Badin vs. Versailles
Law Enforcement Memorial Day
-3.JPG)
American Idol 2012 finale
Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2007 > July > 12 > Entry
Big donation helps save Stivers adjuncts
(Stivers students who are members of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra)
By Scott Elliott
Staff Writer
An unidentified donor who contributed $100,000 in support of Stivers School for the Arts has helped a fund-raising group take a huge step toward restoring adjunct arts faculty who were laid off due to budget cuts.
Bill Pflaum, who heads fund-raising for the Seedling Foundation, would only say the donor has broad interest in Dayton schools and was supportive of arts education. About half the money will go toward an effort to save adjuncts. The rest will be spent on other needs at the school.
“We’re committed to raising $125,000 to $145,000 to support the adjuncts,” he said. “But this can’t all go to it. Thee are a lot of other needs.”
With the gift, Seedling has now raised about $70,000 to save adjuncts, who are paid about $18 an hour on average to provide specialized arts instruction. Stivers is rated one of the region’s top-scoring high school on state exams.
Pflaum said Seedling’s campaign is aiming at foundations and big donors but also seeks a wide spectrum of individual donors to contribute $18 each to cover one hour of adjunct instruction.
Following the defeat of Dayton’s school levy in May, the district laid off 75 percent of the school’s adjunct staff.
“It’s just not an arts school if you don’t have the adjuncts,” Pflaum said.
Seedling was founded to raise funds in support of Stivers. In the past, it has funded purchases to create a piano lab, buy supplies to start painting instruction, buy paper and tools needed to teach fine arts print making and rebuild a grand piano.
The generosity of Seedling donors is inspiring, Pflaum said. For example, he said his cell phone rang during a recent meeting with Superintendent Percy Mack.
“It was a retired teacher from Kettering who wanted the address to send money,” he said. “A few days later, we got a $2,000 donation in the mail.”
Stivers does lots of fund-raising, he said.
“It’s not just Seedling,” Pflaum said. “Students and adjunct teachers raise a lot of money on their own. Often we match what they raise. At Stivers, kids really learn that the arts don’t come for free.”
To donate to the Seedling Foundation, mail a check to P.O. Box 1858, Dayton, Ohio, 45401-1858. E-mail Pflaum at wdpflaum@ix.netcom.com with questions or call the school at 542-7380.
(Image credit: Ty Greenlees, DDN)
Permalink | Comments (27) | Categories: Dayton Public Schools
Comments
By Another DPS Teacher
July 17, 2007 11:23 AM | Link to this
Rachael, you are correct. Knowledge Works did fund the Small Learning Community effort at Colonel White. Although I have no children at Stivers, I commend the donors for their time, dedication, and generousity.By Rachael
July 17, 2007 7:11 AM | Link to this
David, Dave, Teacher: Other high schools in the district have had extra money for several years. Belmont, Meadowdale, and Colonel White have been part of a small schools grant (I believe it was funded by Knowledge Works). For several years, they have had money for travel, training, textbooks, small class sizes, additional staff, etc. It was a great opportunity for them to explore new programs and offer their students a quality education. To imply that Stivers is the only school getting outside funding is simply not accurate.By Caroline
July 16, 2007 8:13 PM | Link to this
right on, BarbBy another Stivers parent
July 16, 2007 5:07 PM | Link to this
Thanks so much to the donor!By Dave
July 16, 2007 2:18 PM | Link to this
Mary, the ISSUE is that Bill P and his group felt the need to support students at Stivers, and did something very positive about it. YOU chose to belittle this effort by saying “Sounds heartwarming on the surface, but it is difficult to know if this is ultimately in the overall best interest of public education.” You are so opposed to high school sports that you cannot appreciate a positive act because you feel a deep need to twist it into an opportunity to attack sports.By Barb
July 15, 2007 1:30 PM | Link to this
Teacher I agree that it is a shame that a child was killed in Columbus but I do not understand what the Stivers donation had to do with this. Aren’t we as a society already supporting the masses who choose not to get an education or a job. If his parents could not afford to bury him is this possibly a choice they made. I see many of the students who go to the alternative school come back unchanged and they come back to the same classroom they had problems in before. If the child was given the opportunity to go to Longfellow and did not have the support he needed at home to make behavior changes then why should we as a society donate the money to bury him. Check his records, did his parents respond when the school was saying he was having trouble? What did they do if his grades were low? These are choices the parents of DPS are making. When do the people that are reproducing take responsibility. Perhaps donations would be helpful to teach our next generation why you do not just reproduce over and over. Religious institutions could take a very active role and tell people this is wrong, not raising their children is wrong. Turn off the television, monitor video games all the things that people who are working hard to raise their children are doing. We keep overlooking the main problem. Students are coming to school set up for failure so we have repeatedly lowered our standards to meet their needs. What about raising the bar and expecting them to live up to it no questions asked.By Mary
