REASON #2: “I don’t trust the district and know that my contribution is being spent on other things.”

TRUTH: The DMSEF is a separate entity from the Del Mar Union School District and is set up that way so that all of its proceeds can go directly towards teacher salaries.  There is no chance that DMSEF funds can be used for anything else as they are given to the District in a ‘restricted’ fashion which only allows the District to use them for credentialed teachers.

 All funds contributed to the DMSEF directly fund teacher salaries across the five ESC subjects of Science, Music, Art, Technology, and Physical Education.  A portion of contributed funds is used to cover normal operating expenses that the Foundation incurs during its fund-raising, but even that portion of 7.5% is far below the national expense average for a non-profit which is about 11-13%.

As of today, we are facing a $450,000 gap as compared to last year’s campaign which will mean an average of one dropped ESC subject at each of our eight DMUSD elementary schools.

The problem is real and the time is now as our deadline for contributions is April 30th.

Please give what you can today so that our children have the ESC program they need next year.