Community efforts to fund teachers, students growing in Coastal Bend

Community dignitaries and business partners come for a fancy lunch, an insight into local schools and the entertainment of student showcases. For a state of the district fundraiser, the price of admission is a donation.

Later, there will be tearful and cheerful surprise visits, with giant checks paraded into classrooms. The money trickles into the hands of local teachers, exchanged for robotics equipment, books and computers, art supplies and musical instruments.

Corpus Christi ISD’s last state of the district raised more than $165,000.

But the funds aren’t raised directly by the school district. It’s the Corpus Christi Education Foundation that’s to thank for organizing the event and others throughout the year to raise donations and for distributing the funds in the form of teacher grants and scholarships.

At a time when many schools have banded together in the face of perceived political attacks on public education and “troubling waters”, as CCISD Board of Trustees President Don Clark put it this fall at the state of the district education foundation fundraiser, schools are eager for any community support.

For 30 years, Corpus Christi ISD has had the support of a non-profit education foundation run by committed community volunteers. In the smaller districts that surround Corpus Christi ISD, some have counted on the support of an education foundation for years as well.

But other school districts have had education foundations that petered out and are hoping that now the time is right for a revitalization. Across the Coastal Bend, young education foundations aim to replicate the success of established groups.

What is an education foundation?

Education foundations are community-led non-profit organizations created to support specific local school districts. These organizations support innovative classroom programs outside the normal school budget.

Education foundations are governed independently of the school districts they support, though superintendents and school board often meet regularly with foundation leaders, giving insights on local needs.

Since 2012, the Texas Education Foundation Network, a program of the Texas Pioneer Foundation, has supported and connected local education foundations across the state.

“In our early days, we were looking for ways to help support K-12 education in a way that could be impactful and really make a difference,” Texas Pioneer Foundation executive director Michelle Coburn said. "With 1200+ school districts in Texas, clearly we don’t have enough money to support every district.”

The Texas Pioneer Foundation aims to help local education foundations grow and expand capacity, providing grant funding to new and reorganized education foundations and bringing foundations together at annual conferences and regional workshops.

The Texas Education Foundation Network works also with consulting firm Foundation Innovation, which helps guide education foundations.

“There’s about 500 of the 1,200 school districts in Texas that have education foundations,” Foundation Innovation President Shawn Callaway said. “They range in income anywhere from bringing in $20,000 or $25,000 a year all the way up to millions on behalf of their school district.”

Foundations can create private-public partnerships to help offset public school funding needs.

“If you look into school district budgets, you find there is virtually no funds for discretionary items,” Texas Pioneer Foundation President and CEO Fred Markham said. Virtually all of their funding is allocated to salaries, the light bills and just direct overhead.”

Gina Prince has been involved with the Corpus Christi Education Foundation for about 15 years. The organization has grown, Prince said. In December, the organization distributed $111,000 in the form of 54 grants.

In recent years, the foundation has funded engineering programs and helped schools add sensory programs. In addition to state of the district, when donors get to see where their dollars are going, the foundation also hosts a 5K fundraiser and a scholarship event celebrating students who are the first in their family to graduate.

“That’s really important, for donors to see where their dollars are going,” Prince said, adding that collaboration with CCISD Superintendent Roland Hernandez and the Board of Trustees is also key to success.

New education foundations attempt to find footing

The Texas Education Foundation Network directory lists 10 education foundations spread across Education Service Center-Region 2, which covers ten Coastal Bend counties. The list includes Corpus Christi Education Foundation, Calallen Education Foundation, Gregory-Portland Education Foundation and Tuloso-Midway Education Foundation.

The Gregory-Portland foundation, formed in 2019, awarded nearly $54,000 in teacher grants in December, doubling its previous record funding year.

The Tuloso-Midway foundation dates back to 2004.

The Calallen foundation was founded over a decade ago. It has given out over $800,000 since.

