“Adopt a School” – Could this be the solution to unbalanced fundraising abilities between schools?
The topic of fundraising has been a hot button issue for schools, advisory councils and school boards for as many years as I have been a volunteer. I have been personally involved in these groups for well over 25 years.
It has always been a difficult topic to remedy by boards across Ontario. This has been the case with some schools in more affluent communities. They have been able to raise thousands and thousands of dollars to enhance the educational experience of students in their schools. While other schools are unable to raise more than $100 per year. This results in some students having less access to technology, sports and music equipment, field trips and learning opportunities. All the while, others are having all these benefits due to the huge fundraising success of the school or council.
School boards have discussed ways to combat these inequities and some have taken action to balance the situation.
Central Pot/Pooling of funds
There has been attempts to force schools/parent advisory councils to put some of their fundraising funds into a central pot that would be shared with lower income schools. There is often great resistance to this approach because parents feel they work hard to raise money for their school community. The funds raised offer the best resources to their children and other students in the school. They do not support contributing to a general pot which dilutes their opportunities and supports schools who are unable to raise funds themselves. Parent Advisory Councils in more affluent communities are also concerned that if word got out to their community that some of their fundraising dollars went to other school(s), they will stop contributing to future fundraising projects.
School Parnterships
It has always been my experience that school partnerships can really work to bring schools of various sizes and affluency together. I believe that school boards and Parent Advisory Councils should work to build strong partnerships. These partnerships between schools would benefit all students to a similar degree. It would build community relationships that become stronger over time. It would allow for resources and experiences of each school to flourish and benefits all students and their families.
Adopt a School
If it is too much of a challenge to set up a program that builds school partnerships, perhaps a program of “Adopting a School” would make a difference to restoring some balance to the educational experience for all students.
An “Adopt a School” program would allow school advisory councils (with the permission of the Principal) at schools who raise a significant amount of funds, to approach the council (again with the permission of the Principal) of a school they would like to help support and work on a
plan that benefits both schools.
The “Adopt a School” program could involve much more than simply one school helping to support the educational experience of students at another school through funding. It would also be an opportunity to build school community relationships.
For instance, if the two schools have different cultural populations, it would be great to hold a school event for both communities that focused on multiculturalism. A sharing of the history, traditions, arts and food from the various ethnic groups within both schools would be a celebration of the diversity that makes each school unique. In addition, there may be special programs or events planned at the individual schools which they can come together on and both benefit from a shared experience. Sometimes smaller schools do not have enough students to form a team for certain athletic competitions. However, if a larger school “adopts” the small school, perhaps it would be possible to have a few athletes from the smaller school participate on a combined team.
The possibilities are literally endless…
- If the larger school is going on a field trip that would not be possible without fundraising, they could invite the appropriate class from the school they are “adopting” to attend with them and pay for their portion.
- The spring offers a great opportunity for the two schools to work on hosting a fun fair for both communities.
- Consider trading books from the two school libraries that would refresh books available to all students. Rather then simply agreeing to share a specific amount of money, look for ways to be creative about improving opportunities for the students in the other school.
To be clear, it is not our suggestion that the “Adopt a School” program would be perceived as charity for one school from another. This program could give students from both schools the chance to experience more. The benefits of sharing events etc. with each other and gaining a better understanding of each other’s strengths and challenges would be valuable to both. Together parents and students could work collectively to optimize shared strengths and overcome some of the challenges they both face.
At the end of the day, kids are kids. It is not their fault that some benefit from affluent communities and others do not. As adults, we can and should work to find a way that all students have the same excellent educational experience.
Find more resources on our website
If you haven’t already done so, we encourage you to surf our website. We have a great list of links to other valuable parent engagement resources on our links page. If you are looking to find more articles like this one, check out the rest of our blog or visit our brochures page. We are constantly trying to add new content for parents to enjoy.
Like this article?
Be sure to share it with other parents and school councils. Use the share buttons above and below this article.
