Elgin Area School District U-46 outlines guidelines for giving

Want to help Elgin Area School District U-46 bail out some of its red ink?

While it's appreciated, there are rules.

With $30 million in budget cuts affecting every single corner of the district, officials don't want only select students to benefit from local generosity.

District Chief of Family and Community Engagement Karen Fox is in the process of developing district "guidelines" for giving.

The guidelines, currently in draft form, would be distributed to parent organizations, booster clubs and foundations, community groups, businesses, volunteers and families in the district.

While the 16-page document may be tweaked by parent group leaders over the next few months, the message will stay the same. Fox has shared the document with several principals and local business leaders.

The guidelines are broken down into five sections - when to consider fundraising; typical expenditures by PTOs; suggestions for volunteers and partners; school board policies; and where to go for more information.

Funds raised by parent organizations or booster clubs should benefit all students, the guidelines note. Money contributed by local groups or organizations may not be used to "purchase" teachers or replace positions that were eliminated because of budget cuts.

"The board of education and the school district must be able to ensure equity of resources among schools," the guidelines note.

For those who want to donate to the 41,000-student district, suggestions for "appropriate" contributions are sponsoring a districtwide event or activity, like a "Principal for a Day" event or new teacher orientation, or donating funds or services to upgrade a district facility, like the U-46 observatory or the WEPS radio station.

School board policy mandates that individuals and organizations must recognize that money given to a school cannot be earmarked for any particular expense.

"I think the message is that there are guidelines in place to help ensure equity and channel resources to appropriate places and services," Fox said.