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9486 in the collection
Carlisle school declines donation: Couple's conditions sink gift to cover new music fees
Ohanian Comment: Maybe it's because I was raised in a frugal working class family that felt really really strongly about music participation, but I'm missing the school committee's point here.
By Nancy Shohet West
For as long as they've lived in Carlisle, Julia and Alex Krapf have distinguished themselves for their generosity to the town, particularly where child- and family-related causes are concerned.
Their names appear on plaques honoring donors to the Gleason Public Library and Diment Park, a playground built with private contributions. They always bid on big-ticket items at the annual fund-raising auction benefiting the Carlisle Public School, which two of their three children now attend. They have also volunteered at the school: Julia was lunchroom volunteer coordinator for the past several years, and Alex has served on the school's School Advisory Council and the Strategic Planning Committee.
So it came as something of a surprise when their most recent offer was rejected.
Dismayed by the rising user fees for such so-called discretionary items as afterschool sports, school band, and middle school bus transportation, the Krapfs wanted to ensure that no child would miss out on the opportunity to play a musical instrument for financial reasons.
Their 13-year-old daughter, Susannah, had benefited enormously from the school's music program, in their opinion; not only did she sing in the chorus and play the French horn, she also developed a deep love of music and performing, the parents say.
So when they learned that a new fee of $45 per student was to be imposed on band and chorus members this school year, they offered $4,698 to cover the payment for any students who wished to participate. But the School Committee said no.
The problem, School Committee chairman Chad Koski said, was that the offer came with two conditions: first, that the money not be used for anything other than the band and chorus fees; and second, that the fees be rescinded for the year, rather than going on record as required but paid for by the donation.
Koski said the committee's decision was meant to be forward-looking, despite the generous offer.
"Believe me, we don't like having fees, either, but we need them to support the program," he said. "We were happy that the Krapfs wanted to support the music program. . . . Our problem was with the second stipulation, the one requiring that we rescind the vote we had already taken on instituting the fees for the music program. We don't want to set a precedent whereby a School Committee vote can be overruled by donations from private citizens - creating, in effect, the semblance that a School Committee decision can be bought."
Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, said the case reminded him of a situation a few years ago in Wellesley, in which parents raised about $250,000 to have the foreign languages program reinstated after it was dropped for budgetary reasons.
"There, too, the School Committee turned down the donation, for the reason that it can't be in the position of allowing people to pay for public policy," Koocher said.
Superintendents in communities near Carlisle say they have never been faced with this problem, either because their schools did not impose activity fees, or simply because this kind of donation had never been offered.
But, according to Koocher, any time it does happen, school committees have the right to decide whether to accept the gift.
"Of course, we want to commend parents who step forward as benefactors, but there are very complicated issues surrounding school finances, and we have to be looking ahead to what might come up next," he said. "Also, what about those programs that do not receive special support from generous parents? Why should the music program be supported by a donation while the hockey team or the dance department gets shut down?"
Heidi Zimmerman, business manager for the Carlisle Public School, reinforced the general sentiment at the school.
"The Krapfs made a very gracious offer. But, yes, it's the School Committee's right to decide what to do about it," she said. "I'm not sure what I would have done in their shoes."
Zimmerman said she knows of no other districts that have faced this issue, but she says the question of how private donors affect school budgets in various ways is a frequent topic of discussion among her community of school business managers.
Alex Krapf said he understands the School Committee's concern, but maintained he had an equally compelling reason to require that the vote be rescinded.
"We put that second condition on because the way the fees have been handled in the past is that, come budget time, they look at what fees we are already being levied, and those are automatically reapplied," he said. "They start with the existing base and then think about adding or increasing new fees. We didn't want the music fee appearing on the catalog of fees because we wanted to ensure that it would have to be considered anew, and not as an already existing fee, next year."
Julia Krapf said that there tends to be an assumption in this wealthy town, which has some of the highest property taxes in the state, that no family views a $45 music fee as a hardship.
"But many families pay a high mortgage and high property taxes to stay in Carlisle," she said. "If you have more than one child in the school and each child does different activities, the fees add up."
She said she does not believe that the school's professed willingness to waive activity fees in cases of financial need is sufficient, either, "because for every family willing to identify themselves as having that need, there are probably two more who do not want to ask for the exception. So we really don't know the real numbers. We don't know what kinds of conversations people are having at home, or how many parents are saying to their children, 'I know it's just $45, but I don't want to pay another $45.' "
Ultimately, Alex Krapf said, he simply sees the activity fees as running contrary to the principles underlying the public education system.
He said he understands that they provide a way for families to decide "a la carte" what their child needs so that every taxpayer is not required to support every option, but added: "The philosophy of public education is not only that the community pays for its children's education, but also that as a community, we voters decide together at Town Meeting what that means.
"Activity fees allow the school to sidestep that process, removing control of the costs from the overall community and burdening individual families in the process."
Nancy Shohet West can be reached at nancyswest@msn.com.
— Nancy Shohet West
Boston Globe
2008-08-31
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