PTSA donations approved

The Montgomery County Board of Education (BOE) passed on Nov 21 a modified version of a controversial resolution that will allow parents or corporations to make private donations to MCPS schools.

The BOE voted 6-1 to pass the measure, which it believes "establishes ground rules" for private donations to individual schools, according to BOE President Pat O'Neill.

Supporters of the policy believe it will give schools an additional source of revenue aside from the MCPS budget, while opponents fear the resolution will increase the inequalities in funding between schools in more affluent and in poorer areas.

Prior to the vote, no BOE guidelines regulated private donations to public schools for physical improvements.  The previous policy banned only donations used for such purposes as raises for teachers, funds for purchasing new textbooks and money for electronic equipment which would give one school an educational advantage over others.  It left the door open for parents to fund most physical improvements to schools, including $180,000 donated to the Wood Acres Elementary School PTA for tiles for a compass rose floor pattern.

The new policy will allow individuals or corporations to provide funds for physical improvements that qualify as "capital investments," according to the MCPS website.  These include such items as sports equipment but not new classrooms.  Gymnasiums may be funded by private organizations as long as the gyms are available to the community at large.  The BOE must specifically approve all projects that involve more than $50,000 obtained from outside funds.

Kennedy High School, which, along with Blair, will participate in the Downcounty Consortium, raised $2,500 last year for a school of 1,400 students.  By contrast, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School raised $20,000 for 40 fewer students.

PTSA co-President Marilyn Shoenfeld believes the resolution should be modified further to give all schools equal resources.  "If the BOE is going to allow private contributions, they should distribute the revenues equally to all schools throughout the county," said Shoenfeld.  "Some schools have many more fundraising avenues than others."

Maureen Fox, president of the Whitman High School PTSA, thinks the newly approved resolution will benefit all schools.  "All money coming into the school system is good money," said Fox.  "Any money will help, wherever it goes."

Fox also believes that parents should have the right to determine which schools will receive their donations.  "We can't tell parents, ‘You can't donate to your child's school; you have to give your money to a school on the other side of the county,'" said Fox.  "If we tell them that, why would they give?"

BOE member Sharon Cox said the BOE approved the measure in part because MCPS may have a budget deficit and that funds from outside sources could help relieve a $35 million budget shortfall that threatens county educational programs.