Tue, May 9 3:48pm
Dear MVS Parent Community,
You must have seen a letter in your kid's Friday folder. Please read that in the light of following facts:
MVSA has received donations of around $29,000 so far this school year. Of that money, almost $23,000 is expected to be spent on a single item related to the Computer Lab Technician (salary+tax+parroll processing). So almost 80% of what you all donated is expected to be used for this single item.
MVSA board has always prioritized the well being of teachers and advancement of kids. But our resources are not unlimited. We understand that this is a tough environment and parents should not be pressured to donate large amounts of money. But the challenge is that if we keep a fixed expenditure as big as $23,000, we are under pressure to raise almost $40,000 to $50,000 each year to fund even basic items such as ~$10k for school supplies, ~5k for Scholastic Newsletter and other enrichment subscriptions, ~3k for organization upkeep - site renewals, Company Matching Vendors renewal, Services fees from Konstella, Stripe, PayPal, ~3k for teachers appreciation, water for staff room, etc.
MVSA has reserve funds of around $76,000, which were mostly built during the last several years. But we have already seen donations drop sharply, which has caused our reserves also to drop. We assure you - as always, MVSA will use the money wisely and in the interest of kids.
For example,
- increasing the funding for school supplies so that no parent feels the burden of it.
- We bought a whole chromebook cart last year and can provide more tech upgrades for the school like small printers in each classroom,
- provide more Security infrastructure to the school[ based on inputs from parents’ concern about safety and security of the kids].
- We can add more enrichment programs related to Math/Science/Computers
- We can add more sports related program
- fun activities like Halloween Carnival, Science Camp, FAME.
The list is endless.
MVSA had put together a survey for the parent community to provide all relevant facts and seek feedback. But it had to be pulled back. The survey conducted in school was not something MVSA was made part of. None of the decisions we took this year as a Board to eliminate many long running programs included any kids’ surveys. I personally as a parent do not believe kids should be involved in financial decisions. We should not have burdened young minds with such a difficult choice.
Please join us tonight at 7:00 PM to provide your perspective.
Thanks a lot.
MVSA Board