Christian County Public Schools officials announced a new chapter Tuesday afternoon at the Silo Event Center, celebrating the launch of the CCPS Education Foundation.
The 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization will serve as an effort to enrich the educational experience for CCPS students, and following its foundation in Spring 2023, it is governed by an all-volunteer board of directors comprised of local residents and an executive director in Angie Major.
In a written release, Major said the foundation will have the ability to raise money for the sole purpose of “pouring back” in local schools. She also noted that the financial restrictions placed on school systems keeps often keeps them from purchasing or supporting the enrichment and enhancement of work already taking place.
This foundation changes such notions.
This new CCPS Education Foundation is one of 48 existing in the Commonwealth, all of which anchor public school systems.
Three original board members — Bill Munday, Tracy Pelletier and Noell Robinson — are all Christian County residents. And this foundation will be an umbrella organization for the Inspire Early Learning Academy and the Giving Our Appreciation For Learning Committee, and it will be used to provide teacher scholarships, incentives for teachers and students, and more.
The funding of the organization will come through fundraising efforts like the Champions for Education Luncheon, donor pledges and organized events like the most-recently held Holiday Hoops Classic Basketball Tournament.
CCPS Superintendent Chris Bentzel said the “school system alone” cannot move the needle in Christian County without the help of a “community committed to phenomenal schools,” and that the CCPS Education Foundation can be a “game changer for students, teachers and staff.”
Officials indicate the idea for this foundation stemmed from the Inspire Early Learning Academy, which paired CCPS with industry partners like Ascend Elements, Huhtamaki, JTEKT Column Systems, Siemer Milling Company and T-RAD North America.
The foundation already has seven legacy partners that have pledged at least $50,000 to the foundation: Arnold Farms, F&M Bank, H&R Agri-Power, Higgins Insurance, Jennie Stuart Health, Bill & Kaye Munday and Planters Bank.
The logo for the foundation was created by Gateway Academy’s graphic design students.
For more information about the foundation, contact Major by email: ccpseducationfoundation@gmail.com.
According to the Kentucky School Boards Association, The Foundation for Daviess County Public Schools held a black-tie fundraiser in July 2018 to honor Houston Hogg — an alumnus who was one of the first African-Americans to play football at the University of Kentucky.
So popular was the event, it sold out and raised more than $40,000 for the district.
As of 2019, a KSBA survey of district finance officers revealed that at least 47 of 173 Kentucky schools districts owned affiliated non-profit associations.
The considerations are only continuing across the Commonwealth, because it gives schools a legal, non-taxable arm to raise revenues in the name of education and growth.
In the U.S., just before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were more than 6,500 school foundations in 14,500 school districts.
