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Cragmont PTA 2022-23 Budget Process

Review the slide deck with a link to the budget options spreadsheet, email treasurer@cragmont.org with thoughts. If you volunteered your time, please email ptapresident@cragmont.org

Our goal as a PTA:
Positively impact the lives of all children and families

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Source: CA PTA https://capta.org/about/our-mission/

Take action to make a positive impact with PTA dollars at Cragmont 

 

The Cragmont PTA raises money each year to support a number of special programs at the school. Most of these funds come directly from you — the Cragmont community.

 
Each year, we raise funds for the next school year, so our current fundraising will support programming in 2022-23.
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$121,964

We expect to net $112k for 2022-23 through these fundraisers held in 2021-22

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The inequity of school funding

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The "wealth" of a school depends deeply on the skills, energy and time that parents, guardians, students, and community bring. 

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This is because the state of California spends little per student compared to the wealth of our state.

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LATEST CA STATE DATA 2018-19

$14,174

CA spent $940 less per student than the national average, $12,460 less per student than NY

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2.88%

of the state’s GDP (compared to 3.37% nationwide) - a “D” rating

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https://edsource.org/updates/california-rises-30th-in-nation-in-pre-covid-per-student-spending

https://edlawcenter.org/news/archives/school-funding-national/nationwide-school-finance-analysis-assigns-f-grade-to-22-states,-calls-on-congress-to-incentivize-funding-reforms.html

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How does Cragmont fit in?

≈8 volunteers did the bulk of the Cragmont PTA work in 21-22 

750+ hours of Cragmont PTA volunteering valued at more than $21,405

104 people donated to the Cragmont Fund with an average donation of $550 each

Most of PTA time is spent fundraising for our school…

WE HAVE TO ASK…

1. How can we use our energy better?

2. What’s our priority area?

3. How can we be dynamic to effectively help children and families, especially with COVID?

4. How can we build equity in our school, within BUSD, and beyond?

Major Roles of Cragmont PTA

  • President

  • Treasurer (unfilled for 2022-23)

  • Secretary

  • Financial Secretary + Auditor (unfilled)

  • Fundraising 

  • Room Parents

  • Volunteer Coordinator (unfilled)

  • PTA Afterschool Enrichment (unfilled)

  • Inclusion Family Chair

  • Equity and Diversity Chair (unfilled)

  • Systems Administrator (unfilled)

  • Communications (Membership ToolKit, website)

Committees / Initiatives

  • Black History/Latin X/ AAPI Heritage Month celebrations

  • Winter Faire

  • Spring Carnival

  • Read-a-thon

  • Spring Auction

  • Cragmont Fund Campaign

  • Teacher Appreciation

  • School Tours and playdates for incoming Kinder families

  • School Gear

Budget actuals highlights from 2021-22​

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We’re glad to be at Cragmont because…

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  1. We have a great staff

  2. A beautiful campus with modern facilities

  3. We are one of only 2 BUSD elementary schools with a dedicated art teacher

  4. It is a relatively safe environment for students to learn

  5. We meet the needs of the general population

… but we have to make changes in order to reduce our fundraising burden

  1. We have a limited number of volunteers running community events, initiatives to support student success, beautify our campus, and raise funds for the following year

  2. When PTAs fund positions, we put ourselves in a spot where some schools “have” and others “have not”* 

  3. With lower enrollment and 2 fewer classrooms next year, it will be challenging to continue to meet costs for positions

 

We need to find an off-ramp and lower our fundraising needs in the coming years.

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https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/11/pta-fundraising-schools/601435/

OPTION A:
Maintain previous year’s funding

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  • The bulk of our resources (56%) go to funding positions for art and dance. 

  • This leaves little left to expand services to our community to help address needs like family support, mental health issues, the achievement gap, and more.

OPTION B:
Make some shifts to reprioritize

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  • A slight reduction in position percentage helps funnel funds other places and allows a smaller portion (46%) for positions. 

  • This allows us to expand PTA support in certain areas like: teacher mini grants, support for socio-economically disadvantaged families, academic pilots, and money set aside to address emerging needs.

POTENTIAL FOR 23-24
Reduce the fundraising burden

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  • When PTAs fund positions, we put ourselves in a spot where some schools “have” and others “have not”. This option removes all positions and adds more to direct teacher and student support, including fully funding MOSAIC for 4th grade and great options for kids to experience the arts.

  • Expand PTA supports as outlined in Option B even further.

  • With an agreement to move toward this model for 2023-24, the Cragmont Fund would be our sole fundraiser during 2022-23.

The options for 2022-23 and beyond
What’s our priority area? What do we want to emphasize? What portion of our budget should we spend on each area?

TAKE ACTION: 

  1. Email your thoughts to treasurer@cragmont.org 

  2. Support the inclusion of dance and visual arts in a renewed BSEP bond measure: Comment at BUSD's board meeting Wednesday 5/18 @7:00p

Next steps:

  1. Wednesday, May 11 at 7pm: Discuss PTA funding priorities and budget options at the general PTA meeting

  2. The budget committee has the option to amend the proposals based on feedback

  3. In June, the PTA Board votes on which budget to recommend

  4. In August, PTA members vote to adopt the budget and determine a fundraising goal at the general PTA meeting. Anyone can add themselves to the membership list for the PTA, but only members active in the last 30 days can vote according to PTA ByLaws.

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