Salisbury Education Foundation Needs Members, Donations

The is in dire need of new members and community support, according to officials.

The organization is an independent, non-profit group that raises money and supports initiatives of the .

“I’m not sure how to keep going,” Joyce Gibbs, a foundation member who with foundation President Maggie Bonge, discussed their concern at the Salisbury School Board's Jan. 16 operations committee meeting.

The pair said they want to see more participation from the community, school district administration and staff.

Gibbs said the foundation has only three board members and three to four volunteers to serve on committees. The organization, which raises about $18,000-$20,000 a year, needs more donations and volunteers to help plan events, she said.

Gibbs said she donates money to the foundation, which her employer matches, although she does not have school-aged children in the district. If 10 to 20 community members did the same, the foundation would be able to keep going, she said.

“People are used to effective boards and administration in Salisbury,” said school board President Russell Giordano. “The community needs reality therapy as to what it takes to sustain this district.”

Assistant Superintendent Louise Beauchemin said the administration was told when the Salisbury Education Founation was started it was a separate entity and that administrators were not allowed to be board members.

Bonge and Gibbs said the community doesn’t understand what the foundation is, despite a mission statement “to support education, enrichment and enhancement of programs for the benefit of the students in the Salisbury Township School District.”

Gibbs said some people think the foundation exists only to raise money to pay for the high school stadium lights or artificial turf.

“The key thing that we want to get across is that the foundation exists for other things that are needed in the schools,” Bonge said.

The foundation wants to apply for mini-grants to provide classrooms with items they might not otherwise receive, she said.

Superintendent Robert Gross said the district will get the foundation's message out to parent groups at the elementary and middle schools.

Gibbs requested that a representative from each school tell the foundation what their school needs are at an upcoming meeting.

The next Salisbury Education Foundation meeting will be 6:30 p.m. March 13 in the conference room at Salisbury High School.