Education foundation to help fund scholarships

The foundation will get a jump-start with money from a sale of stock.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown City School District is creating an education foundation to help provide scholarships and fund small projects the district doesn't have the funds to support.
The school board is scheduled to vote on a resolution tonight establishing the Youngstown Education Foundation.
The project has the support of the board's finance committee.
"I think it's a good idea," said John Maluso, committee chairman, during a recent review of the project plans.
Unlike most public school education foundations, Youngstown's program isn't starting from scratch. It already has access to a substantial amount of money.
The school district had originally earmarked $3 million from the sale of Anthem stock to help finance the foundation, but Ohio law prevented the transfer of money from the general fund into a foundation account.
However, a recent change in the law now allows that transfer to be made, said Carolyn Funk, district treasurer.
Will use interest
The money has been sitting in a bank account earning interest, and the entire amount will be put into the foundation, she said.
The plan is to let the principal lie untouched and spend only the interest it earns, which is about $72,000 a year right now, Funk said.
The interest earnings would be used primarily for minority scholarships, she said.
Dr. Wendy Webb, superintendent, said proceeds from the district's first Community Recognition and Report-Out Dinner, held earlier this month, also will be channeled into the foundation. The amount of money raised at the dinner isn't known yet.
In addition to the proceeds from ticket sales, individual donation cards for the foundation fund were handed out at the dinner, and donors have the right to designate where their contributions should go, Webb said.
The card offers some suggestions including the libraries, mentoring programs, Youngstown Early College, the Small Schools program, athletics and the general scholarship fund.
Any money spent out of the foundation account will require a majority vote of the school board, Funk said.
Webb said an effort must be made to reach out to alumni who are willing to help build the foundation fund base.
"We've never asked before," she said.
gwin@vindy.com