Your ad here … and other ways to raise revenues and cut costs
By:
Carol Brydolf
Fall 2012
When the going gets tough, educators, parents, school board members and district and county office staff, students and other public school supporters get creative. Forget the bake sales, coupon books and magazine subscription drives. Certainly these time-honored fundraisers have their place—generating cash and school spirit as students and parents work together to buy a cool piece of classroom technology or pay for a special field trip or class party.
But with cuts in state and federal assistance to California public schools running in the billions of dollars, more and more local educational agencies are launching bold, complex and occasionally problematic campaigns in hopes of raising some serious money; many are also exploring cost-cutting strategies to get the maximum bang for their distressingly scarce bucks.
These fiscal survival strategies are part of an increasingly desperate fight to preserve essential big-ticket services and shore up sagging operating budgets in the face of inadequate state and federal funding. If voters do not approve tax increases in either of two school-related ballot measures in November, schools will have to cut an additional $400 or more per student, and the scramble for fiscal lifelines will become even more intense.
In the face of this distressing set of circumstances, LEAs are demonstrating courage, pluck and ingenuity as they work to staunch the bleeding, and they are having some impressive successes—establishing education foundations, applying for grants, collaborating with a variety of public and private entities to extend services to students, and hosting all sorts of creative fund-raising events, including food truck festivals, lowrider and custom car rallies and “e-cycling” equipment drives that exchange obsolete electronics for cash.
“Ideally we should look at this from both a short- and long-term perspective and implement a collective approach,” says Betsy McNeil, a Policy and Programs officer at CSBA who is involved in CSBA’s efforts to help LEAs develop strategies to collaborate with their cities, counties, local businesses and organizations, such as establishing a full-service community school to extend the reach and variety of services available to children and families. “With the budgetary pressure school districts are under, not just the lack of funding but also the volatility of the funding, governing boards are forced to focus on funding the short-term, essential components of providing an education—just keeping the lights on. But somehow at the same time, we need to figure out how we can work together in our communities to do things differently. We can’t wait for future funding increases; we need to address children’s needs now.”
She could have been talking about Clovis Unified School district in the heart of California’s Central Valley. This enterprising district transformed a food service that once ran a $300,000 annual deficit into a meal program that generates about $1 million a year in revenue and serves up gourmet items like Vietnamese pho soup, sandwich wraps and chicken cordon bleu.
“We interviewed students and asked what they liked, and we made a special effort to tailor meals to their respective cultures,” says Michael Johnston, assistant superintendent for business services.
No more low-hanging fruit
No amount of creative grant writing or inspired resource management can change the ugly fact that California lawmakers have been starving public education for years. Some LEAs are finding they have little choice but to explore strategies that one critic recently worried are the symbolic equivalent of rooting behind the sofa cushions for enough loose change to keep the lights on. (In fact, the student council at Glendora Unified School District’s Stanton Elementary School launched a “spare change” fundraiser recently that literally did just that—encouraging students to bring in loose coins from home. The drive generated $1,300.)
“Our official view is that with $20 billion in cuts already made in recent years, there is no low-hanging fruit,” says Molly McGee Hewitt, executive director of the California Association of School Business Officials and a former governance specialist with CSBA. “Our members have already made heroic cuts. The cuts we’ve made are impacting students—despite our best efforts.”
That being said, it’s also true that despite the many constraints, public schools continue to accomplish amazing educational feats on the cheap and to devise effective methods for generating essential funds and slashing expenses. What follows are strategies that have made headlines recently for helping some enterprising school districts stave off fiscal Armageddon—at least for the present.
One additional caveat: Although some of these strategies can be and are employed by county offices of education, this list focuses mainly on money-raising and cost-cutting tactics that have proved most appropriate for school districts.
1. Make the most of your CSBA membership!
Why save the best for last? Although every strategy in this “top 10” list is worth considering, we’re highlighting CSBA’s own governance, district and financial services in this separate story because they’re specifically designed to help our member school districts and county offices of education serve their students, staff and communities most effectively. CSBA has partnered with a long list of businesses that specialize in everything from paperless meeting agendas to analyzing utility and telecom billings—all with the aim of helping members make the most of increasingly limited education dollars.
Our District Services programs simplify compliance with state and federal regulations, while helping save money, maximize resources or generate additional revenue.
Our Financial Services help districts build schools and deal with the sorts of short-term cash flow problems that have intensified in recent years.
