Foundation gives $50,000 to CVUSD

HELPING SCHOOLS––Dr. Tim Stephens, president of the Conejo Valley Unified School District Board of Education, accepts a donation of $50,000 from Dianne McKay, president of the Conejo Schools Foundation, during last week’s school board meeting. The foundation is the district’s fundraising arm. The Conejo Schools Foundation presented a $50,000 check to the school board last week.

The donation by the three-yearold foundation, the Conejo Valley Unified School District’s fundraising arm, represented the fulfillment of a pledge made by President Dianne McKay to give the district $100,000. The foundation also presented the district with a $50,000 donation last spring.

“It’s a marvelous income stream for our district to have the foundation up and running,” said board President Dr. Tim Stephens. “I think Dianne does a fine job running it.”

McKay said it may be challenging, however, from this point on to raise money for the foundation because donors may be contributing to organizations that are helping Hurricane Katrina victims.

Nonetheless, McKay said, they’ll start mailing out requests for donations on Nov. 1.

“We hope that we’ll still get something,” McKay said.

The foundation benefited from the opening last month of The Lakes, the $40-million dining and retail center next to the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Developer Rick Caruso asked guests he invited to a party to celebrate the opening by contributing to the foundation, offering to match their donations. The list of contributors included The Lakes vendors and restaurants. The foundation received about $40,000 from the opening, including $20,000 from Caruso and his wife, Tina.

Last year foundation money helped keep class sizes low in the district and pay for remedial reading programs and counseling services at elementary schools. The foundation also helped pay for the district’s first summer enrichment programs—fun, creative classes, some of which were developed by teachers—held this past summer for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

This year, the foundation wants to build an endowment fund to act as a reliable source of income for the district, free from the ebb and flow of state and federal budgets. Their goal is to fund such programs as technology grants for schools, college counselors for high schools, and extended high school library hours. McKay said they want to keep the libraries open for two hours after school.

The foundation also plans to buy musical instruments for schools and fund an all-district band festival. And the foundation plans to establish a mini-grant program for teachers who want to try out creative new projects in the classroom, McKay said.