Finding Funds

A look into where BVN clubs, activites and department funds come from.

By Ruby Bierman

Car washes, restaurant nights, Hen House bagging and dance ticket sales — all are ways students and clubs at BVN fundraise to support their activities throughout the year. Fundraising is a vital part in running student activities and school-wide events, allowing students to get the most out of their clubs.

A major player in fundraising at BVN is StuCo. According to senior and StuCo Treasurer Aarjo Roy, the organization pays for nearly all school events.

“StuCo pays for pretty much all school events, so we have to have a very large amount of money … [to] keep up with … events like homecoming and school dances,” Roy said. “We do a lot of fundraisers throughout the year. The majority of our funds come through dance tickets because we do have a focus on school dances. Other fundraisers that we’ve done include restaurant fundraisers, which were really popular last year, and this year, we reach[ed] out to nonprofits that we can partner with.”

Though school donors make a portion of funds available for school use, Roy said this isn’t a large source of club money.

“We have some donors who donate some money as well, but that really doesn’t take up the majority of our funds. The majority of our funds were all raised through high school dance tickets,” Roy said. “That’s why StuCo places such a high priority on sweetheart, homecoming [and] prom. We just raise all that money, so we can collect it and then distribute it for assemblies and other school events.”

School dances are a major reason why fundraisers are necessary, but other clubs receive portions of StuCo fundraising as well.

“We do place a priority on school dances, so a lot of those funds go towards future school dances. Some of those funds [are given] to some of the clubs, you know, so they can start their own fundraisers, as sort of seed money,” Roy said. “But when it comes to deciding what happens with the money itself, we really have to think about our main priority as to who needs it now … and how we can use it to benefit one’s community.”

According to Roy, StuCo has given thought to how they can help other clubs raise the money they need to participate in activities.

“The seed money idea that we have is that StuCo would have sort of a loan repayment program, where we would give certain clubs who need it a grant of like $100, that they’d have to pay back through another program. That $100 could go towards … advocacy for whatever group or thing that they’re a part of,’’ Roy said. “That was a really big thing that we talked about this year and wanted to implement, but it hasn’t happened yet. But towards the end of the year, we are looking to implement that sort of system.”

Student activities also have their own fundraising strategies. The BVN music programs are raising money for their trip to Spain, according to junior Eddie Mu.

“They just announced [the trip] a couple of months ago, so we haven’t really started doing any big fundraising projects. But in the future, there’s going to be a car wash,’’ Mu said. “[The money is] going towards Spain too. There’s going to be a mattress sale, and then we might partner with corporations to get sponsorships.”

The band holds fundraisers like the annual car wash throughout the year.

“The car wash is a very visible one. I think it was in the yearbook. We basically wash people’s cars for free and then ask them if they want to donate. Usually they say yes,” Mu said. “We [also] volunteer at Hen House. That’s unpaid, but if people want to donate [to the trip], they can do so.”

Mu said fundraising for the band trip is not just about covering costs, but also helping those going on the trip.

“It’s important because basically, we fundraise for two different reasons. First is to decrease the overall cost for everybody, and going to Spain is pretty costly,” Mu said. “But second is for people who can’t make the trip. There is a separate pool for them to help them get the aid they need to go on the trip.”

According to Mu, fundraising also helps activities such as Scholars Bowl.

“[Fundraising] helps us run our like logistical day to day things. It helps us buy things that we need for the club,” Mu said. “For example, like Scholars Bowl, we used the money to buy new buzzers because our old ones were really bad [and] broken.”

Academic departments find funds in other ways, filing for grants rather than fundraising according to Sue Butler, the Budget Manager for the district.

“They can apply for grants. There’s a gift fund that the school that the PTO can see and then a department may get money that way,” Butler said. “So that’s kind of their avenue, but there wouldn’t be student fundraising going in for any of the department academic departmental work.”

In contrast to school and activity funds, academic departments receive funding directly from the state, according to Jeremy McFadden, the distExecutive Director of Finance.

“The funding that school districts get from the state of Kansas. It’s really state aid. And there’s an allocation that the district does every year to determine how much of that state funding that we get is allocated towards buildings,” McFadden said. “Where the building principal, building leadership, administrative team can then take that allocation from the school district and then by a department level, provide them funding from the state money so it’s kind of like a decision tree really.”

Not all this money goes directly to school departments, but some is distributed to chosen departments.

“So we get money ... from the state of Kansas, obviously, most of that goes to salary and benefits for our staff, or teachers, custodians or educators, etc. But that smaller portion then does get allocated to buildings and then the building leadership team has an allocation that they go through where they give it to a department,” McFadden said. “But I think on the whole, there’s probably similar allocations throughout the district.”

If teachers are still in need of funds following this allocation, different routes are available to them.

“There’s a few things they have grant wise. We do have the Blue Valley Educational Foundation that teachers are encouraged every year to write grants for, and they’re awarded in the fall. They often supplement their specific things that teachers want to accomplish, and they give up an excess of $200,000 every fall to our teaching staff directly to our staff,” Butler said. “Then there are external grants that they can apply for. Many of those that are special-interest type things and they have the option to apply for those. Then I think most schools also have the ability in some way to apply for a grant to their PTO.”

When it comes to transparency Blue Valley must publish where things such as class fees are used.

“The fees that come in from the parents I know are definitely listed on our website and how those are allocated and what we use it for. And we are really held on that,” Butler said. “The state actually says if you take fees from students, there is a specific way in which you have to use them.”

Roy said he thinks StuCo could be more transparent with distribution of funds.

“I think we as Student Council could do a little bit of a better job of telling the student body how those funds are used. I think we could do a better job of using those funds in general. But the main reason why we’re not telling students what those funds are being used for, is because they’re not telling us what they want those funds to be used for,” Roy said. “Yes, certain departments need funding, but they have to approach us in order to come up with solutions … We have to know why [they need the money], and we have to know when they need it.”

Roy said finding funds can be difficult, but clubs and activities that are in need of funding can find help from StuCo.

“I think the best way to go about [finding funding] is to reach out to the Student Council because our sponsors … [are] very heavily intertwined with our school’s administration, so they could find solutions for those clubs that require funding,” Roy said. “But if [the] administration does not listen to those clubs, then the Student Council would be more than willing to hear them out, and we would be willing to help you in any way you see fit.”