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Dear Ocean Charter School Community – We are writing to further update everyone as to the status of the 2010–2011 budget for our school. On June 10th, the board met to go over the entire budget in detail. The most significant result of that evaluation was our agreement that our fundraising estimate for next year was overambitious. Once we reduced that estimate to a level comparable with 2009-2010, we came up approximately $37,000 short of a balanced budget – and this was the budget which already reflected the very painful cuts of Eurythmy and Spanish, as described in our email of May 28th.

Because the budget has faced so many cuts in recent years, there is nowhere left to turn other than our specialty programs. Therefore, unless we find additional funding, we will have to cut our Handwork Program. The Board and the Administration are completely aware of the value and quality of this program, as well as its role within our curriculum. It is with heavy hearts that we even consider this cut; it is not one that would be made lightly.

Not that long ago, Ocean Charter School was just an idea being imagined around the kitchen tables of parents trying to create a better model for the public education of their children. Look how far we’ve come in only a few short years! With that in mind, we realized that we owed it to the community to create an opportunity to save the Handwork program.

And so, with this letter, we launch the Handwork Fundraising Drive. Our deficit is approximately $37,000, so our target donation is $100 per student. This is a special, one-time drive to raise money for the Handwork Program, and will not take the place of the annual pledge drive in the Fall. We were encouraged by the positive reaction to the idea from the parents present at the June 10th meeting, and in fact we left the meeting already $1,250 on the way towards our goal!

We know these are difficult times not only for our school but for many of our families. The Board of Trustees along with the Administration, the Fundraising Committee, and the Development Task Force are proactively seeking long term solutions to strengthen our financial situation. For this drive we would also like to encourage anyone who knows an outside source for funding who might donate to save such a program to contact Bryan Cahill from our Development Task Force at bryanlisa@sbcglobal.net.

For those who wish to donate to the Handwork Fundraising Drive by check, please send it to the school address:
Ocean Charter School Attn: Handwork Fundraising Drive
12606 Culver Blvd
Los Angeles, CA. 90066

Donations can also be made through PayPal by clicking * DONATE via PAYPAL *.

Our deadline for this drive is July 31st, so that we will know we have sufficient funding in time to plan for the start of the school year. Please make any donation you can as soon as possible to save the program!

Ocean Charter’s strength comes from the dedication and commitment of all of us, working together. Together, we will get past these difficult financial times while we continue the work of providing the best education possible for our children.

With thanks, On behalf of the Board of Trustees, Charles Francis - Board Treasurer 2010-11 Joan Jaeckel - Board Member Liz Koravos - Board Treasurer 2009-10

"How does, or should, the education system accommodate the fact that the hand is not merely a metaphor or an icon for humanness, but often the real-life focal point - the lever or the launching pad - of a successful and genuinely fulfilling life?" – The Hand: How It's Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human Culture by Frank R. Wilson.

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