READ: Ohio auditor advocates school policies on using crowdfunding
Springfield City Schools Superintendent Bob Hill said the policy is necessary.
“SCSD fully supports crowdfunding as an option for teachers to provide additional resources in their respective classrooms,” he said. “We are extremely proud of our educators in Springfield for taking the initiative to go above and beyond for our students. The adoption of the policy is a best practice to protect our educators and the district.”
The Springfield policy says those who raise money on behalf of the school must be accountable for the money. It also says that DonorChoose.com should be used because it is designed specifically for schools and another website should not be used at this time.
“The Principal/Director must pre-approve a crowdfunding project/request prior to it being posted on a crowdfunding platform. The requester must show clear alignment with the district strategic priorities,” the policy says.
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Teachers throughout Ohio are using crowdfunding-online fundraising-to generate donations for educational materials for students and the Auditor of State is urging policies be put in place, according to a press release from Yost.
The survey included 123 of Ohio’s school districts and found that fewer than half had a crowdfunding policy, according to the release.
The release stated there are risks when using crowdfunding such as compromising student confidentiality, mishandling of donations, and allowing extra scrutiny of educational programs.
According to the release, teachers spend an estimate of $600 a year of their own money to buy supplies for their classrooms.
Crowdfunding sites that are specifically designed to help teachers include AdoptAClassroom, ClassWish, EdBacker, GoFundMe, Indiegogo, Kickstarter, PledgeCents, and YouCaring, according to the release.
Teachers have used crowdfunding websites for donations of money and educational supplies such as notebooks, pencils, and specialized furniture to help special-needs students, the release stated.
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“With an increase in donor-directed charitable donations, there’s no question more Ohioans will use these online giving tools in the future to invest in areas that are important to them,” said Yost. “Because children are our greatest resource, I expect we’ll see increasing requests for donations to education-related issues, and schools need policies to avoid any issues.”
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