SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Gala to Raise Funds for School District

It’s been around for about a decade, but the Capistrano Unified School District Foundation has a whole new life, one that will be unveiled during a gala fund-raiser this weekend.

Since her temporary term on the school district board ended in November, Kathryn Itzel has led a voluntary effort to revive the district foundation and create a new umbrella organization, the South Orange County Educational Partnership.

While the foundation’s main task will involve fund raising, the partnership’s goal will be to link the “talents, energy and resources of educators, business leaders and community leaders,” said Itzel, who is being aided in the endeavor by a small group of volunteers.

“Any extra money you can give a school district these days is needed,” Itzel said.

“Even more than fund raising, we want to really take a look at partnerships that we can form in the corporate community. It’s the wave of the future that private and public entities work together.”

Supt. James A. Fleming said the “rebirth” of the foundation could not have come at a better time.

The district is facing a potential $4.5-million shortfall from its estimated $129-million budget in the 1993-94 fiscal year.

For the current fiscal year, the district was forced to make more than $7 million in reductions because of state budget cuts.

“The prospects for additional state funding to support education are dim at best,” Fleming said.

“It’s all we can do to provide the teachers, the classrooms, the textbooks, the software and, of course, the classroom furniture,” he added.

“Many of the extras and enhancements, which add so much, simply won’t be provided if we have to depend on public funds.”

Tonight, the two nonprofit organizations will host the first Superintendent’s Ball at the Dana Point Resort.

For many, the fund-raising event will offer the first exposure to both the foundation and the partnership.

“It will be a time for corporate people, parents, teachers and administrators, to all sit down together and see if we can come up with some innovative ideas,” Itzel said.

Proceeds from the ball, which is expected to draw more than 400 people, will be used to award incentive grants to teachers and their students.