FAHA: School District Problems

[Bharat Nain]

Dealing with school districts is an important part for every FIRST team and also a very tricky one. This team is having trouble getting by with their district. What suggestions and wisdom can you offer them in dealing with district problems?

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In some ways, this is a mini rant. Our school board refused to let us petition for more sponsors, or to go out and find sponsors themselves, until the middle of a regional competition when our mentor got the call. Their reason being that the district didn't want to be known for "begging" for money. Yet this past season our funds consisted of $6,000 from our sponsors. Another sponsor dropped us and the school "lost" thousands of dollars over the summer of 2007 without a clue. Funds are requested in advance by the mentor and then we are handed the money as a cash advance. Basically, we have no organized account of any sort.

Our hours were based off of the security and janitorial staff which was fine and dandy had they actually let us stay in there when they told us we could, and not kick us out early, like when the girls basketball team decided they didn't want to practice that same day. It being the last build day didn't help all that much. That alone was a kick in the teeth, personally.

The teacher said himself that he's worried we won't have a team in the next few years because of the lack of dedication in the school. We've got a solid core group of approximately 6-10 people including mentors. Parental involvement is virtually nonexistent, with a few who do things here and there to help out.

Now I try to start a new team to reach more area students and try to get some fundraisers, community outreach, and general summer robotics events going. Some of the students are excited to join, others still want to stick with the school's team, which is fine by me. But I don't want them, the mentor of the current team, or the board to consider this a "rebel" team. I just want to be a part of a team that wants more than just winning a regional, more than the "standard" six-week build season of FRC, more than just a robotics team. FIRST inspired me, not that team. It's not because we didn't have the money, not because we only had a very small group of dedicated members.

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FIRST-a-holic Anonymous mailbox is a place to share your concern and frustration about your FIRST experience anonymously. It is the perfect place if you just want someone to listen, or ask for advice when you don’t know what to do. Submit your letters today at the FIRST-a-holic anonymous mailbox forum. If you wish to respond to this thread anonymously, please PM Beth or Bharat with your response and thread title.

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[EricH]

If you can't work with the school district, then definitely go on your own. Explain that this is to get more students involved without school involvement and restrictions. Also explain that the team is a fallback--if the current team folds, the students can transfer over.

As for the parents, you need to hold a parents meeting, if you haven't already. There is an analogy of a team being a triangle--the students are one side, administration and faculty are the other. The bottom is the parents, who are the support for the team. Every parent has something they can contribute.

School administration needs to attend a competition. That might convince them.

[GaryVoshol]

I agree you need to get the parents involved. Your team needs the support. Mentors can't do it all, and shouldn't be expected to. The additional leverage parents bring is that they are taxpayers and voters. They can be advocates for the team and lobby the Board of Ed and school administrators.

You should also investigate setting yourselves up as a 501(c)3 corporation (a non-profit). Then your sponsors could contribute tax-deductable donations directly to team accounts, and you could pay your bills directly instead of having to go through school accounts.

You also need to show the school administrators that this is a good program to be involved with. Get them to tournaments. Make a presentation to the Board of Ed with your robot. Show them students who are now inspired to get degrees in science, math and engineering, and who have opportunities for college scholarships.

[wendymom]

If you choose to go off on your own....investigate becoming a 4-H team. You are covered under 501C-3 and also have liability insurance. You are able to have people from whatever school and also homeschoolers. You will still have to raise your own funds and find your own build space. Parents will have to be involved because there is no faculty advisor. If you have any questions about how to become a 4-H club please PM me and I will be happy to answer any questions. It has worked well for Exploding Bacon

[Bharat Nain]

Anonymous reply from ORIGINAL POSTER. By the way, great responses.
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I appreciate all the replies you've sent, it's good to know that such excellent community support is at our fingertips. To those that suggest we invite board members to competitions, that has been done multiple years, and they have accepted. They stopped by the workshop, saw us in the pits, watched our matches, talked with us, and convinced us the board is doing everything they can to help continue the program. Things like this take time, sure, but there are doubts when the stadium receives new lights unnecessarily.

Unfortunately, I've heard some pretty bad rumors about next school year. It appears that field trips may be reduced/removed completely to save money. Though it isn't official yet, we are concerned this may negatively impact the current team, possibly eliminating it completely, only urging us to have the new team ready ASAP. We will try to convince the board we are worth keeping and growing, whether or not it is announced publicly.

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FIRST-a-holic Anonymous mailbox is a place to share your concern and frustration about your FIRST experience anonymously. It is the perfect place if you just want someone to listen, or ask for advice when you don’t know what to do. Submit your letters today at the FIRST-a-holic anonymous mailbox forum. If you wish to respond to this thread anonymously, please PM Beth or Bharat with your response and thread title.
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