Our heartfelt thanks to all who have already contributed – we have had $25,000 donated or committed in the first day. We ask you share the word with your friends and family!

You can donate at our website www.cfsdfoundation.org, “Donate Now” Button or using our Facebook Cause page or send a check to:
CFSD Foundation
P.O. Box 65150
Tucson, AZ
85728-5150

Arizona Daily Star
04.16.2009
Donations sought for Foothills schools
Each family is asked for $500 to preserve 30 teaching jobs
By Lourdes Medrano

A grass-roots campaign to save teaching jobs is taking shape in the Foothills as an answer to deep state budget cuts in schools.

The Catalina Foothills School District Foundation launched its “30/60 Challenge” this week. The 60-day campaign aims to preserve the positions of 30 teachers by asking every district family to chip in $500, said Mark Kipphut, foundation president.

“Our concern is that the cuts potentially targeting teaching positions will jeopardize the Catalina Foothills Unified School District’s history of superior student academic achievement,” Kipphut said in an e-mail to district residents.

Kris Tvedt, an engineer who has three children in the district, gladly donated $500 to the fledgling campaign.

“I truly believe in public education,” he said. “I want my children educated in a full environment where there’s all sorts of challenges.”

To spur more people into quick action, the non-profit foundation is spreading its message through a Web site — www.3060challenge.com — and the Facebook online social network. District residents and others can donate money online, download a grass-roots kit and learn about the schools’ budget crisis. Fundraising events also are in the works.

“Our parents and other community members aren’t willing to watch our important academic programs waste away due to the starvation diet the state has put us on over time,” district Superintendent Mary Kamerzell wrote in an e-mail to the Star.

Thirty teaching positions would be lost in the next academic year under a worst-case funding scenario, she said. So far, 15 district teachers and counselors have been notified they won’t have jobs in the fall. All were told in early April that they could be rehired later.

Although the campaign primarily targets families with school-age children, Kipphut said the foundation has received about $25,000 in tax-deductible contributions from a mix of donors. The goal is to collect $1.3 million for the teaching positions.

“Teachers are the heart and soul of our district,” Kipphut said.

The foundation is used to raising money to support the district, albeit in smaller amounts.

The group already is funding six other teaching positions next year with $250,000, he said.

“We’re stretching ourselves, but we have to,” Kipphut said. “This is about the kids.”
On StarNet: You can find a list of employees given notice in Catalina Foothills as well as in the Marana and Tucson unified school districts. Find the searchable database at azstarnet.com/special/schoolcuts

Education rally

Concerned Arizona Residents for Education, or CARE, will host a picnic and rally at Cañada del Oro Riverfront Park.

CARE’s Picnic and Rally in the Park for Public Education will run from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Oro Valley park, 551 W. Lambert Lane.

People should bring their own picnics. Performances by Wilson K-8 School’s choir and jazz band will begin at 1 p.m., and a program will follow at 2. Parents, teachers, students, educators and community members are all scheduled to speak at the event.

Non-perishable food donations will be collected by CARE to be given to local food banks.

For more information about the event, contact CARE at azcaresinfo@gmail.com. Go online to www.azcare.info for more information about CARE.

Contact reporter Lourdes Medrano at 618-1924 or lmedrano@azstarnet.com.