Equity Grants to give some Portland schools a boost (The Portland Tribune, April 5, 2012)

Read the full story below and here.

By Jennifer Anderson

Fund sets 17-year record for most cash distributed

About one in every two Portland Public Schools will receive a much-needed boost this fall with an Equity Grant of $12,000 to $30,000 each to spend in their buildings as they like.

The grants – $965,000 in all – are being awarded by the PPS Equity Fund, which is managed by the Portland Public Schools Foundation, a division of All Hands Raised.

All Hands Raised made the announcement Friday, as district staff and families are grappling with the $27.5 million in looming budget cuts to hit PPS this fall.

The equity grants come from the $3 million raised last year by the 39 local school foundations throughout the district. A third of the dollars were placed in the Equity Fund for the schools that don’t have the same fundraising power.

In all, 43 PPS schools will get an award this year. James John Elementary received the highest award, $30,000. Seven schools received $25,000 each; 35 received $20,000 each and five alternative schools received $12,000 each.

The sum of the grants and number of schools served are a record in the fund’s 17-year history.

Awards were determined by a formula that factors in the school’s financial resources and demographics. The formula also considered the eight schools likely to lose their federal Title 1 poverty funds this fall.