July 15, 2007 12:29 AM | Link to this
Dave, there is not a plot to simply funnel money to football. It is a deliberate decision by administrators based on their priorities while cutting Stivers adjuncts for music education. So do you think that is an appropriate priority for public education dollars? That is the issue. Or are you one who thinks there are no limits to what schools should do and fund? Does everything everyone wants the schools to do have the same priority - except for football and basketball, of course, which still have the highest priority when budgets get tight? Is it appropriate to bus students to after school activities when they do not bus students to classes? What message does this send to the students about what adults deem higher priority - the education of students in general or special opportunities for athletes?By Teacher
July 14, 2007 12:23 PM | Link to this
While Stivers gets all this attention and money, a student from Meadowdale who attended Longfellow Alternative was stabbed to death in Columbus. I wonder if his family has enough money to bury him.By Dave
July 14, 2007 12:10 PM | Link to this
They say no good deed goes unpunished. And here we have proof. David complains that Bill Pflaum should not help Stivers unless he does the same for ever school in the district. What about the rest of the state? Maybe he also should have to help schools in Oregon and Florida? Meanwhile, Mary speculates that Bill’s support of the arts is really a plot to funnel more money to football! Bill, I’ve never met you, and I don’t have any school age kids, but you’re a hero, to me and to the students and parents at Stivers.By David
July 14, 2007 9:18 AM | Link to this
Bill Pfaum misses the point that a group should not be fund-raising to subsidize a single “special” school—all schools deserve the special treatment. Please don’t respond by telling people to start their own group for their building. The real question is what would be the outcry if someone started fund-raising to save jobs at the Reynolds&Reynolds building and raised money from the business community to do so… Here were have an elite group of selected children from the schools and huge cuts have been made at all schools (but seemingly less at the Reynolds&Reynolds facility, funny how that works) and the elite group is getting special support. Equality? Let’s forget about the poor elementary schools and other high schools that don’t have the protected enclave aura of Stivers. Perhaps if the students had been spread throughout the system before the levy failed there would have been more done to maintain discipline and control and require performance academically to pass and graduate in the other schools. —-Why can’t I get paragraphs to work in these posts.By Concerned Mom of 3
July 14, 2007 12:44 AM | Link to this
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! We appreciate the generosity of the donor who was willing to temporarily “bridge the gap” in services for the very talented artists at Stivers! You are touching many lives in a positve and meaningful way!By Rick
July 13, 2007 6:07 PM | Link to this
This is great news. Stivers is the crown jewel of the system. Art is part of its core curriculum but its academic achievement is unparalleled in the DPS.By John and Carol Lynn
July 13, 2007 1:50 PM | Link to this
Many thanks to Scott Elliott and Bill Pflaum for getting the word out on the seedling Foundation’s efforts to maintain the arts education programs at Stivers. As parents we are grateful to see the foundation, and more importantly the community, step up to fill the gap created by the levy failure. It would be wonderful if each individual that supported the levy showed their support with a donation of $18 for an hour of an adjunct’s time. Supporting the arts at Stivers in no way takes away from the academic instruction - it enhances it. Stiver’s students excell in academics, perhaps because they love going to school. The arts instruction provided by professionals in the various magnet areas adds to the positive educational atmosphere. We are grateful that the seedling Foundation was already in place to provide a means to channel support for the school during this critical time. Supporters of programs in other schools could benefit from seedling’s experience and ensure that not only is “No Child Left Behind” but that every DPS student receives a positive educational experience.By Stivers parent also...
