PORTLAND, Ore. — A new potential fundraising regime at Portland Public Schools, years in the making, was up for discussion before school board members Thursday evening. The concept, which would create a new districtwide foundation to pool and disburse donations for staff positions, has stirred up debate over equity and fairness.
As it stands, some individual schools throughout Portland have their own foundations led by parent volunteers. Through donations from families and fundraising events in the community, they're able to expand on the funding that the school receives from the district — even bankrolling additional staff positions that the district wouldn't otherwise pay for.
Any funds raised for things other than staff remain entirely with the school, but 33% of funding for staff goes to a central PPS Parent Fund and is distributed out to schools with higher needs. The remaining 66% stays with the original school.
Even with that partial split, the result has been that schools in wealthier neighborhoods are able to fund additional staff and special programs that schools in low-income areas cannot. Over the last few years, PPS administrators have been exploring new methods for divvying up funds so that schools benefit more equally.
"As a public school district, the goal of policy changes is to ensure school-based staff are hired and retained in an equitable basis across our schools," district officials wrote in a draft document, "and advocacy for funding at the local or state level is a district-wide effort with a connection to all school communities."
In a June 2022 report, district staff outlined the results of roundtable discussions with parents selected from several schools, namely schools that feed into Roosevelt High School in North Portland and McDaniel High School in East Portland. Only four parents attended the Roosevelt meeting, and 13 attended the McDaniel meeting.
The district's main takeaway from those discussions was that the prevailing model for fundraising was inequitable, confusing and lacked transparency. Some parents either recommended ending entirely the practice of allowing parents to bankroll staff positions, or asked that the districtwide portion be increased from a third to half of funds raised.
"My kid is your kid and your kid is my kid," said one parent. "These are all our kids."
The policy proposal that eventually emerged from PPS would instead pool any and all donations for staff positions into a single, districtwide foundation. A formula for how those funds would be distributed out to schools hasn't been developed yet, and would be created by a parent advisory committee.
This new foundation would need to share a report with the district each year on donations received, expenditures and any major projects.
Also, any groups — like the individual parent-led school foundations — that fundraise for schools would need to provide ways for anyone in the school community to participate. They'd also be barred from expecting per-family or per-student fundraising targets.
Naturally, not all PPS parents are thrilled at the prospect of sharing the money they raise for their kids' school. In public comment submitted to the board, a Buckman Elementary School parent said they'd already cut their donation to the general PPS foundation after the new policy proposal surfaced.
"I am a public employee and not a rich parent (as some of the Board members want to assume about focus schools)," the parent wrote. "I have to make choices where I spend my time and money in order to pay our bills. One of the areas that we focus on is our daughter's school."
The Buckman parent said that several of their child's friends attended Buckman's expanded arts program, funded by the school foundation, despite the fact that they were students of other schools in East Portland — highlighting how the program's benefits go beyond just Buckman students.
But several parents wrote in full support of the proposal, highlighting the way PPS' fundraising model has forced schools to "fend for themselves," resulting in even more unequal education outcomes throughout the district.
"PPS has been relying on inequitably distributed parent fundraising as a band-aid since Measure 5 passed in the late 90s," a Lent Elementary School parent wrote. "There is power in schools coming together, understanding each other's strengths and needs, raising funds in community for ALL of our students, and aligning our efforts where it will REALLY make a difference for our kids — in Salem."
This debate over fundraising comes as PPS faces $30 million in budget cuts, with the district proposing to take half from central operations and half from schools.
The PPS Board took public comment on this proposal and a similarly controversial idea to create a process for JROTC programs in district schools during a 4:30 p.m. policy committee meeting Thursday.
