School fundraiser should have been praised, not criticized

As one of the co-chairs of the “Jog, Jump and Dance for Lang Ranch” fundraiser, I was very disappointed in the article written by Michelle Knight.

I am aware from Laura Woods that she told Ms. Knight she (Mrs. Woods) wasn’t in charge of the event. Yet, Ms. Knight didn’t take the time to seek out either me or my co-chair, Kate Gurewitz. I feel bad for Mrs. Woods that she was the subject of this incredibly biased article.

Apparently, however, Ms. Knight had no problem seeking out a disgruntled parent. Even if (the parent) sought the reporter out, I think it would have been more balanced journalism to find one of the hundreds of parents who had no problem with the suggested donation. To make it perfectly clear, it was a suggested donation. On the pledge packet, it was specifically stated that any and all donations would be gladly accepted.

Ms. Knight also chose not to focus on the kids and how much fun they were having, or the many volunteers who donated their time or the sponsors we had for the snow cones and popcorn the children got when they were done, or the hip hop teacher who was out there the whole day leading the kids in dancing. There were many positive things she could have said, and yet Ms. Knight chose to write a very one-sided, negative article.

I also felt that the article could have included, that in this time of budget cuts, the only way to make up for the shortfalls is to ask for parents to donate money. Without our fundraiser and we only do one, Lang Ranch would have no music teachers and P.E. only twice a week.

Perhaps Ms. Knight should have asked the anonymous source how she would feel about her child going without these things at school.

If Ms. Knight had done her research, she would have found that comparable schools in the area (White Oak, Westlake Hills, Oak Hills, to name a few) ask for much larger donations than Lang Ranch.

All in all, the students raised close to $60,000. I am very proud of our students, staff, PTA and the success of the event. It is too bad that the reporter allowed one bad apple to spoil all the hard work. Jenna Powell co-chair, “Jog, Jump and Dance for Lang Ranch” Thousand Oaks

When reporter Michelle Knight called and asked to speak to the PTA president, Laura Woods took the call. While we agree that public schools depend on parents to help fund programs that would otherwise be missing or neglected, we don’t agree with references to “suggested donations.” Every family’s financial situation is different, and no one should be made to feel inadequate because they cannot make that “suggested donation.”