Palmerton school board looks to start fund through Carbon foundation

Palmerton Area School District’s board of directors is looking to start a fund through the Carbon County Community Foundation to support future endeavors.

On Tuesday night, Palmerton’s board approved an organizational fund agreement with the foundation, pending review by its attorney.

“I’ve been involved with funds in other districts, and the big advantage here is that the foundation takes care of the management end of it,” interim Superintendent Dr. Alan Lonoconus said. “Our business office doesn’t have to be involved on a day-to-day basis, and that’s nice.”

The foundation was started in 2015 to support area nonprofit organizations. It serves as an umbrella for many charitable funds, by managing endowments as well as distributing grants and facilitating donations.

School districts that start a fund can designate specific causes to support such as a scholarship, building enhancement or a specific educational program, for example. Donors can also specify if they want their funds to go to a certain area.

“These funds use community contributions to take the pressure off the tax base,” said Amber Breiner, executive director of the foundation. “We have one school district fund in existence in Carbon County, but others are considering doing it. We just set up a fund for Weatherly in lieu of them doing their own private foundation.”

After the initial setup process, Palmerton will have its own designated page on the foundation’s website, through which people can make contributions to the fund and find out more information.

“It gives community members the confidence that whatever their goal is, it will be honored and the money will not be commingled with the general fund,” Breiner said.

Palmerton Board President Kathy Fallow said she was involved in developing a creative arts fund through the foundation.

“It’s very easy to do and could be a great benefit to our district,” Fallow said.

Palmerton’s agreement with the foundation is modeled after the one completed with Weatherly.

According to Weatherly’s website with the foundation, the goal of its fund is to “supplement and enhance student needs beyond the basics of what the district is required or able to provide.”

“One example of how we could utilize this is we have a library fund that has to be included in the budget every year,” Lonoconus said. “We could take that and through the foundation, have that as a dedicated fund so that when it comes time to use that money for a library renovation, we just go through the foundation and everything is right there for us.”

He also encouraged the board to use this as an opportunity to reach out to alumni for support.

“Our recent graduates aren’t going to have a lot of disposable income yet, but if you look at some of the classes that have been in the workforce for a while, they may have more of that disposable income and willing to give back to whatever the cause may be,” he said.

Palmerton will also have its own advisory board for the fund, which would likely include interested community members.

“Having community members on the advisory board helps provide that continuity,” Breiner said. “The board members change and the administration changes, but a lot of times those community members are going to be your constant and help keep driving the fund forward.”