Using fundraisers and donations to pay for additional staff at some Shawnee Mission schools deserves a closer look and possibly a clearer districtwide policy in the future, according to a recommendation from a three-member task force.
The group, comprised of school board members Jessica Hembree, Jamie Borgman and David Westbrook, wrapped up its final meeting with administrators Friday with a recommendation that the school board’s policy review committee consider the issue with an eye toward limiting the practice.
The task force members have become concerned that schools in richer neighborhoods can raise money to add staff that wouldn’t be available to other schools in less affluent areas.
The concern gained traction as members learned that about 80% of donations — typically raised through events like PTA fundraisers and auctions or given directly to specific schools — over the past three years have been going to schools with the smallest percentage of students on free or reduced lunch.
Schools’ proportion of students receiving free and reduced lunch has long been used by researchers and policymakers as a way to gauge school poverty levels.
“A Pandora’s box to open”
The statistics collected by the task force in Shawnee Mission showed schools in the Shawnee Mission East feeder pattern ended up with about $2.15 million over the past three years.
At the other end, schools in the Shawnee Mission West feeder pattern received just $110,000. Amounts also varied widely from school to school.
“These donations feel kind of like a Pandora’s box to open. It’s a big issue, people feel strongly about it,” said Hembree. “But at the same time, I also can see that inequity can happen if we aren’t careful.”
Hembree said she’d heard from some PTA members who questioned the accuracy of the numbers.
She clarified that the statistics only reflect what donations made it to the district’s books. A fundraiser to hold a breakfast for a building’s teachers, for example, wouldn’t have been included.
Using donated funds to pay for staff
The task force focused on whether individual schools — particularly elementary schools — should be able to use their donations to help fund staff positions.
There are currently 6.5 such community-funded positions out of 3,800 employees, said Superintendent Michael Schumacher. Those numbers have gone down recently, he added.
Secondary schools generally have more leeway than elementary schools in assigning extra positions to language studies, for example, Schumacher said. Rules are tighter for elementary levels.
The Shawnee Mission district appears to be unique in its practice of allowing school patrons’ donations to raise money to fund staff positions, Schumacher said.
No changes are likely anytime soon
The three school board members on the task force stressed that they don’t want to discourage giving but are worried about perceptions that there are haves and have-nots among Shawnee Mission’s neighborhood schools that could contribute to different educational outcomes.
“The community-funded position issue is the critical issue. I’m very excited that there are people that want to step up and support the schools and write a check,” Westbrook said. “I do get concerned, though, if that money is going to go toward hiring someone. I think we step into different territory and we create the potential for dis-equal educational opportunities.”
At an earlier task force meeting, members also expressed concern that some schools that aren’t eligible for federal Title I funding — set aside for lower-income areas — may need additional aides but don’t have the ability to raise enough money for them.
The group recommended that the next committee look at when existing community-funded positions should be allowed and when there should be a time limit on such a position.
Westbrook suggested that a temporary pilot project funded by a grant could be allowed.
The issue will be presented to the full school board at its Aug. 26 meeting. That and an ensuing review by the policy committee means no changes are likely this school year.
“I don’t think anyone’s willing to pull the rug out from anything that’s happening the rest of the year,” Hembree said, adding that it might take a year or two for any changes to be enacted.
