The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education is considering a policy that creates guidelines for teachers who are using crowdfunding for supplies and other materials at a recent meeting. 

Board members met and discussed the motion on June 15th and passed it onto the second reading. In the proposal, regulations are put in place to ensure crowdfunding is not abused and that it directly benefits the students. As crowdfunding becomes more popular, this policy would establish parameters moving forward. 

Jonathan Scott, the Chief Financial Officer for the district, shared the new policy with the board and public. 

“Crowdfunding is a very rapidly evolving area,” explained Scott. “There’s many sites out there like GoFundMe, Donors Choice, Facebook, Amazon, etc. that are allowing parents to donate to the teachers on behalf of the school district.”

In the new policy, crowdfunding would not be allowed unless it is approved in writing and limits student participation. 

CHCCS employees would be required to write a report that explains what the money is needed for and how it will be used. The report needs to be approved at the district level before any campaign is started. The value being raised should be in the written report from the beginning as well.

Some examples of what crowdfunding can be used for are playground equipment, new computers, or general school supplies. 

Another rule included in the proposed policy is parent organizations are exempt from participation. A $5,000 limit is applied to individuals raising money unless otherwise approved. 

“This is really designed around students and employees so we can set that limit per individual, not per campaign,” said Scott. 

During the meeting, board members had few critiques to the policy. One critique included having more internal checks and balances as money is raised and all rules are followed. 

“If we have some type of internal checks and balances also there’s a trigger or a flag so that we know they’re getting up to that threshold,” said Board Member Riza Jenkins.

District staff will use the board members’ feedback to make updates to the proposed policy before it comes back for a second reading later this year.

 

Photo via the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district.

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