The Mahomet-Seymour School Board accepted $27,184.39 from the Mahomet-Seymour PTO on Dec. 16.
The MS-PTO appropriately divides money raised during the Dawg Walk between Middletown, Sangamon and Lincoln Trail based on the number of students within each school on the sixth day of school.
Prior to allocating the money, the MS-PTO listened to how parents and teachers felt PTO money should be spent within the schools.
Forty-one percent of the responses to the survey said funds should go to technology in the schools. Classroom supplies, student enrichment and facilities improvement combined for another 50 percent of the input.
“Even though (parents) may have wanted the money to be spent like this, in some cases, it wasn’t appropriate, and that guidance came from (the District),” PTO president Penny Moisson said.
In order to eliminate the possibility of overlapping funds for similar items, the PTO board was asked to spend funds on classroom consumable items. Funds for facility improvements are taken care of through the Mahomet-Seymour District funds.
With teacher and administration input, the PTO allocations committee recommends distributions to the general assembly based upon the feedback model.
Middletown received $4,980 this year to be used for online books, assemblies, teacher stipends, iPads and iPad accessories. Sangamon requested money for teacher stipends, field trip money for low income students, online tools and books, assemblies and computers to run smart boards. Sangamon received $8,711.11.
The PTO gave Lincoln Trail $13,493.28 for teacher stipends, online access to tools, assemblies, Chromebooks and accessories and 75 folding chairs and a portable storage unit.
“I think the schools are excellent stewards of this money,” PTO treasurer Meghan Hennesy said. “No one in the community should worry about (the schools) being frivolous with this money. They are grateful for every penny. They know it’s a gift. And they treat it with reverence.”
While Dawg Walk contributions exceeded $80,000 this year, the MS-PTO runs on a $70,000 budget for the 2013-2014 school year. The initial $27,184.39 is 39 percent of the total budget.
With minimal operating costs, the MS-PTO board also cut program costs this year through corporate sponsorships and creative planning. Excess money in the spring will be distributed with the same allocation process to the three schools at the end of the year.
The PTO board hopes to continue fundraising efforts throughout the 2013-2014 school year by securing corporate sponsorships or grants. By bringing in more outside money, the PTO hopes redistribute more money back into the schools through the allocations process.
Community involvement with Labels for Education, Box Tops and PTO apparel sales will also help the PTO raise funds throughout the year.
“Every time someone throws a box top away, they are putting a dime in the garbage,” Hennesy said.
While direct funding is one way the PTO gives back to the school, they also budget for Dawg Walk teacher stipends, fund the reading incentive program, provide the staff appreciation luncheon, fund Hands around the World at Lincoln Trail and Science Day at Middletown and STEM education in September.
The PTO also facilitates book fairs during parent-teacher conferences. They gave $4090 back to the libraries this fall.
Although a family fun event has not been planned, the PTO has reserved funds for the low-expense possibility.
“We welcome the brainstorming ideas of the community,” Moisson said. “This is a great time for people to get in on the ground level of new developments. As a board, we can sit down and talk about the cool (community events) we want to do, but this year’s board has sensitivity to the real needs in the school and how we can best support what’s happening in the schools.”
School events which support the curriculum are not only helpful to teachers, but they also maximize the amount of students who can benefit from the Dawg Walk funds.
At the end of every school year, the MS-PTO reserves money for start-up costs, such Dawg Walk funds, for the following school year. Funds which built up over four years were also distributed to the elementary schools in the spring.
Middletown received $5,967.47. Sangamon received $6,978.39 and $12,943.52 went to Lincoln Trail.
