Published: January 15, 2008 10:56AM
SPRINGFIELD ? The Springfield School District will be the beneficiary of nearly $360,000 in federal funds this fiscal year, thanks in part to the district?s ongoing ? and apparently unusual ? annual lobbying efforts.
Tucked away in a 1,400-page omnibus spending bill signed by President Bush last month were earmarks of $179,000 for the district?s fledgling Academy of Arts and Academics, or A3, and another $178,600 for school security initiatives.
The earmarks ? congressional provisions directing that funds be spent on specific projects ? originated in different bills in both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.
?This is a red-letter year for us, in terms of United Front,? said district communications director Jeff DeFranco, referring to the larger coalition of local governments that send representatives to lobby in Washington, D.C., each year.
The funds for A3 will be used for technology, equipment and furniture to support the expansion of the existing building downtown. Construction is likely to begin next fall.
The school security funds will supplement local capital bond money earmarked for a sophisticated, districtwide ?card-swipe? system that will better control access to buildings and allow for quick lock downs, DeFranco said.
Those were the only two projects for which the district had sought federal assistance this year, DeFranco said, so even though it didn?t receive the full amount requested, officials call it a big success.
The Springfield School District jumped into the federal lobbying game in the wake of the deadly Thurston High School shootings in 1998. For several years before that, local governments and institutions ? including the city of Springfield, the city of Eugene, the University of Oregon and Lane County ? had sent teams to Washington with a list of agreed-upon projects.
In 1998, the district and other local governments put together the United Front Action Plan for the Prevention of Youth Crime and School Violence and took it to lawmakers in Washington.
Those efforts led to the development of a multiagency grant program to address school violence.
The following year, the Eugene, Springfield and Bethel school districts received the first of three shared $2.8 million annual grants through the program.
In the years since, the Springfield School District has continued its role in United Front, paying about $12,000 annually to a shared lobbying firm, Smith Dawson & Andrews, and sending representatives ? usually one district official and one or two school board members ? to Washington each year.
Including travel, printing and other costs, the district?s annual share of the effort has been no more than $20,000.
Since the initial Safe Schools grant, the district has yielded more than $1.1 million in federal funds for after-school programs, as well as this year?s earmarks.
Officials attribute the funds to the United Front efforts, along with advocacy by the offices of Rep. Peter DeFazio and Sens. Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden.
?I think, prior to this year?s federal earmarks, which proved to be very fruitful for Springfield Public Schools, our own Springfield School District return was around 5,000 percent, so I think that statistic alone validates what we?re doing,? Board Chairman Garry Weber said.
No other local districts are involved in United Front. Shannon Priem, a spokeswoman for Oregon School Boards Association, said her organization doesn?t track such activity, but she believes that few districts get involved in lobbying beyond the state level.
?I think if Springfield?s doing this for the purposes of getting advantages and funding, I think that?s probably paying for itself, but I think it?s unusual, as far as I can tell,? she said.
DeFranco said the lobbying firm sets up meetings not just with Oregon?s elected officials, but also with staff of key committee members and other organizations, including the National Endowment for the Arts.
?There?s also a lot of advisory help,? he said. ?Long before we decide which (requests) to bring forward, they advise which ones are going to be compelling to the delegation and which there are actually revenue sources for out in Washington. And they watch and really shepherd it through the process so they know when it gets to a key decision point.?
With the United Front trip coming up in March, the district is readying this year?s requests, DeFranco said. There are three:
Approximately $450,000 for the Arts Matter initiative, which aims to more fully integrate the arts across the curriculum. The money would pay for guest artist stipends, materials, instrument replacement and repair, teacher training and a new district arts coordinator.
An undetermined amount ? something less than a half-million dollars ? for an ?energy audit? of every district building. The money would help identify ways to make buildings more energy-efficient and possibly cover some engineering and design costs.
Approximately $2 million to research and design a new, integrated health and social services center through partnerships with community agencies.
Such a center would house existing programs scattered at multiple locations, offering ?one-stop-shopping? for families in need, DeFranco explained.
He noted that such a project is most likely years away, but that it has been listed as a priority for several years.
Published: January 16, 2008 05:01AM
In recent years it?s rare for a Springfield School Board election to pass without a candidate targeting the district?s participation in the coalition of local governments that send representatives to lobby in Washington, D.C., each year.
That?s understandable at first glance. No other local school districts participate in the United Front program, and the $12,000 that the Springfield district pays the lobbying firm shared by other local governments nearly jumps off the pages of the annual budget. Toss in the $6,000 or so that the district spends on United Front travel, printing and other expenses, and you have what looks like a big red target for candidates on a search-and-destroy mission for budgetary ?fat.?
But the United Front is hardly a questionable expenditure for the Springfield district. The program?s worth has been proven many times, most recently by the nearly $360,000 in federal funds that the district will receive this fiscal year.
An omnibus spending bill signed by President Bush last month includes earmarks of $179,000 for the district?s new Academy of Arts and Academics and another $178,600 for school security initiatives. The funds for the innovative academy will be used for technology, equipment and furniture to support the expansion of the existing building downtown. The school security funds will pay for a state-of-the-art card-swipe system that will enhance control of access to buildings and allow for swifter emergency lockdowns.
In the 1990s, local governments and institutions ? including the cities of Springfield and Eugene, Lane County and the University of Oregon ? participated in a coalition that sent teams to Washington, D.C., to lobby for local projects. The Springfield district?s involvement began in 1998 after Kip Kinkel?s shooting rampage at Thurston High School.
In the wake of that trauma, local governments joined with the district to successfully lobby federal lawmakers to approve a school violence program that yielded nearly $3 million in annual grants to the Springfield, Eugene and Bethel school districts.
Since then, the Springfield district has remained part of the United Front, sharing the cost of a lobbying firm and sending a small contingent to Washington each year. Not including the initial school violence grant, the program has been instrumental in securing nearly $1.5 million in federal funding for district programs, including this year?s earmarks.
That?s not a bad return on an annual investment that?s less than half the cost of a full-time district employee.
This year the district plans to request $450,000 for an initiative aimed at integrating the arts into the district?s curriculum, $2 million to research and design a new health and social services center through partnerships with community agencies, and additional funding to make district buildings more energy efficient.
Based on the United Front?s track record, the district stands an excellent chance of securing a major chunk of that ambitious funding request.
Surprisingly, Springfield is the only local school district participating in the regional lobbying coalition. Based on its recent successes, others should follow its example.
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