Our Governance Services span the spectrum, from Professional Governance Standards that build essential public trust to Governance Consulting Services that strengthen leadership skills and organizational effectiveness, keeping schools focused on student achievement. And don’t forget our Masters in Governance program, which has enhanced the leadership and teamwork skills of more than 2,000 board members and superintendents.
Our governance technology Services—AgendaOnline, GAMUTOnline, Policy Online and Policy Services—offer efficient and money-saving assistance in essential operations from well-organized and publicly noticed board meetings to policy updates and beyond.
Having trouble keeping up with ever-evolving state and federal health and safety regulations for hazardous material information, use, storage and transportation? Look into our HazMat Communication Program.
Want to save the planet, streamline prep time for board agenda packets and stop paying for mailing, photocopying and reams of paper? Check out AgendaOnline. Our electronic board meeting agenda service earned top ratings in a recent return on investment analysis; our clients reported saving an average of more than $500 per meeting.
Worried that you’re not maximizing reimbursements for vital health-related services your district provides to students? CSBA’s Practi-Cal program’s online software and personalized consulting simplifies the complicated Medi-Cal billing process.
You can meet CSBA’s in-house specialists and our district and financial services partners on the trade show floor at our Annual Education Conference and Trade Show in San Francisco Nov. 29-Dec. 1. AEC is also an unparalleled opportunity to peruse a range of goods and services from other vendors, talk with staff about the specific benefits of our products and services and take advantage of the rich menu of conference programmatic offerings that include workshops, clinics, table talks and inspiring general session speakers and more.
—Carol Brydolf
10 Cultivate collaboration
CSBA’s betsy MCNeil says collaboration is an essential component of fiscal and programmatic survival strategies, so we’re putting it at the top of the list.
CSBA got into the collaboration game years ago, when the association joined the League of California Cities and California State Association of Counties to explore ways the local elected officials representing schools, cities and counties could move beyond concerns over turf and jurisdiction and work together to better serve their constituents. The three organizations established the Cities, Counties and School Partnership to encourage and support the kind of innovative collaboration displayed this past summer in Sacramento.
At a time when so many districts were forced to abandon summer school for lack of funding, thousands of students in and around the state capital had access to summer enrichment programs thanks to partnerships between school districts, foundations and community nonprofit organizations. The Sacramento City Unified School District provided a robust summer enrichment program for 3,500 of the district’s neediest students at 10 sites—financed by “a multitude” of foundations and community organizations and state and federal grants. The district also partnered with the Magic Johnson Foundation and Best Buy to offer its Geek Squad Academy for fourth- through sixth-graders. The neighboring Twin Rivers Unified School District joined forces with a number of community organizations that had provided their own summer services in the past. The collaboration meant, among other things, that there was space for an additional 200 students this summer at six school sites.
CSBA President Jill Wynns has made support for community schools a special priority this year, and CSBA will offer a new instructional strand focused on community schools at this year’s Annual Education Conference and Trade Show. Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, chair of the CCS Partnership, says he’s eager to explore the possibilities of collaborating on a broad scale. “We’re talking about developing a systems approach—a new way of thinking that explores how we can work together to improve outcomes for all our constituents.” Gioia is enthusiastic about the community schools model that connects students and families with community and government-provided health and social services to address needs of the whole child.
9 Generate grants
It’s a sad irony, CASBO’s Hewitt says, that some of the districts that were large enough to have grant writers on staff in better times have had to lay them off—just when their services are needed most.
But LEAs don’t need a grant writer on the payroll in order to compete for these funds. The Natomas Unified School District school board recently joined the growing list of LEAs that have hired a professional grant-writing firm to handle the job for them. The district agreed to pay California Consulting LLC (http://californiaconsulting.org), one of several similar companies, $4,000 a month to pursue grant funding on the district’s behalf. Teri Burns, senior director in CSBA Policy and Programs Department and a Natomas school board member, says her district is aggressively seeking any available funding “to continue services that our students depend on.”
The firm says it has won millions of dollars in grants for a number of cities, counties and school districts, including $5.5 million in state and federal grants that is helping finance construction of a technology learning center that will be jointly operated by the city of Corcoran and the Corcoran Unified School District.
There are other ways to get expert help applying for grants. Check out the grant-writing workshops offered by consultants, university and college extension programs, community colleges and four-year institutions. Perhaps your district can train its own specialist or hire a consultant for less than it would cost to employ a full-time grant writer or contract with an outside firm.
