Portland Public Schools' new shared fundraising model draws mixed reactions from parents

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Fundraising in Portland schools will be looking a little different. Instead of individual school fundraisers, this money will go into a pot to share the wealth. However, community reactions to this plan are mixed.  

Not everyone is on board with the idea of a shared fundraising model, with some saying the plan wasn’t fully thought out. Still, others say it’s time to make sure all Portland Public Schools kids benefit from this money. 

For decades, local school foundations (LSFs) have been raising money for individual schools to hire additional educators. Last year, they raised a total of $2.5 million. However, schools in higher-income neighborhoods were raising more money than others. Some say it wasn’t fair. 

Those who object to this new plan say it isn’t fully formed and want to keep the money they raised at their kid’s school.

Chair of the Fund for PPS Jonathan Garcia said school communities have established these local school foundations for the past 30 years but "there's been an ebb and flow."

"I recognized that not all school communities, just like not all neighborhoods, have the same opportunities to, to raise philanthropic dollars at the same level," he said. “You had in communities where there was a lot of poverty or low income, those fundraisers or those community builders look different than maybe a community where [...] everybody lived above the poverty line, right?"

On Tuesday, the PPS Board took a vote allocating a district-wide foundation that would be in charge of money raised for the district. 

"Alameda has the largest class sizes in the district. You know, we're we're stretched pretty thin,” said Peter Sachs, an Alameda parent. “So we're providing education assistance where otherwise we wouldn't have."

Garcia said these funds will not be divided evenly throughout the schools. Rather, they will be distributed to areas that need it the most.

Parents can still donate to their schools directly through programs such as the Parent Teacher Association for resources that don’t include hiring staff.