Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The county has strict rules about what parents/booster clubs can provide. My kids are at a wealthy school and we can buy things like promethean boards, security cameras, sports equipment, etc. We can't add staff, hire coaches, or anything like that. I don't think a scoreboard will improve the performance of the Churchill teams. And it means that the county doesn't have to pay for a scoreboard and can use that money for other schools.

Our sports booster club raises a lot of money from the concession stand, which is run and staffed entirely by parents. I go to other schools for events and their concession stand isn't open. So some of you complainers may want to take the lead and organize concessions sales.

I would be willing to bet that there are a higher percentage of SAH parents available for volunteering at Churchill events compared to other DCC schools. Part of the reason there is less parent involvement at more economically disadvantaged schools is because the parents are often working long hours or multiple jobs. Not saying that the working parents at Churchill don't work hard, just saying that lower paying jobs tend to be less flexible when it comes to work schedules.

Could be, although the parents seem to show up for games so they've got some flexibility. I work full time, travel heavily, and have spent hours working in concessions.

Anonymous wrote:The county has strict rules about what parents/booster clubs can provide. My kids are at a wealthy school and we can buy things like promethean boards, security cameras, sports equipment, etc. We can't add staff, hire coaches, or anything like that. I don't think a scoreboard will improve the performance of the Churchill teams. And it means that the county doesn't have to pay for a scoreboard and can use that money for other schools.

Our sports booster club raises a lot of money from the concession stand, which is run and staffed entirely by parents. I go to other schools for events and their concession stand isn't open. So some of you complainers may want to take the lead and organize concessions sales.

I would be willing to bet that there are a higher percentage of SAH parents available for volunteering at Churchill events compared to other DCC schools. Part of the reason there is less parent involvement at more economically disadvantaged schools is because the parents are often working long hours or multiple jobs. Not saying that the working parents at Churchill don't work hard, just saying that lower paying jobs tend to be less flexible when it comes to work schedules.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, headline ripped right from Friday Night Lights. What did Coach and Tammy decide?
Thing is, the athletic boosters aren't going to, or didn't, donate $80,000 for a new air conditioner or a new Spanish program or better lab equipment or a nighttime cleaning shift or whatever. They raised money for a scoreboard, right?

They aren't allowed to raise money for half that stuff in any event.

The reality is that some of the older schools need maintenance. The county replacement schedule is very slow and seems to favor the less fortunate schools anyway. So if the Churchill parents are willing to buy their own scoreboard then let them. You will get to enjoy it when your kids team plays Churchill.

Anonymous wrote:Too bad all those $$ were spent on a score board. While a nice extra, I don't think it will enhance anybodies education. Think of all the library books it could have bought..

That would have sat untouched.

Anybodies? More library books? LOL. LOL. LOL.

Wow, headline ripped right from Friday Night Lights. What did Coach and Tammy decide?
Thing is, the athletic boosters aren't going to, or didn't, donate $80,000 for a new air conditioner or a new Spanish program or better lab equipment or a nighttime cleaning shift or whatever. They raised money for a scoreboard, right?

churchill is a special school. They should turn down the scoreboard, it doesn't improve the school or make the teams better. I think it actually seems kind of gross and cheapens the atmosphere.

The county has strict rules about what parents/booster clubs can provide. My kids are at a wealthy school and we can buy things like promethean boards, security cameras, sports equipment, etc. We can't add staff, hire coaches, or anything like that. I don't think a scoreboard will improve the performance of the Churchill teams. And it means that the county doesn't have to pay for a scoreboard and can use that money for other schools.

Our sports booster club raises a lot of money from the concession stand, which is run and staffed entirely by parents. I go to other schools for events and their concession stand isn't open. So some of you complainers may want to take the lead and organize concessions sales.

Anonymous wrote:Too bad all those $$ were spent on a score board. While a nice extra, I don't think it will enhance anybodies education. Think of all the library books it could have bought..

That would have sat untouched.

Defensive rich people are both funny and sad at the same.

Too bad all those $$ were spent on a score board. While a nice extra, I don't think it will enhance anybodies education. Think of all the library books it could have bought..

Anonymous wrote:How do you think most sports related upgrades are paid for? By booster money. This is not from the school budget. The parents contribute and raise the money. It buys score boards, signs, maybe a new pa. The drama club has boosters at schools. How do you think they afford to build sets now, buy mics.

The money is raised for a purpose. And the school gets to be the benefactor in the end.

They get a state of the art scoreboard thanks to the parents. A local company gets to sell and install it, keeping them in business, etc.

Get your facts straight it isn't school money. And if the parents at other schools would step up they too could have the things that the Rockville Chevy chase Potomac Bethesda clusters have.

Of course, that is why those clusters have by far the very best schools in the county. Because the parents have the $$$ to rise to the occasion. Location, location, location.

Stepping up has nothing to do with it. If you don't have the money, you can't donate the money.

Anonymous wrote:I know it's booster-funded, but given the basic needs that we can't meet downcounty, and the obvious fundraising limitations for socioeconomically disadvantaged clusters, it is really difficult to hear that some schools have a surplus in an amount that exceeds what our school has raised, cumulatively, in the past two decades, give or take a thousand.

I agree.

http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/amid-million-dollar-ptas-a-school-fights-to-keep-its-library/

There is nothing inherently wrong with a parent donating even significant sums to a public school to support a child’s education. But when the parents most capable of doing so are clustered at some schools and conspicuously absent at others, the inequities that already heavily affect lower-income children are effectively institutionalized within the public school system. Parents “voting” with school selection or real estate choices have a strong incentive to choose less economic diversity and a better financed education over more diversity, but less ability to support even the basics of a good school.

"Get your facts straight"

What facts did the OP not get straight?

How do you think most sports related upgrades are paid for? By booster money. This is not from the school budget. The parents contribute and raise the money. It buys score boards, signs, maybe a new pa. The drama club has boosters at schools. How do you think they afford to build sets now, buy mics.

The money is raised for a purpose. And the school gets to be the benefactor in the end.

They get a state of the art scoreboard thanks to the parents. A local company gets to sell and install it, keeping them in business, etc.

Get your facts straight it isn't school money. And if the parents at other schools would step up they too could have the things that the Rockville Chevy chase Potomac Bethesda clusters have.

Of course, that is why those clusters have by far the very best schools in the county. Because the parents have the $$$ to rise to the occasion. Location, location, location.

I know it's booster-funded, but given the basic needs that we can't meet downcounty, and the obvious fundraising limitations for socioeconomically disadvantaged clusters, it is really difficult to hear that some schools have a surplus in an amount that exceeds what our school has raised, cumulatively, in the past two decades, give or take a thousand.