Monday, March 19, 2007
Foundation being formed to aid schoolsWebster meeting set on fundraising effort
By John Dignam TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WEBSTER—
School Superintendent Gregory M. Ciardi has invited community leaders
to an informational meeting at 7 tomorrow night on the creation of an
education foundation.
Mr. Ciardi said by the end of the school
year he would like to have a planning team, nonprofit certification,
bylaws and a board of directors.
“I would like to start the planning process immediately,” he said.
Education
foundations are not-for-profit corporations that raise money for school
programs that would be difficult to support in the normal school
budget. Examples are some advanced placement courses, extended field
trips, internships, artist-in-residence programs and after-school
music, arts and drama programs.
Mr. Ciardi proposed the creation of a Webster Education Foundation in a plan he presented to the School Committee in November.
The
informational meeting tomorrow is scheduled for Webster Middle School,
75 Poland St. Invitations were sent recently to about a dozen community
leaders, including business and government leaders, representatives of
organizations such as the Webster-Dudley Business Alliance and the
Webster-Dudley Chamber of Commerce as well as some parents, teachers
and students.
He said Friday that any residents interested in creating an education foundation should attend.
“I
think we’ve had steady, stable support through the town meeting and the
tax revenue side,” he said. Now, school officials would like to “tap
into the energy” of residents, including those who have volunteered for
other projects, he said.
In the invitation, Mr. Ciardi wrote
that the state Office of Educational Quality and Accountability “deemed
that Webster had made sufficient progress redesigning its management in
the last three years to be allowed to monitor its own improvement
efforts in the future.”
Noting that Bartlett High School had
received a 10-year accreditation, that Gov. Deval L. Patrick presented
rings to the high school’s championship soccer team and that $2.3
million was left to the high school for scholarships, Mr. Ciardi wrote,
“There is a palpable feeling of movement and improvement in our schools.
“These
foundations operate independently of local school committee, but often
maintain close relationships with them… “My hope is that in Webster our
education foundation will not compete with parent organizations and
booster clubs for even more parent fundraisers, but rather would seek
partnerships with corporate and charitable foundation sponsors for
significant donations,” he wrote.
