Around Des Moines

The Des Moines Public Schools School Board voted 4-2 at its March 11, 2008, meeting to in favor of a resolution to create a district-wide foundation. This foundation would be a not-for-profit entity that could receive grants and tax-exempt donations for which the district, as a governmental body, does not qualify. The nay votes were cast by Board Vice President Ginny Strong and Board Member Connie Boesen. They wanted the foundation’s scope to be limited to pre-Kindergarten through Grade 8. The majority favored including Grades 9 to 12, while placing an emphasis on pre-Kindergarten through Grade 8. All of the high schools either have or are developing their own individual foundations.

Superintendent Dr. Nancy Sebring worked with a foundation when she was at a Colorado school district. The feasibility of creating a foundation in the DMPS district was studied by a committee authorized by the board in February 2007. Members of that committee were appointed by each board member and by the superintendent. Support was provided by the National School Foundation Association (NSFA), which is based in Des Moines.

NSFA is a product of the 21st century. With funding from the U.S. Department of Education, secured by the efforts of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), a website was developed under the oversight of Dr. David Else of the University of Northern Iowa’s College of Education. The purpose of NSFA, the organizations from which it was formed, and the website is to provide information that aids in the start-up and sustainability of K-12 school foundations. The organization is partnered with the Iowa Association of School Boards. Both groups have offices at 6000 Grand Avenue.

The benefits of being able to pursue grants that can be given only to organizations to which the IRS has given 501(c)3 status was the basic reason the study committee recommended a foundation. There were general ideas that such grants and donations that a foundation might receive could help provide classroom supplies, make school facilities more appealing, and contain rising property taxes. However, the specific mission and purpose of the foundation will need to be set by a new committee.

There was opposition to the foundation on the feasibility committee. At the school board meeting and in the main text of the written minority report made by dissenting committee members, the emphasis was placed on how a district-wide foundation could compete with donations to individual high school foundations. This concern was expressed in terms of individual donors, corporate foundations, and local business partnerships. A list of concerns in the written report goes much farther, though. It questions the cost of creating “an all-encompassing foundation,” “oversight of the entity” and that “[t]he governing board will not adequately reflect the needs and desires of all of the schools in the district.” The dissenting members of the committee believe there needs to be “[a] wider, more transparent discussion in Des Moines at large….”

A new committee is being formed to decide how to implement the foundation. Its work should take place between March and August with the first meeting of the new foundation in August or September 2008. Decisions to be made include the name of the foundation, as well as its vision, mission, and purpose statements. A list of issues for the formation committee to address includes developing by-laws and filing articles of incorporation with the state, identifying “potential permanent board members,” establishing a budget, and seeking community support. The foundation will have a memorandum of understanding with the school board and a member of the board will be an ex-officio member of the foundation’s board.

M.R. Field covers the school board meetings for AroundDesMoines.com.