The Weibel Objective:

·      Provide an excellent education

·      Enable a rich academic, cultural and extra-curricular experience

·      Build a strong and broad foundation for future growth

The Challenge:

·      Funding shortfalls from local and state governments

·      Inability of official funding sources to support key resources and activities

The Solution - PTO:

·      Contributions by Weibel parents through PTO e.g. Wildcat Run

·     Provide important resources and support a variety of activities        

Many parents wonder where their donated funds are being spent and what role the PTO plays

Despite the high-level of taxation in California, our school is not receiving adequate state and local funding to support certain resources and activities. The government funding cutbacks in recent years have made the situation worse.  With your donations during the PTO’s Membership Drive and the Wildcat Run, the PTO votes to determine how these funds are spent for the school year. Listed below are examples of the impacts of funding shortfalls if the Weibel PTO does not step in to fill the gaps:

·         Health & Safety: The School district has no budget for emergency supplies this year. Replacing and updating classroom emergency supplies and school’s emergency supply of water is being done with PTO funds.

·         Science Supplies: PTO money constitutes a large portion the Science Lab budget.

·         Classroom Support: Did you know that teachers spend hundreds of dollars of their own money to provide materials for the classroom. The PTO reimburses each teacher up to $400 for these out of pocket cost.

·         Enrichment Programs: School Assemblies, Kindergarten Cooking, 1st/2nd/5th Grade Scholastic News, 4th Grade Walk Thru CA, 6th Grade Promotion, School Newspaper are possible because of PTO funds.

·         Arts and Sports Programs: Various extra-curricular activities are a key part of the overall learning experience, e.g. FAME, Chorus/Music, 6th Grade Arts Program, 3rd Grade Play, Traveling Basketball Team, and District Contests are funded through PTO.

·         Technology: The computers in the labs and classrooms are upgraded and maintained using PTO money. If SCRIP funds do not increase, the PTO will be required to provide more support.

·         Landscaping: The clean, pleasant and desirable playgrounds, parking and greens are funded by PTO money.

·         Appreciation Programs: The deserved acknowledgement of the contributions made by teachers and volunteers would be curtailed (e.g. Hospitality, Ackw-Volunteer Appreciation)

·         Safety Patrol: The pick up/drop off, safety patrol supervisors and safety patrol members on the school grounds are funded through PTO money.

·         Photocopy and Communications Support: The photocopy machine at Weibel is funded by PTO money.

Teachers, parents, school staff and volunteers are all working together to make Weibel an excellent school that meets the needs of our students. The state and local governments are not meeting all their funding obligations & commitments. Parents need to step-up and fill in the funding gaps and provide the necessary resources to ensure our students have an exceptional learning experience at Weibel.

We hope this information provides you additional insights on why the Weibel PTO is appealing to parents to make a contribution in the current Wildcat Run fundraiser. We hope you also have a better understanding of the important activities these funds are supporting. If you would like more details on the budget, please attend PTO meetings that are held once a month.

If you have not already done so, please send in your contribution for the Wildcat Run. As a reminder, our goal for this year is $60,000. In order to meet this goal, we encourage each child to raise $75 or more. We thank you for your contribution and on-going support.