Wallets open wide to help charter school

Parents, board members and others are dipping into their wallets to help ease Prairie Crossing Charter School's financial woes.

Roughly $67,580 was contributed as of Friday afternoon to the Grayslake public school since the financial alarm went off late last month.

Prairie Crossing, which is Lake County's only charter school and offers an environmentally focused curriculum, stands to gain much more than what it collects in donations because of a dollar-for-dollar challenge issued by the Liberty Prairie Foundation.

"I don't think people give to something they don't really believe in and support," Prairie Crossing board member Steve Barg said.

Unlike traditional public schools, Prairie Crossing depends on a combination of per-pupil state aid and private donations. Director Myron Dagley said at a recent meeting that the school is in danger of having a $251,000 budget shortfall when the academic year ends.

Prairie Crossing is within the boundaries of Fremont Elementary District 79 and Woodland Elementary District 50. The state's per-pupil financial aid follows the Fremont and Woodland children if they attend Prairie Crossing, but out-of-area parents may pay tuition for students.

To jump-start the call for a greater need for private contributions and fundraising efforts, Liberty Prairie Foundation issued what it called a challenge grant opportunity through Dec. 31. The organization, which backs environmentally friendly efforts, will match all donations to the charter school dollar for dollar -- up to $75,000.

Liberty Prairie Foundation executive director Mike Sands said his group's financial commitment isn't a long-term solution for the charter school. Instead, he said, the money will buy Prairie Crossing extra time to find a stable funding source to pay off its debts.

"We're a very small group," Sands said. "This ($75,000 pledge) represents a very significant grant for us."

Prairie Crossing would reap $150,000 if the Liberty Prairie Foundation's challenge is met. Officials said $150,000 in donations would preserve all teaching assistant jobs at the school.

Along with cash chipped in by parents, nine Prairie Crossing board members have donated about $12,500 to the school since last month. Students in the kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school have been collecting pennies for the cause.

Prairie Crossing spokeswoman Rekha Athreya said the school has been overwhelmed by the amount of donations in such a short time.

"It's just been so exciting at the school so far," Athreya said.