The Gatesville Education Foundation will partner with the community to provide resources to enrich teaching, inspire learning, and maximize innovative opportunities for all students in the Gatesville Independent School District. The GISD Education Foundation will focus on enhancing community support and expanding resources that enrich teaching, inspire learning, and maximize opportunities for all
students in Gatesville ISD. The purpose of the newly formed Education Foundation is to raise money for educational programs and activities not funded by normal operating budgets. These funds will be used to facilitate student achievement and skill development, recognize and encourage staff excellence, and expand community involvement from individuals, businesses, and civic organizations. According to Superintendent Stewart Speer, “These funds will be used to support labs and projects over and above the routine curriculum.”
Funding priorities will include funds for innovative teaching grants that will provide resources directly to the classroom for teachers to implement new educational programs. Teachers and staff will be eligible to request funds in the fall of 2013. According to Edwin Powell, President of GISD Education Foundation, the idea to form the foundation grew from an awareness of a growing number of education foundations across the nation and to help support our local school district. “We brought in Foundation Innovation LLC, a firm that specializes in developing foundations, to ensure that we meet our first year goals and objectives,” Powell said.
“The Education Foundation Board of Directors is dedicated to our community and educational excellence and I am proud to serve with them to support and enhance the tools available to the district,” stated Powell, “we are very excited that community members have organized to help attract private funds to benefit our schools.”
The GISD Education Foundation has a pending charitable exemption permit under Internal Revenue Service section 501 (c) (3) so that all charitable contributions to the organization will be tax-deductible. The Foundation plans to begin distributing grants during the 2013-2014 school year. Foundation funds will be used to supplement tax revenues for the benefit of all students and faculty of GISD. Our hope is that with the addition of the funds raised annually by the Foundation, we can make a difference to provide the best educational system available to the children of our district.
