The Fairfax Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the county’s public school system to draw business dollars into cash-strapped classrooms. The nonprofit Foundation for Fairfax County Public Schools is hoping to raise $5 million to $10 million for a long-term endowment that would help students pay for their costs, including athletic and Advanced Placement exam fees, and expand school programs. Businesses previously could make tax-deductible donations to the schools, but Chamber of Commerce President Jim Corcoran said streamlining the process would amp up modest funds to at least seven figures this year.
“From the business perspective, you’re developing your future work force in doing this,” Corcoran said.
A 19-seat programs committee of chamber, school and business leaders will request programs and enhancements for the school system.
A top priority for major companies such as Exxon Mobil
and Northrop Grumman is STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics, a key initiative of the Obama administration. “Those are the areas that our students are going to need,” Corcoran said.
Businesses may choose to donate to a specific school, invest in a general fund, create or broaden a program, or increase the endowment.
Individual donors can specify what they want to support, including teacher grants or programs designed for the county’s poorest students.
The new foundation asked the school system to “put together a wish list of things we wanted, either because of the economic downturn, things we’d like funded, or things that got cut,” said Tessie Wilson, a school board member on the programs committee.
Fairfax County has reduced its per-student spending by about $740 to $12,597 the last two years as the school system’s budget
was reduced by $52.5 million to $2.2 billion and enrollment shot up by 7,000 students. Students were hit with a $100 sports fee and a $75 charge per Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exam.
“Of course we’re hearing from parents saying they don’t want to pay a fee, and we tell them we’re reaching out to the business community to see if there’s any way to mitigate it,” Wilson said.
Corcoran called the fees a “burden” for some students. “We certainly don’t want to see somebody not participate because of the cost.”