July 13, 2007 10:11 AM | Link to this
As a parent of a Stiver’s graduate of 2007 and another getting ready to graduate 2008 the 100 year anniversary. I am pleased that someone would make that kind of donation to us. When I told my Daughter she may get Mrs. Brewer back, her face lit up, And she started to cry. I told her it’s just a possibility, but she said, I don’t care a possibility is better than not at all. Stivers school is different, My Daughter has been there since 7th grade. And she has learned above what I ever expected her too! This is not about an argument of what is right or what is wrong, My 2nd grader who goes to Meadowdale Elem. will lose her teachers also…But I say atleast I have a Daughter and Son who learned from the best teachers at Stivers, to teach her what she will miss! Thank You very much whoever donated, I will say a prayer for you tonight, and hope blessings come your way! ~Angela Carter~By Mary
July 13, 2007 9:35 AM | Link to this
“MackAttack”, I am glad to be in the same “goof class” as David because he brings up some critical and intelligent points. “Feel good” and “fund raising terrorism” does not compensate for failing systems and bureaucracies. If you would grow up, become more informed by reading about these issues, start thinking like a responsible adult and quit juvenile behavior like name-calling, then maybe this blog would be more productive.By Bill Pflaum
July 13, 2007 7:18 AM | Link to this
David: Every child and every Dayton school is worth supporting. That is the conviction of every member of the seedling Foundation. And every Dayton school can establish a similar foundation. We would be very pleased to share with you how to do it. Be prepared for a lot of hard work like that done relentlessly for the past decade by parents and interested community members who believe every child is important and deserves support of the community. School foundations are very common in other states. Virtually every California school has one. They are not the ultimate solution to Dayton’s and Ohio’s funding problems but they can support some urgent and immediate needs for which no other funds are available at this time. What’s special about this Foundation is the hard work of its members and their belief in kids, teachers and parents — in the critical importance of arts in education. We want every child, irrespective of school, to have a superior education.By MackAttack
July 13, 2007 5:26 AM | Link to this
To David: what a goof. To Mary: what another goof. To All: Donations gladly accepted to post sign “DPS…Closed For The Season, See You When Mack Is Gone”.By Julie
July 13, 2007 3:23 AM | Link to this
Stivers is a special place. Not just a special school. If you can find the time, you HAVE to visit. The staff and teachers care and the students are proud to be there. It’s just different than any other school in the district. I promise, if you just take the time to stop by you’d be happy to donate any amount within your means. It’s not about putting this school above or ahead of others. It’s about letting Stivers reach it’s goals in every area so it can set the bar for ALL DPS in the future. Good luck to the Stivers FAMILY. I will be sending my check soon!By null
July 13, 2007 1:23 AM | Link to this
It’s great that someone stepped up to save the programs at Stivers but who is going to step up and save those children in the elementary schools that eventually go to Stivers? Without a foundation, you can’t build a building. The same goes for a solid student. Without a strong elementary program, they may never make it to Stivers.By stivers parent
July 12, 2007 11:27 PM | Link to this
The Seedling foundation is made up of STIVERS parent, alumini and community leaders. This is why STIVERS is benefiting! To our generous Donator - THANK YOU!By Bill Pflaum
July 12, 2007 11:16 PM | Link to this
You’re right Mary, donations to support long term core instruction, and the arts are core at Stivers, is not a long term solution. But in the current circumstance donations, large and small, are the only solution. In the longer term adjuncts must be supported by the district and the district, in turn, must be supported by a revised funding formula that is not so heavily dependent on property taxes. A new system must rrecognize the intense burden that unfund and underfunded mandates place on urban districts in particular. Only when politicians have the political courage to reform the current funding system will urban districts be able to serve their students on a consistant and equitable basis. Legislators and the voting public must understand that the current funding approach systematically shrinks state support each year and simultaneously increases district obligations. The problems that this funding system places on urban districts today will be faced by suburban districts tomorrow, especially on those districts with stable or decreasing student numbers. Need we look further than Kettering? The donations to support Stivers adjuncts are not coming from “special interests” but from special people who believe in kids and in arts education. There will be thousands of these very special people donating $18. Will you be one?By Caroline
