New school foundation's goal is making money

BRICK TOWNSHIP - A newly formed nonprofit organization hopes to pick up the tab for some of the school district's programs and services that might not make it into future budgets.

The goal of the Brick Township Education Foundation, which was formed in January, is to generate income for the Board of Education through grants, programs and services in the age of diminishing state aid and budget cap restraints.

"We need to think outside the box's box," said board member Daniel Rosa, who chairs its alternative funding committee. "It's scary that we have to do this, but this is the way to go."

The idea for the Foundation grew out of the district's strategic planning process, which began in September, and its alternative funding component, said Dr. Anthony Novembre, special assistant to Superintendent Melindo Persi.

"Initially, the idea for the foundation was to raise funds through donations and grants and then teachers would write grants and the foundation would award them money for their programs," Novembre said.

However, Novembre said it became clear during this year's budget process that the district needed to find a way to generate revenue.

"We did research on whether a foundation can operate a preschool program and, in fact, they're doing that in Stafford Township, along with a before and after care program," Novembre said.

The Foundation would like to launch a preschool program at the Primary Learning Center in September, he said.

"The goal is to expand the district's current lottery preschool program," Novembre said.

Rosa said that in addition to the preschool program as a revenue source, the alternative funding committee has already thought about some other ways of bringing income into the district: including issuing a BTEF credit card where the Foundation would get a percentage of money back from the bank and having individuals in the community donate a taxdeductible dollar amount from their weekly paychecks to the Foundation.

"These are just some ideas we've had," Rosa said. "The idea is to stir up the minds of the individuals who serve on the board of trustees. It will be their job to take these ideas to the next step."

The BTEF was slated to hold an informational meeting asking members of the community to serve on its board of trustees on March 31.

"We're looking for high profile individuals in the community who have experience in fundraising to serve on the board," Novembre said. "They will be influential in knocking on doors to generate income."

Once the board is in place, members will come up with a mission statement for the foundation and begin the work of making money.

Studying the education foundations in other townships, like Howell, where Novembre serves as chairman, and Stafford will help get the BTEF off the ground.

"We don't want to reinvent the wheel," Rosa said. "If something is successful, we're going to model it."

Rosa is optimistic that the foundation will be so successful that in the future the school district won't have to make difficult choices like closing schools, cutting staff and eliminating programs.

"The potential here is tremendous," Rosa said. "Hopefully, one day in the future when the board is faced with difficult budget choices, the Foundation will be able to step in and help out and stop a school from closing or save an art program."