8 Start a foundation
The California Consortium of Educational Foundations reports that more and more districts are creating these tax-exempt institutions.
The consortium’s 2010 member survey indicated that in 2009 California boasted 675 educational foundations that generated more than $250 million to pay for everything from school counselors and librarians to professional development grants for teachers.
Consortium Executive Director Susan Sweeney says she’s getting more inquiries from potential foundation backers all the time. Some critics say there are obvious equity issues involved when communities consider establishing a foundation. Education foundations in affluent communities, like Davis, Cupertino and Santa Barbara, have had little trouble raising millions of dollars for local schools. These towns are populated by highly educated parents with the time and expertise to tackle the hard work of establishing and operating a foundation, and the discretionary income to come up with donations. Affluence would seem to give some communities an advantage over areas where residents are struggling just to get by.
But Sweeney says a community does not have to be rich in order to run a successful foundation. “We consider foundations viable options for every community,” she says. “We are eager to work with anyone who is interested in establishing an education foundation, and we offer free training and support to help get things started.” She says her experience has convinced her that foundations can thrive in the wide range of California’s “crazy quilt” of 1,000 diverse districts. Most foundations are district based, but Sweeney says a few school sites have their own foundations.
7 Cut costs
Clearly, there is a huge range of options that fall under this broad heading.
Here’s one shining example of a particularly bold project that addresses health care costs—one of the fastest growing expenses impacting district and COE budgets. The California Education Coalition for Health Care Reform (www.cechcr.org), a group that includes representatives from every major public education management and labor association in the state, including CSBA, offers free training and support to any LEA interested in tackling these expenses head on. The coalition recently launched a new “Second Opinion” program that offers free analyses of a district’s health care benefits with an eye to eliminating unnecessary expenses and preserving essential services.
Faced with staggering increases in costs to the district and employees, the Montebello Unified School District asked the coalition to review its plan in 2009 and wound up cutting its health insurance costs by $11.5 million the first year. CECHR will present a workshop on cutting health care expenditures at CSBA’s 2012 Annual Education Conference and Trade Show, which is coming to San Francisco Nov. 29-Dec. 1. The workshop, “Lowering Costs and Achieving Better Health Benefits,” will be on AEC’s opening day Thursday, Nov. 29, at 10 a.m.
Senior Legislative Advocate Brian Rivas, who sits on the Sacramento County Office of Education board, represents CSBA on the CECHR board and is enthusiastic about the coalition’s services and mission.
“Anytime you can get management and labor to collaborate on cutting costs and keep people healthy, that’s a good thing,” he says. CECHCR is part of the Center for Collaborative Solutions, which has other useful programs in labor-management relations and other areas: www.ccscenter.org.
6 Go Green
OK, the green strategies we’ll discuss here also fall under the cost-cutting umbrella.
But so many LEAs are investing in environmentally friendly programs to cut utility costs and reduce their respective carbon footprints, we thought these programs deserved their own category. Elk Grove Unified School District, once designated by its local utility as the most wasteful energy user among all Sacramento-area school districts, launched an ambitious conservation program that’s won state and national honors.
By installing sophisticated energy monitoring and conservation systems and encouraging teachers, students and staff to pull the plug on idle appliances and computers, the district has cut its utility costs by $1.4 million annually. Utility companies are generally delighted to wwork with districts on energy conservation. CSBA offers its own Smart Assessment Energy Program to help members analyze energy use and reduce consumption.
Increasing numbers of districts are harnessing the power of the sun. Mount Diablo Unified School District celebrated the completion of 40 solar power systems last spring, working with SunPower Corp., a company CSBA is partnering with to assist members with energy-generating programs. When the 51-system project is completed later this year, the district stands to save more than $3 million a year and more than $220 million over the next three decades. The district passed a facilities bond and secured $56 million in federal Clean Renewable Energy Bonds to help finance the massive project. Visit our website to learn more about CSBA’s Solar Schools Program.
5 Sell stuff
Or rent it: surplus property, equipment, real estate, buildings … anything you can monetize and that you don’t need.
