News & Information
Throughout the Bellingham School District's recent budget savings process, several community members submitted ideas urging the district to seek creative funding solutions by accepting donations for general districtwide support and growing the Bellingham Public School Foundation.
"Our community has been extremely generous to the Bellingham School District with strong voter support for our critical levies and bonds," says Superintendent Kenneth Vedra. "The district does not expect our community to stretch themselves beyond this level of support and, therefore, has been reluctant to establish a structure at the district for accepting monetary donations. However, our School Board has asked us to engage our community in exploring creative revenue solutions. The district also continues to receive requests from community members to accept donations. In these unprecedented economic times, we are not in a position to turn down donations and want to respond to those who have asked what they can do to help."
The Bellingham Public School Foundation operates independently from the district. Established in 1992, it is a nonprofit community group organized to support and enrich learning experiences in the Bellingham School District. The Foundation is currently reorganizing in order to allow it to grow in the future in a manner congruent with its mission. During this time of reorganization, the Foundation has an inactive fundraising status. Those interested in working with the Foundation in the future should contact current Executive Director Elaine Lynch at (360) 671-6150.
Meanwhile, those interested in making donations directly to the district may contact the district's business and finance office at (360) 676-6544 or bgreenwo@bham.wednet.edu Donations received by the district are generally allowed as a deduction pursuant to the provisions of IRC Section 170.
Any gift to the district, an individual school or department of money, materials or equipment having a value of $1,000 or greater is subject to Board approval, according to Board policy 6114.
Donations for general districtwide support may be accepted on an ongoing basis. However, the district has received specific requests to accept donations to help offset reductions identified in the adopted districtwide Budget Savings Plan. The district has legal deadlines – defined by Collective Bargaining Agreements and in state law RCW 28A.405.210 – for notifying staff about their job status for next school year. There are multiple steps to notifying staff regarding job status, including an appeals process. Many weeks are needed to carry out this extensive process, which must move forward on April 3. The district needs to give our staff proper notification. It also needs to assign K-12 staffing to create elementary, middle and high school and program schedules – which are all impacted by one another. Middle and high school students throughout the district also need to register for courses, which must be staffed. The district must make decisions regarding the staffing of its schools at this time in order to prepare for an on-time and successful start to the new school year. Therefore, any donations related to offsetting budget reductions that involve time-sensitive planning for next school year, must be received by noon on Friday, April 3. This includes planning related to Lowell Elementary School.
Every school in the district also has a parent organization (PTA or PTO) that raises funds specifically for school enrichment. For PTA/PTO contact information, please click here to contact your neighborhood school.
The district also highly values the large number of community members who volunteer their time in our schools and on district committees, task forces and groups. To inquire about volunteer opportunities at your neighborhood school, please click here for contact information. Requests for committee/task force volunteers are routinely posted on this Web site and shared through e-news.
"We do not expect fundraising to solve immediate, large-scale budget issues created by a growing $9 billion state budget deficit," Vedra says. "However, we can build capacity to help offset future budget reductions and strengthen opportunities for our children. We remain extremely grateful for our community's energy, passion and strong support for our neighborhood schools and the value it places on the learning experiences they offer. We thank you."