Parents Welcome End To School Sales Drives They Send Checks, Thankful That Candy Bar Days Are Over

When principal Larry Hill announced students would no longer be asked to sell candy bars to raise money, donations started to pour in.

One ecstatic Lakes Middle School family sent $150 and word of thanks for not being burdened with boxes of candy. At Back-to-School night, several hundred parents cheered booster club president Lana Campbell when she asked parents to send $10 donations instead of fretting over student chocolate sales.

The holidays are a lucrative time for student fund raising. Profits from the sale of gift wrap, candy, popcorn and trinkets are counted on to cushion school budgets for field trips, playground equipment and books.

But safety concerns and parents weary from peddling are prompting school districts in Idaho and Washington to re-examine traditional fund raising.

Youth groups make about $2 million a year from the sale of goods from the National Association of Fund Raiser & Direct Sellers. That association represents about 600 companies that help schools raise money. Locally, that translates into thousands of dollars for parent volunteer organizations, who oversee the bulk of school fund raising.

Well-organized parent volunteer organizations usually hold one big fund-raiser - like Sorensen Elementary School’s annual Christmas bazaar in Coeur d’Alene. But many parent groups resort to one chaotic fund-raiser after another, leaving parents to wearily hawk their children’s wares for weeks at the workplace.

Campbell knows what a drag that can be. She’s got three children of her own.

“Parents are tired of dealing with all these fund-raisers. They are busy and it’s easier for them to say ‘Hey, I’ll give you $25 if I don’t have to deal with this during the year,”’ Campbell said. “We think it’s better for the kids not to have to go out and solicit. It’s a practice we all feel very strongly about.”

Lakes parents have donated more than $4,000 this year, the second year under the new policy.

Throughout the Coeur d’Alene School District, parents and teachers are being asked to ponder the “philosophy of fund raising,” said Coeur d’Alene schools superintendent David Rawls. The district’s bringing in an accountant this week to help answer parent volunteers’ legal and financial questions.

In Pullman, school officials and parents are also concerned about fund raising. Superintendent Douglas Nelson said recent safety concerns stem from the death of a young New Jersey student in September.

The murder of sixth-grader Eddie Werner sent shivers throughout school districts nationwide. Werner, 11, was trying to sell enough candy and wrapping paper to buy a walkie talkie set. He was sexually assaulted and then strangled by one of his potential customers only a half mile from his home. He was carrying cash from his sales.

In the wake of Werner’s death, some schools have banned fund raising. Many are drafting new rules to protect student safety.

Most Inland Northwest school officials and parent-teacher groups say they discourage students from selling door-to-door. Peer pressure and the chance to win prizes, however, tempt some youths to ignore the warnings.

At issue is whether students should peddle goods or school districts should find other sources of money.

The Pullman School District raked in $22,000 through its new Pullman Education Foundation, modeled after Washington State University’s fund-raising arm. Other schools are leaning toward event-based fund-raisers like bingo nights, auctions or pancake feeds.

Still, it’s hard to match the dollar amounts generated through student sales. Hayden Meadows raised $13,000 this year through its gift wrap sales. With at least $10,000 extra raised each year over the last three years, the school has prospered.

Jan Feeley, Hayden’s energetic parent-teacher organization leader and school secretary, deserves some of the credit. Feeley coordinates the school’s fund raising and strictly regulates recordkeeping. The group pays taxes and carefully scrutinizes receipts for school purchases. She is unwavering in her belief that fund raising is one of the most successful tools parents have to enhance cash-strapped Idaho schools.

Student fund raising is strictly volunteer, she points out, and students aren’t pressured to sell. Last year, only 311 out of 625 kids participated. There are no major prizes offered and students know exactly what equipment the money they raise is going toward.

“I research everything because I want it fine-tuned,” Feeley said. “You have to know what is least disruptive in the classroom, how much time it will take and how much money you need to make to fulfill your goals.

“In my opinion it is something really important to the schools as far as paying for things the state doesn’t pay for.”

Superintendent Rawls agrees.

“Fund raising is a fairly direct and obvious way of showing support for your school. We can either not have them, or not have field trips, because we don’t have a very plush budget in Idaho.”

And while he’s received positive input from the business community on how student fund raising encourages entrepreneurship, Rawls also hopes parent volunteer groups will begin self-regulating fund raising. Efforts at different schools shouldn’t overlap, Rawls said. And clubs and groups in the same school must also avoid internal fund-raising conflicts. Band, choir and French club shouldn’t battle for community support at once, for example.

At the Mead School District north of Spokane, fund raising was restructured 10 years ago to avoid “bombarding” the community and encouraging children to be out selling when they could be involved with other school activities, said administrator John Keith. The district shifted from traditional fund raising to bingo nights, fun runs and other family events.

At Lakes Middle School, principal Hill describes the candy bar days as a nightmare. Teachers were tired of having candy in their rooms. Secretaries were sick of counting money. The whole process took away precious instruction time, Hill said.

“We just won’t do it anymore.”

The National PTA is encouraging a shift to lobbying for better public financing.

“We’ve got to be responsible to raise money other ways - like asking the legislature for better support,” Hill said. “Kids shouldn’t have to pay for the things they need to get an education.”

, DataTimes