The ground rules of school fundraising have officially been changed, as the Board of Education of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) unanimously approved a controversial district-wide fundraising concept on Nov. 29 during a special meeting held at Lincoln Middle School.
Tuesday’s special meeting vote greatly diminished the role local Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) play in fundraising activities for various academic and extracurricular activities.
The 6-0 vote basically disallows PTAs raising money to pay salaries of district personnel or fund school programs and services severely affected by the state’s recent budget cuts.
SMMUSD Superintendent Sandra Lyon said the non-centralized fundraising system practiced by respective PTAs created “great inequities across the district … (and) a climate in which the instruction and instructional experiences students receive and the conditions in which teachers work are altered by the amount of money individual PTAs can raise.”
In light of Tuesday’s vote, the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation was designated as the oversight entity to manage the centralized fundraising system.
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Advocates for Malibu Public Schools 