Wanted: New revenue sources for Morris High

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Local high school athletic fields are used and seen by more than just the school’s students, so the Morris Community High School Board is researching how the fields could be used to bring in more revenue for the school district.

The board began discussions at last week’s board meeting on several ways to bring in alternate revenue: corporate sponsorships, restructuring of the booster clubs and the possible creation of an education foundation.

“Interested businesses have approached us wanting to know how they can help out and a common way is with advertising in exchange for a financial commitment,” said Superintendent Pat Halloran.

Board member Jim Paulson pointed out there is a lot of exposure to Morris High’s athletic field with football, soccer, band competitions and its other uses. The board agreed allowing signs to be displayed at the field could be a benefit for the school.

“I’m not opposed to it as long as businesses don’t try to take control of anything,” board member Denny Best said.

Halloran and school board members will be looking at forming a committee to research neighboring districts’ policies on corporate sponsorships and also on combined booster clubs and forming an education foundation.

Coal City Unit District 1 is one of the school districts Morris will connect with for information because it has fewer Booster Clubs and an education foundation, Halloran said.

But Coal City does not have corporate sponsorships.

“We have had no board-level discussion on that,” said Coal City Superintendent Dr. Kent Bugg. “The day may come that we may look at that, but not right now.”

BACKED BY BOOSTERS

Currently, Morris High has several booster clubs for numerous school sports, Halloran said. The booster clubs are separate entities from the school, but the board would like to look at their structures to see if one large club would be beneficial.

“One big benefit would be not having to call every business in town 20 different times (for each booster club),” said board vice president Ralph Wagner at the meeting.

Morris High has about 10 official booster clubs, Principal Kelly Hussey said Monday.

For starters, Halloran said, the administration will just be looking at the structure to see if there is room for improvement.

“It’s all about getting more resources for the students and doing it in a way that makes sense for the community,” he said.

Coal City Unit District 1 does not have one large booster club, but the clubs are narrowed down to three. It has an Athletics Booster Club, a Music Booster Club and a Parent School Organization, which acts as a Booster Club for academic teams and clubs, Bugg said.

All requests for financial assistance from teachers and groups go through the school board and the board funnels requests it cannot meet to the community groups, he said.

A STRONG FOUNDATION

In addition, Coal City also has the Unit 1 Educational Foundation, which is completely separate from the district, but raises money for both student and community needs. Just last year, Bugg said, the foundation gave $15,000 in scholarships to Unit 1 students.

This is what the Morris board hopes can be accomplished for its high school students. They’re hoping upon further research a few community members will step forward to create a foundation to support the students and teachers.

“We’re hoping they would find ways to support and provide resources for teachers who want to go above and beyond in the classroom,” Halloran said.

The foundation would have a process for teachers to apply for funding for things the district cannot provide in its budget, such as a special project or speaker.

The Unit 1 Educational Foundation most recently approved contributions to “Road to Reality,” which was held Wednesday. “Road to Reality” is an event aimed toward 5th through 12th graders who go through a series of scenes watching a teenager who makes a bad decision that affects numerous lives.

The event is put on through two community groups, Community Cares Initiative and No Tolerance Task Force, and the school district.

The Coal City foundation’s mission is “to enhance, support and create learning opportunities for students of all ages."

Foundation president Dean Marketti helped create the foundation in 2001. Before the foundation, he was a school board member.

“A goal we had while on the board was to develop a foundation for an extra source of funding,” Marketti said.

The foundation raises money through memorial donations, wills, endowments and trust bequests; corporate and business sponsorships; employer matching programs, an annual golf outing; and by selling engraved leafs on the Learning Tree on display in the high school lobby.

It has given more than $92,000 in scholarships and project grants since its creation.

Marketti said the success of the foundation depends on its board and volunteers.

“People have to be in it for the right reasons,” Marketti said. “You have to education people on what you stand for.”
 

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