how much money can be raised, when and from whom to support the programs, services and project areas suggested. The Committee seeks to meet with development professionals with experience in the context of public schools in early 2012 to obtain advice. We will consider retaining appropriate assistance.

We will also meet with individuals in the community with hopes of identifying a group of “Founding Supporters” of the Foundation. Our research indicates that an appropriate goal would be to receive commitments of $1 million prior to the official launch of the Foundation.

To create the Foundation and obtain 501 (c)(3) status to enable donations to be tax deductible, we will first need to incorporate the Foundation and obtain Education Department approval. It is a relatively ministerial process, which takes about 4 weeks. We will then draft and adopt bylaws, apply for a federal ID number, and open a bank account.

The next step is to apply to the IRS for recognition of the Foundation’s tax exempt status. While the IRS approval may take 6 to 12 months, once approved, the Foundation’s tax-exempt status will be retroactive to the date of incorporation.

Additional ministerial acts are needed, including registering the foundation with the NYS Attorney General, Charities Bureau, and applying for exemption from NYS sales tax and NYS corporate income tax. The total cost of this process is between $1,000-$1,500. Committee members have agreed to provide funding to the foundation to cover these costs. Attachment B outlines the process.

The bylaws of the Foundation will specify governance of the Foundation by the Board of Directors. We recommend that the Bylaws specify that the Board is comprised of at least three directors, up to a maximum of 20 directors. In practice we would expect 10-15 directors. We recommend that directors be (1) those with the ability and commitment to donate/raise significant funds; (2) community leaders; (3) those with specific skill sets needed for operation of the Foundation; and (4) the Superintendent and representative(s) of the Board of Education. We believe that the Superintendent should be a non-voting member of the Board. Additional research is needed to determine whether the BOE representatives should be voting or non-voting members. We recommend that the Board have 3 staggered classes of directors so that after the first 2 years, each director will serve for 3 years, for a maximum of 2 consecutive terms.

We propose the following committees of the Board: Executive; Development; Grants Distribution; Finance/Audit; Board Resource (nominating). Over time it may be appropriate to involve people in Foundation committees who are not Board members and/or establish an honorary board. The bylaws would be drafted to enable such flexibility.

The Committee has concluded that this is a very viable and exciting initiative. We look forward to feedback from the Board of Education and the community. We request that the BOE invite the community to provide comments on this proposal at either the January 9th or January 23rd meeting. If there is sufficient support, we hope to be ready to move forward with the filing of the Certificate of Incorporation with the New York Secretary of State’s office following the January 23, 2012 Board of Education meeting.