Dear Parents of NRP

With the implementation of the new payment system by the Vancouver School Board, there has been some confusion around the Direct Appeal.  We hope this letter clarifies the current status and the plans for the future for all of our fundraising activities.

First and most importantly, we would like to thank all of you who have already donated to the school`s Direct Appeal. To date parents have donated $10,035. Unfortunately this is still shy of the $25,000 goal on the NRP wishlist to pay for items such as Mathletics (for Grades 4-7), Grade 8 Online Math Books, Literacy Resources for both K-5 and Middle School and Books for the Learning Commons. The full list of Direct Appeal items is listed again at the end of this letter so that you can see how these funds benefit the school.

BACKGROUND

Some parents are unclear on the various fundraising efforts within Norma Rose Point (which is understandable as sometimes even the PAC exec is confused 🙂 ) Here is a summary of the major initiatives:

1. Direct Appeal =  These funds are requested by the school for resources not directly funded by the Province or the school board.  The PAC has no direct oversight over the collection or distribution of the funds. The benefits of the Direct Appeal include: The school`s ability to purchase items quickly in the school year rather than waiting for PAC to fundraise separately. In the past the PAC has facilitated the Direct Appeal by advertising it and handling the donations as per VSB procedures. With the move to the Cash Online system we no longer have to play that role and will limit ourselves to simply advertising the School’s request each year.

NOTE: the key decision made by early NRP PAC’s, that is still supported today, is that we believe the direct appeal is the preferred method to raise these funds.  The traditional methods used in the past (bake sales, product sales by our children, etc.) are not nearly as effective, or if they are, 50% of the monies raised goes to a commercial company.  This is not acceptable in our opinion.

 

1. Lunch Program (Munchalunch) =   The funds raised by the Lunch Program are the main monies raised by PAC (through the amazing efforts of parent volunteers). These funds are at the discretion of PAC for items voted on by NRP Parents.  The key to remember is that we as parents have unilateral decision-making authority to decide how these funds are spent. We encourage all parents of NRP to contribute your opinion by attending the AGM, joining the PAC executive, or just catching your favorite exec on the school ground.

 

1. Gaming Grant Funding = this is NOT a funding campaign directed at parents, however we thought we would provide some background as it is related.  Each year, the PAC’s of all public schools in the province of BC are eligible to receive a grant that comes from profits raised through the various provincial gambling activities as run by the province.  These funds are allocated on a per pupil basis and come with limitations. Broadly speaking they can be spent on items that do not contribute primarily to the educational mission of the school. In other words, they can be used for supporting teams or extra-curricular activities but not on items such as technology used in the classroom.

 

VSB School Cash Online

While we understand that the Direct Appeal process has been confusing this year due to some changes the VSB has made, your PAC executive still believes that donating through Cashonline is fast, easy, convenient and most importantly, accurate for everyone. Another major benefit is that you will also get your tax receipt emailed to you immediately.

However, if the school does not raise the $25,000 requested then the PAC will need to reassess and look at other ways to fundraise the money. This may include some of the above noted approaches (dedicated fundraisers or allocating money from the lunch program to cover some of these expenses). These decisions, if they have to be made, will be based on a recommendation of the PAC Executive and voted on at a meeting of parents.

 

See below for the full Item list:

 

$5,000:  Mathletics for gr 5 – 7	$3,000:  Speaker to address Body Science K to 8
$1,500:  Grade 8 Online Math Book	$1,500:  Joey Cart Baskets for computers in cart (we were using VSB head office ones but had to return)
$2,000:  Raz-kids Leveled Online Reading Program (K-3 plus English Language Learners).	$700:  Art Rack
$2,500:  Indigenous Resources / Focus Week	$1000:  Guitar replacement strings for Middle Music and Restringing guitars
$1,000:  K5 Literacy Resources	$400:  What in the World Resource for Intermediate (Current Events)
$1,000:  Middle Literacy Resources	$500:  Health and Safety
$2,400:  Books for Library	$1,500:  Learning Support (pass-microphone audiology support for $363 so far)
$1,000:  Grade 6 Learning Community (new classroom support)	TOTAL:      $25,000

If you have any questions, comments or concerns please do not hesitate to email PAC at rosepointpac@gmail.com

We are always happy to hear from parents.

If you are confused by Cashonline and how to make a donation, one of the PAC Executives would be happy to meet with you and walk you through the process or we can send you a step-by-step walk through that we have put together.

Thank you

Jody Yau, PAC Chair