The elementary school’s PTA has also issued a community-wide mailer seeking donations to help raise $350,000 to fend off cuts to staffing of arts, science and music classes.
By Jonathan Friedman / Special to The Malibu Times
A group of current and former Malibu City Council members has reached out to the community in an attempt to increase fundraising at Juan Cabrillo Elementary School. The group last week submitted an e-mail to several Malibu residents offering a $2,500 matching contribution if others are willing to donate to the school. The e-mail came at about the same time that the Juan Cabrillo PTA issued a citywide mailer seeking donations. Both came after a story published in The Malibu Times Aug. 20 highlighted the financial crisis the school was facing, which may result in cuts to staffing for its arts, science, music and physical education courses.
“Juan Cabrillo is a great school, but like all schools at this time, it is having difficulty,” said Mayor Pro Tem Sharon Barovsky in an interview on Monday. Her name appears on the e-mail along with Mayor Andy Stern and former Mayors Joan House, Jeff Jennings and Ken Kearsley.
Barovsky added, “ And I thought we should help out, especially since three of us [Barovsky, House and Kearsley] are former teachers.”
The mayor pro tem stressed in the interview that community members should support whichever school they choose, even if it is not Juan Cabrillo, because all schools are having a difficult time, and cannot rely on parent support alone. The importance of community, and not just parent support, was stated in the e-mail.
“We know that many of you no longer have children in our local schools, but our community is only as good as the opportunities it offers its children,” the e-mail stated. “As our president recently reminded us, education is everybody’s business.”
Barovsky also added in the interview that the community benefits from having good schools because property values go up.
Wendy Davis, co-president of the Juan Cabrillo PTA, wrote in an e-mail to The Malibu Times on Tuesday that she had not seen the e-mail from the city officials, but that she had heard about it. “It’s yet to be determined what the response from the community will be, but we are hopeful,” she wrote.
Davis wrote that the school has received a “few donations” since it issued its mailer last week seeking financial support. But she stressed that it is still early. The decision to issue a plea to the entire community, Davis wrote, came as a way to “think out of the box” about fundraising.
“We are very fortunate to live in such a wonderful and generous community,” Davis wrote. “It’s evident how generous people can be when you read the paper or look at causes around us that Malibuites support. Our hope, and the reason for a community-wide mailer, is that people will consider supporting our school in hopes of helping the children in our community. In addition, there are many people here who have gone to Juan Cabrillo themselves or their children have gone through Cabrillo. As alumni of our school, we hope those individuals will think about making a donation. Every little bit helps and it all adds up. And, of course, all donations are 100 percent tax deductible.”
In addition to the mailer, the Juan Cabrillo PTA this school year will conduct its usual direct contribution drive, which looks to the parents to help support their children through donations to the PTA. There will also be a raffle for a brand new Mercedes-Benz C 300 Sport four-door sedan. Only 999 tickets will be sold for the prize at a cost of $100 per ticket or $450 for 5 tickets. Information about this fundraiser can be found at www.thedolphinclub.org or by contacting the school at 310.457.0360 ext. 104.
The Juan Cabrillo PTA’s fundraising goal for the school year is $350,000. If this money cannot be raised, the school is in danger of losing its teaching specialists for the art, science, music and the computer lab, although the actual programs are not threatened. Additionally, Davis wrote, “We may also be put in the position of having to cut back or reduce the P.E. and classroom aide positions that the PTA funds. With increased class sizes, we are hoping to hire additional aides, not cut back any.”
Davis wrote that the PTA is also hoping to purchase new computers for the lab.