New education foundation will help students, teachers
by TOM ALSTROM
Superintendent, USD #398
In August, the board of education approved an education foundation for the district. Peabody-Burns school district has joined with the Peabody Community Fund to establish an educational foundation for charitable giving.
The purpose of the foundation is two-fold. It gives people a place to contribute to the educational enrichment of our students and it gives the district a means of investing those contributions in a way that will produce long-lasting returns.
The education foundation was initially set up to acquire funds to be awarded as grants to teachers for educational enrichment programs the district is not able to fund in its annual budget. By establishing an endowment fund in the foundation, the district could offer grants to teachers with innovative programs they would like to pursue with their students.
Other area schools have provided this opportunity to their students and teachers with a great deal of success. And there are additional benefits from a foundation besides teacher grants.
An educational foundation will allow the school to invest any donations in a way that will produce long lasting proceeds to the district.
The foundation also would be the place for the district to put the scholarship donations it receives. With this money in the foundation, we would have greater opportunity for gain on the investment than the law allows us with monies that are just given to the school.
Within the foundation we also have established a "project fund." This fund will provide the opportunity to collect funds or donations for a project the school board would like to see done.
The project fund allows the district to take specified donations and hold them until enough have been received to complete a given project. The district could then withdraw the funds and pay for the project.
The school board felt this was an important part of the foundation because there are several things the community would like to see done within or around the school for both the school and the community. With the "project fund" we can start the work and have a place to secure the funds while we are finalizing everything.
The school district is excited about the possibilities of the foundation and is glad to be a part of the Peabody Community Fund. The Peabody Community Fund is a 501c3 foundation that has been set up with the community in mind.
The goal of the PCF is to assist in securing funding for the many projects, organizations, and activities in the community.
Anyone wanting to know more about the USD #398 Foundation, the Peabody Community Fund, or local charitable giving, should contact the central office at 620-983-2198.