July 12, 2007 10:22 PM | Link to this
I am very thankful for these donors. That is wonderful. That gives hope for the students at Stivers. I wish that other students in the district could get the same opportunities.By David
July 12, 2007 7:21 PM | Link to this
So, the only schools Dayton PS should save are the ones that are treated special? The kids in the other schools aren’t worth being supported by this special foundation? This will only further the dichotomy that has built in the DPS. How would people react if a group were saving only athletics and had a $100000 donation along with others but it couldn’t be used for general education of all students, only for a certain group called sports?By Mary
July 12, 2007 6:43 PM | Link to this
Barb,I wonder if Stivers also teaches reading comprehension. If you took the class, then maybe you would understand what it is I really said.By Deb
July 12, 2007 4:48 PM | Link to this
A Huge thank you to anyone who supports DPS in any way!! With two children in the district, we were heartbroken when the levy failed in May. And the fact that 81% of those eligible didn’t even vote just sickens me! We are just now starting to feel what a potentially horrible blow the levy failure is to our children’s education, a we receive updates about who has been cut from the staff at each of their schools. Our oldest daughter will be attending Stivers beginning this fall, and we were fearful that it would just be on the road to becoming “any other school,” with all of the cuts to the adjunct staff and beyond. Stivers is a true gem in the crown of the entire Miami Valley, and anyone who knows anything about it should be proud to do anything they can to help it maintain its standards of excellence - not only in the arts, but in academics. The talented, motivated, creative class of 2007 earned $4.6 million in scholarships, and the environment at Stivers nurtures these young people to become well-rounded, contributing members of our society. Our current funding system is failing public education and all of the children therein. If that necessitates relying on the generosity of those who can afford it, I just thank God that they are willing and able to do so!By Barb
July 12, 2007 3:31 PM | Link to this
I would have to think that because Mary has not had children at Stivers she is commenting on things she knows little about. Thank you to the donor. My 3 children who all graduated from Stivers can attest to the difference their adjunct staff made to them. They to this day can call on them for help and support. Their focus on the Arts made them much better students in college which has been proven time and again. As the adjunct were cut they commented time and time again that Stivers would now just become any other DPS. Again a big thanks to the people that have helped and worked at this and to all donors.By Mary
July 12, 2007 2:16 PM | Link to this
Sounds heartwarming on the surface, but it is difficult to know if this is ultimately in the overall best interest of public education. As the book “Cheating our kids - how politics and greed ruin education” pointed out, “beware of friends with deep pockets”. News articles have dealt with some of the problems of big donors in athletics at schools and universities, pharmaceuticals at med schools, etc. It will be interesting to see if this has an overall positive or negative impact on school and public education priorities and educational environment for all students. My concern is that by special funding of all the special interest groups, the core curriculum and purpose of classroom education gets overshadowed and lost in all the commotion. At least this appears on the surface to be more directly in support of the classroom efforts. But this seems to enable the district’s skewed priorities with public education dollars in funding football over Stivers adjuncts - sort of like funding the family’s expensive wine cellar instead of buying meat and potatoes.