Blog Post: Supporting Glendora Schools Benefits Everyone

If you own a house in Glendora, there is a good chance you bought here because of the excellent public school system our city offers.  Most homeowners make a decision on where to live based on where their children can expect to get the best education for what they can afford. 

Being that California funding is ranked almost last among the country’s education system, it is even more important to find a good district for our children. However, right now our district is struggling with higher class sizes, fewer teachers and aids, fewer programs, and other issues.  So, why is it important as Glendora residents that we step up and support the GUSD? 

The State of California controls and decides how much our school district receives as a base amount for each student enrolled.  Additional funds are typically granted to districts in the form of Categorical Spending, or funds designated for specific programs tied to district demographic factors, socioeconomic or otherwise.  GUSD qualifies for very little categorical funding, and

To make matters worse, the District’s operating costs rise each year and the State may or may not implement a cost-of-living adjustment, (depending on its own finances, which we all know right now are in complete turmoil). Our District has to find the money to fund the increased costs of running and maintaining schools of excellence.

Glendora residents have high expectations of their schools, as they should; however, while free public education is possible, it DOES NOT meet the standard that we all EXPECT without help from our community!

We want a GREAT public education for our kids, and that, unfortunately, does not come free. Excellent schools are a key asset of our community; many people move here to provide meaningful educational opportunities for their children. Even those without school age children realize the importance of quality schools on property values.  Our home values have held fairly strongly compared to surrounding areas during this down turn in the real estate market.  Much of this is due to people still wanting to get into the City of Glendora so their kids can attend our schools. 

A group of Glendora USD parents began exploring the idea of a foundation to help maintain the excellence in our district.  In 2003, the Foundation for Glendora Unified Schools (FGUS) was formed as a nonprofit organization. A Board of Directors was established in October 2004 and is today composed of representatives from various community groups.

The Foundation’s specific and primary purpose is to provide financial support, facilitate community involvement, and enhance student learning for the Glendora Unified School District.

Many people believe that with Glendora’s high property values and the amount of taxes paid by our residents, our schools should be flush with money.  In fact, the opposite is true as described above. Not only do our taxes not fund our schools directly, our District receives less per student from the state than almost all other Districts in the State of California, and last year we had 7,274 students in our district.

September is the kick off of the Foundation for Glendora Unified Schools Community ‘Support our Students (SOS)’ Campaign for the new school year. A Community Campaign could be our most successful fundraising program, as the foundation raised $438,000 in 2009-2010 for Glendora Schools and raised $445,000 for the 2010-2011 school year.

It’s a simple concept: dedicated parent volunteers call their neighbors and friends and ask them to contribute to their children’s education. Donations of any amount have a profound impact on the programs our school district is able to provide. The foundation has been extremely thankful for the community support that they have received so far and look forward to expanding with new donors and business partners.

Please consider helping FGUS today by going to the website at www.fgus.net, and making a donation.  All homeowners, parents or not, benefit from our wonderful school district and it is going to take a community effort to make sure this continues to be true.