January 6, 2011
Dear McGaugh Families,
As you may know, the salaries of many of our enrichment staff, including the art and media Center teachers, are paid by Project SEEK, our school fundraising group. In order to fund these positions, the Board of Education asks that the money for next year's salaries be set aside for forward funding by February 1st of the current year. This year, in spite of numerous fundraisers and generous donations from our families and community members, we find ourselves short of the money required to fully fund all of our current positions.
The total amount needed to fund all the current positions at McGaugh (two teachers and two instructional assistants) is $136,000. Last night, at a joint meeting between Project SEEK and the McGaugh PTA, it was reported that Project SEEK could forward fund $80,000 of this total. PTA generously offered to contribute, contingent on a vote by the membership. Additionally, the school can set aside $15,000 from this year's budget to support this cause. This still leaves the school $40,000 short of the total needed to fully fund all the positions in the media center and the art lab. The impact of this shortage would be the closure of Media Center for two days a week due to a lack of staffing.
In the next week, you will be receiving information from Project SEEK and PTA as we try to collect the additional $40,000 needed so that our media center can continue to operate five days a week with qualified staff to support the instructional program. I cannot stress enough how vital our art and technology programs are to our students. Research continues to validate the importance of arts education programs and their positive impact on creative problem solving, spatial reasoning, and confidence. Moreover, technology and media fluency are increasingly prerequisites for access to higher education and meaningful employment.
I encourage you to consider making any donation that your family can afford during these challenging times. Given our current state budget, it is evident that in order to maintain art and technology programs at McGaugh, and in other California schools, we will have to support these vital programs as a community.
Our community has been amazing in contributing to our enrichment programs in the past and for that we are all most grateful. I hope that you can find it possible to contribute to this year's final push to fully fund our art and technology programs. Please watch for more information from Project SEEK and PTA.
Sincerely,
Daryle Palmer
