Tulsa World: Fundraising efforts up at charter sites

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Fundraising efforts up at charter sites

By ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer
Published: 11/21/2009 2:26 AM
Last Modified: 11/21/2009 3:53 AM

Tough economic times in public education have local charter schools trying new fundraising efforts and pinching pennies.

Charter schools have been shorted the same percentage as all other public schools in Oklahoma every month since August.

"Some districts talk about laying off teachers, but we cannot lay off teachers because we already have the bare minimum number of teachers," said Mustafa Kili, principal of Dove Science Academy, a school serving grades 6-12.

The school has put off all of the facility improvements it had planned for 2009-10, including roof repairs, new lockers and computer desks, as well as computer upgrades.

"Since the shortfall came through, we said let's stop everything and concentrate on education and let's see," he said.

One bright spot in the school's budget has been the addition of federal Title I funding for the first time. Schools qualify based on the number of students there who receive free or reduced-cost meals.

"That helped us compensate a bit," Kili said.

Students and parents are also pitching in to boost the school's general fund and activity fund by selling chocolates, school spirit shirts and Blue and Gold sausage.

In the meantime, school officials think they have enough in their carryover funds from last year to cover this year's state funding reductions.

"We don't have any problem for this year. Hopefully, we won't have any problem next year," Kili said. "If they are going to do this budget cut for next year, we can make our budget tight for next year. That's just what we will have to do."

At the Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences, a charter high school, fundraising activities have been stepped up.

"We have always done an annual appeal, but it was never well-organized. Now we have a foundation and we've kicked off a pretty aggressive fundraising campaign," said Gina Briggs, president of the school's independent governing board.

Arts and Sciences has asked its students to help raise money based on what the state funding reductions could cost the school per pupil.

That works out to $232 per child if the school is cut 5 percent, or about $64,000 total, and $462 per child if the school is cut 10 percent, or about $128,000 total.

"To give you an idea of the impact, our reserves were $150,000 on June 30, 2008. A 10 percent reduction would virtually wipe us out," Briggs said.

"It's really scary. We're really concerned about next year."

The school has already had some success in reaching out to alumni members and parents for donations.

"We can't wait for someone else to save us. At this point, we've got to do it ourselves. Any dent we can make in the deficit we end up with is helpful," she said, adding, "There are really only two places for us to cut, which is rent and teacher salaries."

Breakdown of school cuts

State funding reductions to charter schools, august through November:

Dove Science Academy: $28,136

Discovery School of Tulsa: $20,965

Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences: $18,096

Deborah Brown Community School: $1 ,709

Andrea Eger 581-8470
andrea.eger@tulsaworld.com By ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer

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Elusive, Owasso (11/22/2009 2:05:31 AM)

It's going to be another tough year.

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WoodyWayne, (11/28/2009 9:44:57 AM)

Working to reduce waste in Education should be a priority, and I believe the following example is a way to accomplish that and improve our local economy. Please read below and remember that TPS is probably the 2nd largest employer in Tulsa ..........

Consolidating public schools should be the first step taken to reduce waste in Education. Then, we should assist Education Employees with the cost of their health insurance. This would be a tremendous step in eliminating redundant administrative costs, and stimulating the economy.

When small school districts retire or terminate a superintendent, we should try to consolidate those schools with another district to cut administrative costs statewide. For instance, now would be a good time to consider consolidating Sperry Public Schools with one of the large surrounding public schools. There is no reason to pay another Superintendent to oversee such a small school district, and pay for the additional Administration. The school could still have its identity, keep its same school mascot, but be administered by another Educational Service Center.

The next step should be to provide a better benefit package to Education Employees. Most people don't realize that a teacher must pay 3 times more for their family's exact same insurance, than the secretary working in Sandy Garrett's office at the Dept of Education. That is about $1000 dollars out of the teacher's take home pay, or you could say about a $1000 more in the OKC secretary's pay, and more money spent in OKC. (Notice how OKC area is not having the problem with sales tax revenue. That is because there are many state agency jobs in the OKC area, and those employees don't have an extra $600 to $1000 taken out of their pay for the identical benefits given to Education Employees.)

Just think about the fact that public schools are typically one of the largest employers in their cities and towns, and for that reason this is even more important in eastern Oklahoma, as we don't have the many state agency jobs. Reducing the cost of Education Employees health coverage would give them more money to spend locally, increase sales tax and state income tax.

If we would work on these suggestions, we will stimulate the economy, improve the quality of life for Oklahomans, and reduced wasteful spending in Education. Wow, this just makes too much sense!

I hope Citizens will get organized and help others to understand how this benefits the entire state!

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