An Introduction To A New Education Foundation

By Eliza Hallabeck

An informal meeting was held Tuesday, February 24, to introduce interested members of the community to developing organization in town that will provide further availability for educational growth, the Newtown Education Foundation.

“The meeting went really well,” said Mary Ann Jacob, Newtown Middle School PTA president and one of the three women on the steering committee to form the group.

Ms Jacob said the process of forming the education foundation in town started with Debbie Leidlein, a resident who teaches middle school history in Fairfield.

Ms Leidlein said she was given the idea to look into education foundations from Lorraine Santore, a former member of the Newtown Board of Education, before she served on the school board. Ms Leidlein said Ms Santore asked her to look into it when it became clear that being a member of the school board would be in conflict with forming an education foundation.

From there Ms Leidlein said she spoke to Superintendent Janet Robinson, and attended a conference in October regarding education foundations in Connecticut and learned “this is something that is definitely doable.”

Since “the economy is difficult right now, it’s even more important to have an education foundation,” Ms Jacob said.

Ms Jacob said when the Newtown Education Foundation is established it will help to further the normal budgeted education in the school district.

The current vision of the Newtown Education Foundation is to be an organization that will provide the opportunity for educational excellence to Newtown’s students and/or citizens.

So far the vision has been created by the steering committee of Ms Leidlein, Ms Jacob, and Jen Scarangella, in cooperation with Dr Robinson.

When the Newtown Education Foundation is fully formed it will comprise a roughly 10- to 15- member executive board, which will create a firmer vision for the group, people who are interested in fundraisers, and people who wish to make donations, both monetary and services. The board would also work with the Board of Education and the teacher’s union, requesting a representative from each organization to be an executive board member.

During the informal session at the C.H. Booth Library on Tuesday, Liz Stokes from Weston and Marty Rauch from Cheshire and the current president and vice president of the Connecticut Consortium of Education Foundations, which is 80 towns strong, spoke regarding education foundations.

Both Ms Stokes and Mr Rauch discussed their town’s version of an education foundation. According to Ms Jacob, each education foundation can be built around the needs of the town in which it is formed.

The draft for the mission statement of the Newtown Education Foundation states that the “The Newtown Education Foundation, an independent organization of community volunteers dedicated to supporting the goals of all public and private schools in Newtown, will secure resources that help facilitate educational achievement through innovative projects and programs that fall outside the school budget.”

The primary goal of an education foundation, as seen by the steering committee, is to encourage innovation in teachers and creativity in learners. It is a fundraising vehicle meant to provide the district’s children with rich experiences in all educational areas despite any lack of potential funding.

Ms Jacob said she believes all towns in the state would benefit from having an education foundation. Some of the benefits of having an education foundation, according to Ms Jacob, could include further funding for student or teacher projects or programs.

(For further information on the growing Newtown Education Foundation, or to get involved, email newtownedfoundation@charter.net.)