Amy Hendrix is executive director of the Calallen Educaton Foundation. Every year, the foundation gives about $100,000 in teacher grants with a round of grant giveaways each semester and smaller grant awards each month.

This year, the foundation awarded $10,000 to Magee Intermediate School’s library where the average age of a non-fiction book was 25-years-old.

“(In the library’s books) Pluto was still a planet and Larry Bird was the greatest basketball player,” Hendrix said.

Another $4,000 went to West Intermediate School to buy later sequels in series where the library only had the first few books.

Over the years, the Calallen foundation has taken different approaches. The foundation has held events and direct donation campaigns.

Lately, school staff have contributed to the foundation through contributions from their paychecks.

“This past year, we saw a 238% increase in our staff campaign,” Hendrix said. “The department in our school district that had the highest participation was our food service department.”

London ISD and Flour Bluff ISD have started new organizations. The London organization held its first state of the district fundraiser in 2023.

The Flour Bluff foundation only recently achieved non-profit status and is working to establish roots. Years ago, the district had a foundation that didn’t last, folding around 2018.

Monette Bright is a community member involved with the young Flour Bluff Education Foundation, which received notice of non-profit status in February after a year of starting back up.

Bright said there is a need for a connection for the community to support kids.

“Our goal is to support and enhance FBISD through various campaigns and events so we can help the community support and help kids,” Bright said.

Two dozen community members filed into the West Oso ISD Administration Building, joined by another dozen supporters connecting virtually, for a meeting April 15 to re-launch the West Oso ISD Education Foundation.

As the invitation to the meeting stated, district staff view the effort as a breath of “new life” for the Westside schools. Other districts, like Flour Bluff ISD, also have new foundations.

West Oso ISD had a foundation as well in the late-2000s.

“It’s been dormant since then,” Superintendent Kimberly Moore said during the organizational meeting April 15. “It was one of my dreams last year to resurrect the foundation. It’s an opportunity to bring together people that love West Oso.”

The dormant foundation left behind less than $1,000. To get off the ground, the new foundation will need to establish non-profit status.

Callaway, president of consulting firm Foundation Innovation, led the West Oso meeting. Callaway told the group that the number of people in attendance, close to 30, was an encouraging sign.

“We’re creating partnerships, strategic partnerships, to benefit West Oso ISD,” Callaway told the group. “As you well know, funding for school districts in Texas is at a crucial state... we’re in trouble and we’ve got to find other ways to bring in money, to bring in potential opportunities and create partnerships for our students because our students and our teachers in West Oso deserve it.”

Callaway shared insights for how the new foundation should create an organizational framework and begin to seek funding, through events, direct campaigns, grants and endowments.

Those funds can then go towards classroom grants and recognition for teachers, or even covering the cost of teachers or teacher aides seeking certifications.

“Some (teachers) will stay because they love it and the foundation and the community takes care of its teachers,” Callaway said during the meeting.

The initial goals of the West Oso foundation are to enhance and enrich educational opportunities, support staff for innovative efforts and professional growth and recognize staff for exemplary teaching and involve the community is assuring a quality education for tomorrow’s leaders and workers, according to the meeting invitation.

Education foundations are growing in Texas, Callaway said.

“The excitement and energy that one district has from their education foundation, other neighboring districts will pick up on that and some decide to start their own,” Callaway said during an earlier interview with the Caller-Times.

To succeed, education foundations first need to become established as an organization, with bylaws and policies and non-profit tax status. They need a board of directors with enthusiastic and capable people involved, Callaway said. They have to operate transparently and engage with the community.

“Engaging a board that is revolving, bringing in new blood and fresh blood and people that have new energy and new excitement is really important,” Callaway said. “It’s important to not be limited to the district boundaries. Think beyond those boundaries.”

Women in industry share opportunities with high school students

See which Texas colleges Nueces County and Corpus Christi students choose

What to know about "beachcombing" — Jace Tunnell highlights strange beach finds

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Education foundations growing in Coastal Bend