HomeMy Public PortalAbout04-22-2014 Amy Donohue_201404251038578030April 22, 2014
Council Members,
My name is Amy Donohue. I am a parent, educator, and — most importantly — officially
speaking in my capacity as President of the Watertown Education Foundation. I am here
tonight, along with other board members, to ask you to consider a more elegant solution
to the WCEC vote put before the Council. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the WEF
was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) to enhance the Watertown students' educational
experience and has been incredibly active in the community since its start.
The idea of creating an entirely separate, although, larger system, to leverage fundraising
capacity, blurs the lines of our charter and your attempts to creatively solve a budget
shortfall. While we appreciate finally being acknowledged by the town council for the
successful fundraising activity we've experienced over the last few years, it's also
disheartening for the Council to suggest what we've done isn't enough. To be clear, even
if this town had a complete and fully funded educational budget, we would still do what
we do. Our mission is to enrich not to fulfill any baseline funding standards.
Unfortunately, impaired by years of budget restrictions, our efforts have been interpreted
as a stopgap for fundamental district needs.
From what's been presented in the WCEC initiative, this is a welcome call to action,
especially from the likes of the WEF. As a concerned citizen, this unfortunately appears
by all standards as a call to assemble a redundant 501(e)(3) to raise money for the schools
— as previously indicated and unfortunately unheard, it turns out there's already one here.
What's most embarrassing is that the WEF has continually asked for support from the
town council, school committee, school administration, and other concerned parents
ready, willing, and able to take some initiative — to be quite honest with you, we stand
here tonight, united as we always do, and ask the same of all of you yet again. We as a
long-standing board, with a rich history, continue to look for committed volunteers to
join in our efforts.
While we applaud these fresh efforts, it's apparent there is a duplication of efforts to
quickly engineer and pave a road we've been traveling for years.
From our review, even on its own, the WCEC idea really requires a more thorough and
thoughtful vetting process. It's important to note as a response to the nice idea you've
been presented, that the WEF has experience and qualification in almost every
imaginable capacity to take on new members and work towards the common goals we all
share.
There are a number of pressing issues to address. First, I trust and hope I am not the first
to alert you that there have been reams of dialogue around the idea of unifying the
fundraising efforts between so many organizations in town, and also quite humbly
suggest you do not even have all of the correct fundraising organizations that support the
schools, involved. Second, I am fearful to hear our government might be in the business
of chartering a fundraising body for budgetary reasons. Most importantly, every
fundraising organization is competing for the same dollar. How would it work to have
the WCEC created with reps from each of our town's fundraising groups mentioned in
the proposal? We would be competing against ourselves. As it stands, we don't have
enough able bodies and resources to do something on a larger scale and your idea would
seemingly dismantle the one fundraising vehicle that supports all the schools in
Watertown.
We also appreciate your expectation that all of these people from different groups will
come to work in a unified fashion. We've been begging these same entities to come
together in much the same manner with little to no support, and I know for a fact as a
group we are not alone in this frustration. To be frank, creating another non-profit would
further dilute the pool of talent, bandwidth, donation dollars, and position existing groups
for failure.
We at the Watertown Education Foundation, as committed volunteers, scratch our heads
at an idea of reinventing the wheel that would turn a blind eye to the only organization in
town dedicated solely to our children's education. We also question why such an idea
would even make it to the surface let alone require us to come before you this evening to
essentially defend our very mission.
As elected officials, we as constituents know you will consider our humble but
experienced suggestions. Thank you for your time, and more importantly, your fresh
burst of interest in our collective educational system.
Amy Donohue
President
Watertown Education Foundation, Inc.
ate 'aterto
2011-2012 Grant Recipients
Hosme r Ele men tary Schoo l - Cindy Keller 4th Grade-Parent/Child Book clu b $510.00
Watertown High School - Leandro Elion Reading Specialist -Adolescent Literacy Engagement $900.00
Lowell Elementary Schoo l - Adam Vachon 4/5 Grade -Lowell Times School Newspaper $2 ,300 .00
Lo well/Hosmer/Cunniff Eleme ntary Scho ols - Anna Lochiatto-Art Famous Five Artists S eries $500.00
Cunniff Elemen tary Scho ol -Julie Erwin 5th Grade -Geology Rock Detectives $410.00
Waterto wnFamily Network - Let's Make Sa turda y's Co un t $450.00
Wate rto wn Middle School - Tom John son -PE -Fitn ess Te chnology I ntegrati on Project $499.00
Hosme r Elementary Schoo l - Trish Mcisaac 1st Gra de -Differentiated M ath Instruction $924 .00
Lo well Elementary Scho ol - Dotty Buonomo 2nd Grade -Shari ng O ur Pla net: Animal H abitats $471.86
Hosmer Elementary Schoo l - Ann e Hardiman Principal -Picture Writing $4,875 .00
Early Steps Integrated Preschoo l - Ca roline LaBella-Enhancing OWL Curri culum $1 ,996.00
Cunniff Elementary Schoo l - Christine Rono 2nd Grade -Gia nt Map $530.00
Watertown Middle Schoo l - Kerri Lorigan 7th Gr ade-Edventure $5,000.00
Waterto wn Middle Schoo l - Lisa P. McDonagh-Project "Great Reads $500.00
Waterto wn Middle Schoo l - Arlene Shainker/Maria Wood Special Ed -Inclusion Life Skills $1,000.00
To tal Grant Monies Distributed: $ 20,866.85
Watertown Education Foundation 2 013-2014 gr ant R.ec pients
F lexible Bodies 8e Minds
We've ga r the Blues
2fationa l Circus Pr oject
Ex ploration of Rocks &' Minera ls
Picture Writing
t echnology in 2nd gra de
Explodz the Code
Mura CP roject
Specialafeeds Sensory Supplies
t echnology 2ntegra tion for PE
anspiring Mathematical t hinking
Women of Science
Exposure to Life after'J-Cigh School
geology Rock Detectives
Connections Program -t ranspor tation
Chr omeboo( Pilot Program*
(total -grant Monies Distributed?
* 2n Con junction with Belmont Savings Bank
Early Steps P reschool
1-Cosmer Elementar y School
Cunn ff Elmenta ry School
Cunn ff Elementary School
Cunn ff Elementary School
L owell Elementary School
Lowell Elementary School
Watertown 2-ligh Sch ool
Watertown Middle School
Watertown Middle School
Watertown Middle School
Watertown Trish School
W atertown a-Cigh School
Cunn ff Elementary School
Watertown Middle School
W atertown Middle School
339 .99
1,150 .00
1,565 .00
385.00
1,335 .00
60o .00
480 .00
4693 .55
1,500 .00
75.00
3,381 .00
2,000.00
500. 00
500.00
2,000.00
10,000.00
27,5 04.44