Former San Jose Unified School District Superintendent Don Iglesias loves to tell the story of how his district found a buyer for surplus school buses by advertising them on eBay. Interschola, a company that specializes in school surplus sales, reports it has generated $2.7 million for more than 300 California school districts (including the Fresno, Clovis, Sanger, Oakland and Madera USDs) by selling items like pianos, exercise equipment, shop tools and even portable classrooms on eBay.
Selling or leasing real estate is a considerably more complex—and potentially more lucrative—undertaking. Some LEAs are selling property outright. Sales are easier to engineer, but they generate one-time revenues that come with strings attached. And once the property is gone, it’s gone forever. That’s why LEAs that have the time and energy to spend some serious time planning, are looking for ways their real estate can generate more lasting income.
Orange County’s Cypress School District has been working for years on a plan to make the best use of five vacant school sites and a district office property that experts estimate have a combined value of more than $80 million. The district, which has steadily lost students over the years, is considering a number of innovative plans, including leasing property to developers and swapping school facilities for commercial housing projects—a somewhat unconventional arrangement that would make the district a rent-collecting landlord.
With the assistance of a series of citizen advisory committees, the school board set a specific goal: The land deals should generate ongoing unrestricted revenue and permit the district to establish an emergency cash reserve. “It’s an extremely complicated process,” says Cypress Assistant Superintendent Tim McLellan. “But we are making real progress.”
The district hopes to implement an asset management plan that could bring in between $2 million and $2.5 million annually in unrestricted general funds and provide ongoing revenue to supplement the district’s budget in the long term.
4 Share …
… facilities, expertise and expenses with public and private partners.
The CCS Partnership, CSBA and a number of other public and private organizations have developed tools to guide school boards and other local government agencies through the process of establishing joint use agreements that spell out how to share the costs of constructing and operating facilities. Districts are making play fields and buildings available to other agencies when school is not in session, and negotiating arrangements that help collaborative partners better serve their respective constituents.
Here’s an especially inspired collaborative project—one that brought together the local Friends of the Library community group and the city of Winters, Yolo County, a local foundation and the Winters Unified School District in a common goal—to replace the city’s aging library. Each of the five partners contributed toward the $5.2 million cost of constructing the new building, which is located on the Winters High School campus. Combining the high school and Yolo County branch library operations in what collaborators called a “win-win” for students and members of the public has enabled the new library to stay open 54 hours a week—significantly longer than either library had been open when each was operated independently.
3 Your name here
Schools have long sold advertising space to local businesses on playfield fences and stadium billboards.
The scramble for ad revenue means that students are seeing more and more commercial pitches in cafeterias, auditoriums, buses and even on report cards. LEAs like Sweetwater Union High School and Twin Rivers, Natomas and San Juan Unified are taking the idea to the next level. They’re working with Education Funding Partners (http://bit.ly/OvrntR), a for-profit national firm established three years ago to negotiate advertising and sponsorship contracts that match Fortune 500 companies with groups of school districts with combined enrollment of between 40,000 and 50,000 students. “We’re reaching into a new pocket,” says company spokesman David Voss.
Participating districts do not need to invest any money up front, Voss says. If the company finds appropriate corporate sponsors, districts can expect to collect between $10 to $20 per student every year. Clearly, the increase in commercial advertising campaigns that market to students raises ethical questions. Critics of this brave new commercial world say they would rather not see any advertising on campus at all. It’s imperative, they say, that districts choose their corporate sponsors with great care and keep the educational mission as a top priority.
2 Appeal to voters
Despite tough fiscal times, California voters are agreeing to tax themselves for local schools in record numbers.
Success rates for school bonds, which pass on a 55 percent majority vote, have remained stable and—perhaps more surprisingly, given the grim economy—voters have shown themselves more willing to approve parcel taxes now than in previous years. Voters approved nearly 70 percent of parcel taxes on the June 2012 ballot—especially impressive given the difficult 66.7 percent threshold for approval. That’s 10 percent higher than the average approval rate for such taxes over the previous decade.
“I was surprised that there were so many bond and tax measures on the June ballot,” says political strategist Larry Tramutola (www.tramutola.com), who’s among the consultants specializing in helping public agencies pass bond and tax measures. “School folks aren’t by nature big risk-takers, but I think the cutbacks and potential program losses have convinced many that it’s worth taking the risk to put a measure on the ballot. They are balancing the risks against the reality of future program cuts and saying, ‘Even if we lose, we had to try.’ ”
Carol Brydolf ( cbrydolf@csba.org ) is a staff writer for California Schools.