Education Booster Groups Consider Merging

Board members from the Irvine Unified School District’s three educational foundations are weighing a proposal to create a single organization to boost school funding during tight economic times.

Representatives from the Irvine Education Foundation, the District Advisory Forum and Foundations for the Future plan to meet Feb. 26 to discuss the proposed merger.

“There’s a lot of functions we all do--bookkeeping, office management, administrative functions--that would be a lot more efficient if they were done in one organization,” said Elizabeth Thomas, executive director of the Irvine Education Foundation and a board member of the District Advisory Forum.

The Irvine Education Foundation raised $100,000 for the school district last year, with funds supporting fine arts programs and grants for teachers and schools. The foundation recently awarded $23,000 in grants to Irvine teachers for individual classroom projects.

The District Advisory Forum offers classes for students including summer school programs for elementary and middle school students and driver’s education classes.

Foundations for the Future began in 1994 with a $6-million fund-raising goal to create a district-wide computer network for students and teachers. But the county bankruptcy and the financial crisis it caused in the school district put the ambitious fund-raising program on hold.

“Each one of those foundations does marvelous work, but each is focused on special activities,” Irvine schools Supt. Dennis M. Smith said. “All of those activities will still take place, but a single organization can also look at the bigger picture.”