Kristine Manwaring, our representative on the District School Board reports the following:
The School Board is trying to pass a fundraising donation policy. Our current draft is posted on the website. It is a great policy that puts into place protections for students - like not being required to fundraise, not having quotas, and not tying fundraising to participation and playing time.
We have one last sticky issue - what to do with fundraising by outside booster groups. These groups are usually run by parents, not employees and they are not usually legal entities with tax-exempt status or public reporting responsibilities. They raise money to support school programs like sports teams and musical groups (marching band, choir, etc.) I would like input and feedback about how the community sees this issue.
The question is what happens to the money these groups raise when they use students (to sell things like coupon books), school property (for banquets, selling fireworks, etc), the school name ("we are raising money on behalf of Provo High school or Timpview" and the name of the school is clearly printed on their materials), and school staff (when coaches, teachers and directors help organize the fundraiser and raise and handle money.)
We have policy language for basically three options. Please let me know which you prefer:
1. Any fundraising efforts that use students, school property, school employees and/or the school name should be approved by the principal and the money should be deposited in a school bank account earmarked for that purpose. The money should be handled according to district financial procedures and any parent or community member involved in the fundraising should be able to find out how much money was raised and what it was used for.
2. These groups should have more freedom. They should let the principal know what they are doing, but don't need to get permission. They should be able to keep the money in their own bank accounts. In exchange, they should be required to report to the school to show how much money has been raised, what it was spent on, who has access to the bank accounts. (I guess they would need to show their bank statements.)
3. These groups are completely independent. They should be able to do anything they want with the money they raise - even if students and paid employees help them raise it and they claim to be raising money on behalf of students. As long as they rent the school facility, any money they raise is theirs to control. They do not need to provide any accounting to the public or the students for money they raise. They should be able to raise as much money as they want for whatever they want. The school can always turn down their donations.
The policy draft posted on the website is a version of option #2. However, there are board members/staff who would rather have option #1 and others who would rather have option #3. The dilemma is that some people claim that the more oversight that is required, the less money these groups will raise. On the other hand, think about what you expect when you donate your money to students and your expectations for how that money will be accounted for and used.
Please let me know what you think.
Kristine Manwaring
Provo School Board
You can contact Kristine Manwaring at this email address: kristine.manwaring@gmail.com
