A Tale of Two Schools

By Juliet McShannon and Jorge Casuso

Jan. 27 -- A handwritten plea posted last year at the entrance to a Santa Monica elementary school asked parents to donate much-needed paper, pencils and “balls that bounce,” while at another elementary school up the coast in Malibu the principal was sending letters thanking parents for the school’s new “PTA-funded mobile laptop lab.”

Despite fervent fundraising efforts by parents at John Muir Elementary, the school still lags far behind Point Dume in Malibu, where parents raised nearly seven times the funds per student as their counterparts in Ocean Park, according to an analysis of the two schools’ fundraising efforts by The Lookout.

Thanks in large part to donations from parents who are among the School District’s wealthiest and best-connected, Point Dume -- which topped the fundraising list among the district’s 16 schools -- raised $226,000, or an average of $693 dollars for each of its 326 students during the 2002-03 school year.

In contrast, John Muir -- one of four district schools that receive federal funding because many of its students are on the threshold of poverty -- raised $37,501, or $107 for each of its 352 students, thanks in large part to a community fundraising effort.

The money raised by Muir -- much of it during the school’s annual silent auction -- helped pay for more stationery and photocopiers and to hire a science consultant and a nurse’s aid. Muir will also see a boost in its arts program after being adopted by PS Arts, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts in poorer schools in the community.

"We are even hoping to buy some musical instruments for the children,” said Muir principal Martha Duran-Contreras. “It would be wonderful to make art and music part of the regular curriculum."

Chi Kim, Point Dume’s principal, declined to outline how the $220,000 raised by the school’s PTA last year was used, saying only that parents have raised $200,000 so far this year thanks to “a lot of legwork.”

“Now we have a volunteer for the (Marine Science) laboratory, and we have been able to buy more fish,” Kim said.

But according to newsletters posted by Kim on the school’s Web site, the money has also gone into everything from technology support -- including hardware and software for the school’s more than 120 computers -- to money to staff and supply the two-room Marine Science Lab, which boasts a “captive ecosystem.”

Thanks to generous support from parents -- who are urged by Kim to donate $921 per student ($550 of it tax-deductible) -- the school has teaching assistants in all 15 classrooms, as well as for physical education/safety classes, according to the school’s September 26 newsletter.

The money also pays for supplies, support and curriculum development for the arts program; supplies and a salary for a choral music program; a science lab instructor, aquarist and science supplies; library books, paper, copying machines “and much more,” according to the newsletter.

The glaring discrepancy in programs and supplies at the district’s most affluent and poorest schools has prompted Superintendent John Deasy to call for a controversial gift policy that would put 15 percent of all donations to individual schools into an Equity Fund to be distributed to all district schools.

The funding gap, district officials contend, is due to the vast demographic differences between the district’s most affluent and poorest schools, a gap that stepped-up fundraising efforts alone will never bridge.

At Point Dume, the parents compose “a community of professionals and artisans,” Principal Kim wrote in a letter to parents dated December 5.

According to a synopsis of the school’s history quoted in the letter, the parents are “well-educated, socially aware and politically active.”

Only a handful of Point Dume’s students come from poor families, according to district statistics. Of the 326 students enrolled at the school in 2002-03, only 10 qualified for the National School Lunch Program that targets children from poverty level families.

By contrast, 161 of John Muir’s 352 students qualified for the free lunch program.

"Many of our children have parents who are professionals, but we also have a substantial number who are from poorer families and from shelters,” Duran-Contreras said. “Expecting huge parental donations would be unreasonable."

In addition to the money raised by parents, John Muir receives about $691 a year in Title I funds for each student in the free lunch program, or a total of $111,356 last year. But unlike general donations, the money is used for specific purposes -- to support reading programs, add personnel, boost instruction for low achieving pupils and increase professional staff development.

As a result, factoring in the Title I funds -- which would boost Muir’s donations per pupil from $107 to $422 (still far short of Point Dume’s $693) -- is unfair, district officials contend.

"Equal does not mean equitable,” said Steve Cannell, the district’s director of State and Federal Projects. "Title I schools receive outside of the funding stream according to very strict guidelines. Even if the gift policy comes about, these qualifying schools will still continue to receive that extra support.

“The aim of Title I funds is to provide additional support for pupils who are disadvantaged and to support everyday school programs -- assistance the schools couldn't provide otherwise,” Cannell said. “It is not to provide enrichment, such as music and arts programs."

To supplement parent donations, John Muir has relied on the generosity of local hotels and businesses, such as the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, which supplied a room for the school's “Silent Auction” -- a successful fundraising drive that has taken place for the past three years.

Main Street merchants, such as La Veccia Restaurant, donate food for the evening, and at $30 a ticket, parents and supporters of John Muir bid silently on donated objects from local businesses in the area, such as gift baskets.

The silent auction held last November raised $19,000 in one evening, or about half of all the money raised by the school this year, according to Duran-Contreras.

“But the amount is deceptive," said a concerned parent who asked not to be identified.

"It was a huge one-off effort by the parents, with a small percentage of the parents carrying the rest,” the parent said. “It is important to remember that this was one event that most of the poorer parents probably saved for all year. It's not like this happens consistently."

In contrast, part of the success of Point Dume's fundraising drive is the school's “matching funds” program, where parents are encouraged to match the amount given by private companies.

Companies and individuals can also choose a class to support from a list provided by the school and make a monetary donation to the school's PTA, which then makes that money available to meet the needs of that specific class.

"This has been a very successful endeavor," said Margot Dunn, a fourth grade teacher at the school. "Organizations donate different amounts, but usually in the region of $250 to $300 for each class.”

Private donor Susan Monus, a realtor with Coldwell Banker, feels the program is a way to give back to the community.

"I don't have any children at Point Dume, yet I donate my money and time to the school,” Monus said. “I feel privileged to live in such a beautiful area, and it is a way for me to give back."

Monus believes that it is important to be able to sponsor a particular class. "I like to know where my money is going,” she said. “I always ask to sponsor the library.”

Monus said she opposes the “equity fund” proposed by Deasy. “I am interested in supporting education at Point Dume itself," she said.

Duran-Contreras admits that no amount of fundraising, with or without Title I funds, will bring John Muir in line with the wealthier Malibu schools.

She is currently in talks with a local Republican Women's Group interested in “adopting” the school.

"This would be a financial godsend," she said. "Although we are seen as a bastion of Democrats, the school respects diversity, and there is nothing wrong with bringing others in, if it benefits education for the children."

Duran-Contreras said she is disappointed that parents at the more affluent schools oppose Deasy’s policy, which they say is unfair, perhaps illegal and will dampen the eagerness to donate.

"It should not be about competition between the schools, but rather equitable opportunity throughout the school district,” Duran Contreras said.

“We need to get away from the zip code segregation mentality and all work together to increase funding for all schools throughout the district."