Once again, the Live Oak Foundation will make it possible for
schools throughout the district to provide certain programs to
students when it awards more than $19,000 in grants from
applications submitted by Morgan Hill teachers.
Once again, the Live Oak Foundation will make it possible for schools throughout the district to provide certain programs to students when it awards more than $19,000 in grants from applications submitted by Morgan Hill teachers.
“We are always pleased to be able to provide funding for worthy programs in the district,” said Live Oak Foundation President George Thomas. “With budgets the way they are, not only here but statewide, we may see an increasing dependence on grants to provide these types of services.”
The grants will be distributed 4:30 p.m. on Thursday at Nordstrom Elementary School.
The district must, because of a decline in enrollment and a state education budget shortfall, cut approximately $3.4 million from next year’s budget. Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Branco has said that “all the fluff” has already been cut from district budgets; next year’s cuts will therefore necessarily be targeting some programs.
Grants awarded this year are spread among every school in the district, and include literacy-oriented programs, English Language Learner programs and math programs.
A $1,286 grant, written by Barrett Elementary’s Rebecca O’Brien, will partially fund a Spanish language immersion program at all levels in all schools. A $500 grant, written by library clerk Eileen Fraser at El Toro Elementary, will partially fund the purchase of library books. A $1,000 grant, written by Jan Goularte-Sanders and Bettina Rowlands-Mihai at P.A. Walsh Elementary, will fund a Writer’s Workshop program for the entire school.
The goal of the Live Oak Foundation, Thomas said, is helping schools purchase tools and programs and pay for “extras,” like special speakers, special staff training and substitutes for staff development, beyond what the District budget provides.
Since its inception in 1981, the foundation has awarded nearly $450,000 to local schools.
