Education fund will aid students

Teachers see it every day -- the kindergarten student shivering in the cold because he has no coat to wear. Then there's the second-grader taunted by her classmates because her shoes don't match or have large holes. There's also the fifth-grader who can't complete a homework assignment because he doesn't have the simplest of supplies at home to carry out the project.

Poverty cripples the learning process for students even in relatively affluent districts like Olympia.

The fact is, caring educators cannot turn a blind eye to students in need. Teachers and school administrators never brag about it, but often they will reach into their own pockets to purchase that warm coat, new pair of shoes or school supplies.

The Olympia School District Education Foundation is doing something about that. They've launched a program called the Principal's Emergency Checkbook Fund, which will give elementary school principals a pot of money to draw from to purchase a needed pair of glasses for a struggling student, toiletries for a homeless student or any other basic item that will help students succeed.

It's a remarkable program that has worked well in other communities. The principal's fund deserves strong support from the Olympia community.

Bob Hodges, principal at Garfield Elementary School, said, "We regularly look for ways to get shoes, coats, hats, backpacks, sometimes even food into the hands of our families. We do spend our own money sometimes. I'd love to have an emergency fund that wasn't limited to these things. It seems that every time the need arises, it's something we hadn't thought of."

The new program was made possible by a $12,500 seed grant from Denny and Paula Heck. Denny Heck is a former legislator and chief clerk of the House of Representatives. Paula Heck is a retired Jefferson Middle School principal.

Lack of bureaucracy

Denny Heck said he was immediately drawn to the emergency fund idea because of its simplicity and lack of bureaucracy. "See the need, meet the need," Heck said.

The education foundation, a private, nonprofit organization, is independent but supportive of the school district. Foundation members hope to launch the emergency fund program this school year with a kickoff "Foundation for Success" breakfast at 7 a.m. Sept. 4 at Olympia Yacht Club.

Spokesman Craig Ottavelli, a member of Olympia City Council, said the foundation's goal is to raise $45,000 to see the emergency fund through three years of operation.

The foundation's funding formula will be based on poverty statistics using the number of students enrolled in free and reduced lunch programs. A school like Madison Elementary School, which has many of the district's 300 homeless children, will receive a larger appropriation than, say, Centennial Elementary School, which has fewer low-income students.

It's a solid proposal because it gets the money where the needs are the greatest.

Core mission

Foundation spokeswoman Ann Flannigan is quick to note that the emergency fund is an addition to the foundation's primary mission, which is to provide mini-grants and other assistance to individual classrooms -- the teacher that needs a digital camera for a class project or two classroom teachers starting an after-school enrichment program. The foundation spends about $45,000 a year in classroom grants, funded almost entirely by the all-volunteer musical program staged each winter or spring. That classroom support program will continue.

We applaud the new emergency fund patterned after a similar program of the North Thurston Education Foundation. The emergency fund will boost morale in Olympia's elementary schools because educators will know they have an immediate source of funds to meet students' basic needs. It's a terrific way to help needy students and merits community support.