Lewisburg Area School District Policies	Printable version
702 Gifts and Donations/Revenue Enhancement 702. GIFTS AND DONATIONS/REVENUE ENHANCEMENT The Board recognizes that individuals, businesses and organizations may wish to contribute supplies, equipment or funds to enhance or extend the educational opportunities for the students of the district. The Board also wishes to encourage the development of alternative sources of funding for the district’s educational programs and facilities to supplement traditional sources of revenue. Grants, fundraising, partnerships and sponsorships, including naming opportunities may provide the district with revenue to extend and enhance the educational program. The Board has the authority to accept such gifts and donations, and to name facilities or portions of facilities in the district, but must recognize its responsibility as a provider of public education to protect the welfare of students and maintain the integrity and dignity of the learning environment. It is imperative that all such gifts and revenue enhancement activities must be consistent with the educational mission of the district and that educational values are never compromised. The Board maintains exclusive discretion whether to pursue, accept, or decline any gift, donation, sponsorship, partnership or any proposal for a naming opportunity. In no case shall any gift to the district provide the donor influence beyond what may be contained in any written donor agreement. All proposals for sponsorship, partnership, or naming opportunities must be in writing, and the goals, objectives, benefits, and other terms and conditions of the relationship must be clearly defined at the outset. Upon acceptance of a proposal by the Board, a written donor agreement will be drafted with the agreed upon terms and conditions detailed for execution by the Board. The Board will not accept any gift or proposal from individuals or organizations that would reflect negatively on the district or be incompatible with our mission, our student’s well being, or constitute a conflict of interest. The Board may direct the Superintendent to appoint a Gift Review Committee to investigate and evaluate any proposal(s) and report their findings and make recommendations to the Board regarding acceptance and pursuit of gift proposals. The committee will be comprised of three (3) Board members, the Superintendent or designee, and two (2) administrators. Recommendations shall be addressed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the totality of the circumstances surrounding the gift proposal. The Committee Chair shall ensure that a minute book is kept to ensure the consistency of decisions. The factors to be considered by the Board include, but are not limited to: • The appropriateness of the gift for our school district. • The extent to which the proposal advances the goals and objectives of the district. • The extent to which a gift limits or restrains the district’s discretion or its ability to pursue other opportunities. • The degree and extent the proposal imposes present and future obligations on the district. • The duration of the arrangement or agreement and the district’s ability/discretion to terminate the arrangement/agreement. • Consistency with LASD Policy #819 Untimely Death. The Board will consider proposals for gifts that include naming opportunities for selected auxiliary buildings and facilities, portions of buildings or rooms, etc. However, the Board will not consider proposals to name the actual schools of the district. The Board reserves the right to change the name of any facility, if the individual or entity for whom it is named is convicted of a crime or otherwise falls into disrepute to the extent that association with the name is an embarrassment or disgrace to the district in the opinion of the School Board. The maintenance of any gift the Board accepts is the responsibility of the district unless otherwise stipulated. Any gift accepted by the Board or designee shall become property of the school district and may not be returned without the approval of the Board, and is subject to the same controls and regulations as other district property. The Board will make every effort to honor the intent of the donor in its use of a gift, but reserves the right to utilize any gift it accepts in the best interest of the educational program of the district. The Superintendent will ensure that the terms and conditions of any donor agreement are honored. All gifts and donations to the district that exceed $100.00 will be reported to the Board for approval and will be followed with an acknowledgement receipt from the Business Administrator specifying the value of the donation. All gifts shall be recorded in the appropriate inventory listing and property records. References: School Code – 24 P.S. Sec. 215, 703 Board Policy – 706, 819