Lester M. Miller is a law firm in Macon Georgia specializing in criminal, divorce, motor vehicle, and workers compensation
School Fundraisers Play Vital Role
Macon Telegraph, The (GA)
2007-09-01
Edition: ho
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School fundraisers play vital financial role
Julie Hubbard, jhubbard@macon.com
the-school-year fundraisers.
His two children at Porter Elementary brought home fall fundraising packets recently to
sell wrapping paper, chocolates and candles.
"I think it's a bunch of crap," Phillips said. "Most working parents don't have time to sell
it, and most jobs don't allow you to sell it at work. Fundraisers for this and that. It never
stops."
The school year isn't a month old yet, and many Bibb County schools and those in
surrounding counties are well into fundraising campaigns in order to buy books, teaching
materials, playground equipment or student rewards.
Last year, Bibb County schools raised more than $3 million from school-sponsored
fundraising programs of one kind or another, according to system officials.
"We do bombard parents with fundraisers throughout the year, but we have to,
unfortunately," said Porter principal Russ Chesser.
Some parents view them as a hassle, but to school leaders they mean extra money for
items that their tight budgets don't provide for, he said.
Porter's school marquee is now advertising its fall fundraiser. Porter Panthers automobile
magnets also are for sale for $5 in the front office.
Throughout the year, the school will also raise money by selling ice cream and spirit Tshirts.
There will be a Christmas shop, golf tournament and raffle, and school photos and
box-top collections will bring in more money. The school even earns money from selling
pecans from the trees on the school lawn. (The pecans raked in about $3,000 last year, by
the way.)
Porter raised $95,000 from school fundraisers last year, and school leaders hope to earn
half that amount this year, PTO President Hope Jones said.
"It's amazing how fast the money goes on little things," she said.
What do other schools do? Springdale Elementary is selling cookie dough for student
activities and playground equipment. Alexander II Magnet is selling salsa to pay for
items in its outdoor science classroom.
Appling, Rutland and McEvoy middle schools are fundraising for school socials,
classroom novels or to reward students with good grades, attendance and behavior,
school officials said.
Porter's past fundraisers bought park benches, copying machines, scholarships for field
trips, teaching materials, and trophies and other prizes for students who met reading goals
or made honor roll.
This year, school officials want to buy more nonfiction books for the library, since the
latest research shows that boys are more interested in nonfiction and most of the school's
books are fiction.
Tiled classroom floors require rugs for student reading time. Teachers also requested
$250-a-piece easels with storage compartments to lecture from and store class items. A
bigger goal is to buy a digital school sign for the front.
"I understand the cringing. I'm a mother of three," Jones said. "When you come and say 'I
can't sell one more thing.' ... But stop and think what it's going for."
About 90 percent of the school system's $179 million budget pays for employees' salary
and benefits, Chief Financial Officer Ron Collier said.
The other 10 percent is used on teaching supplies, textbooks, facility maintenance,
utilities and such things as library books for all the schools.
"Nobody ever has the money they need to do the stuff they want," Collier said. "Usually
from the beginning of time, schools have done fundraisers to do the things they need to
do."
State funds cannot be spent on student rewards, and they often do not cover everything a
teacher needs, school officials said.
Bibb County schools reported earning $3.5 million from school fundraisers, vending
machines and school clubs to pay for extra school resources, Collier said. That figure
does not include any money that schools spent for fundraising, though.
Some parents said they want their children to have the best environment for learning that
they can, and fundraising projects help achieve that goal.
"We really don't want to have to sell items," said Lester Miller, a Macon attorney who is
the PTO president at Skyview Elementary. "But we're not a private school, and it's a
necessary evil if you want the same privileges private schools have. This is something
you have to do."
Teachers prioritize what they need, he said, but the money just doesn't cover all those
needs.
Skyview earned $25,000 last school year from fundraisers to build a pavilion on the
playground where students read.
They bought school uniforms for children who could not afford them, helped pay for
field trips and paid for a full-time art teacher, something the system could not provide,
Miller said.
This year's goal is also ambitious: School officials want to pave an additional parking lot
for teachers and parents with fundraising proceeds.
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To contact writer Julie Hubbard, call 744-4331.
