School foundations offer help

When Dean Haagenson found out a do-or-die levy was rejected by voters in his hometown of Bonners Ferry this spring, the Coeur d’Alene man approached the town’s mayor with a solution: Let’s raise the money ourselves.

The levy was given a second chance, and Haagenson and Mayor Darrell Kerby threw their energy and money into a campaign to help it pass. It did, with some money left over in the campaign fund.

Now, with those leftover funds, Boundary County schools will benefit again. Just as other areas of North Idaho have done, Boundary County is setting up a local school foundation.

School board member John Lindberg has also contributed a $5,000 local hydroelectric bond to the Boundary County Education Foundation. The foundation gives people like Haagenson, owner of Contractors Northwest Inc., and his wife, Cindy, a means to contribute to the schools.

Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Lake Pend Oreille school districts also receive support from private foundations.

The thousands of dollars the foundations award annually to North Idaho schools help fund unique projects and even day-to-day necessities that aren’t covered by the stretched-tight funding they receive from the state.

Work on Boundary County’s foundation started in 1993, but the idea didn’t really take off until the recent levy passed. Superintendent Don Bartling said school district supporters now have the time and renewed vigor to move the concept forward.

“Our school district doesn’t have adequate funding from state, federal and local sources,” Bartling said. He describes the foundation as “an untapped resource” for the local schools.

The foundation’s board of directors, of which Bartling is an ex-officio member, has discussed using money from the foundation to help with facilities projects, fund scholarships, help teachers with the cost of continuing their education and provide mini-grants for classroom projects.

Coeur d’Alene’s EXCEL Foundation, the Post Falls Education Foundation and the Panhandle Alliance for Education, which serves Lake Pend Oreille School District, all distribute grants on an annual basis.

Mark Havens, author of a book on school foundations, said that’s the role many foundations assume – funding minigrants or small education grants for teachers. He’s the former executive director of the Lewiston (Idaho) Independent Foundation for Education, which has a grant program open to anyone in the community, not just the public schools.

Some foundations provide college scholarships, fund teacher or staff recognition and awards, or provide public relations services to a district, Havens said.

He has heard of some foundations creating information packets to distribute to local Realtors.

Havens said there are an estimated 3,000 school foundations in the United States, with hundreds more forming each year. He believes the primary focus of a foundation should be “linking the school district with its atypical constituents.”

Nonparent households typically make up at least three-quarters of a community, Havens said. Foundation boards should reflect all aspects of the community, he said.

The Panhandle Alliance for Education’s board includes the district’s superintendent, a school board member, minister, banker, teacher, judge and newspaper publisher.

School districts have several fund-raising arms, including booster clubs and parent groups, and Havens said school foundations shouldn’t duplicate efforts by those organizations.

Valerie Wilcox, president of the Post Falls Education Foundation, views those organizations and other civic groups as a resource rather than competition. If the foundation can’t fund a grant, she said they often refer the applicant to someone else who could possibly help.

The Panhandle Alliance for Education and the EXCEL Foundation have endowments. In just three years, the Panhandle Alliance for Education has awarded more than $200,000 to teachers and has built its endowment fund to $236,000. EXCEL’s endowment fund has reached about $800,000.

The EXCEL Foundation was established in 1987 and has awarded more than $500,000 to Coeur d’Alene schools.

Like the Boundary County Education Foundation, the existing foundations had humble beginnings.

In 1989, the Post Falls Education Foundation awarded $1,200 in grants. As the foundation’s Wine, Stein and Dine fund-raiser has become more successful, it’s been able to award more. The foundation just announced nearly $30,000 in grants for the coming school year.

Since its inception, the foundation has given $165,000 to Post Falls schools and, this year, was able to set some money aside to ensure the longevity of the foundation, Wilcox said.

The Panhandle Alliance for Education awarded $35,000 its first year and is giving $100,000 away for the coming school year.

Lindberg, the school board member who donated a $5,000 bond to the Boundary County Education Foundation, said the foundation probably doesn’t have more than $7,000 right now. The foundation hopes to increase its fund by soliciting graduates for membership. Community members and supporters can also make cash donations or even donate property.

In the past, Lindberg said, the community has had to work to scrape together funds when a need arises. He’s hoping the foundation will be fruitful enough so that the money will be available when its needed.

“We could offer things without having to pass the hat,” he said.