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The Cascadia Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is a non-profit organization committed to supporting families, teachers and school leadership.
On October 8th, 2024, our PTA will kick off its annual Red Envelope Giving Campaign!!!
At Cascadia we keep our fundraising simple and straightforward. Instead of multiple asks (auctions, fun-runs etc..), our PTA encourages a one-time per year donation, and this year’s suggested amount is $700 per student. We recognize that different families have different finances and encourage you to donate the amount that feels right for your family. Our goal is for every family to return their red envelopes regardless of the level of giving. Every year we see a range from $0 to well above the per-student ask. 100% participation is an important goal! Please note any donation amount can be broken into monthly payments by using PayPal.
Funds raised through the Annual Giving Campaign directly fund this year’s school budget. We know this year’s per student ask is big. SPS’ ongoing budget crisis means we are getting less district funding and our PTA has to provide significantly more funding that we did in the past to maintain the staff and services the Cascadia community needs to thrive.
As a thank you for your participation, students will be entered into a raffle for a Lego kit and can have the chance to have a Cascadia Dragon as a class pet (complete with temporary naming rights!).
What does my donation support?
- $7,200 towards a FULL TIME recess aide so there is adequate supervision to keep our children safe and ensure that the shared turf field is ALWAYS open;
- 50% of the librarian’s salary (many of our kids are voracious readers and we believe they need a full-time librarian);
- 75% of the instrumental music salary costs (this year ALL 4th and 5th grade students who requested instrumental music got in, if we didn’t fund it only a small % of 5th graders would be able to);
- 40% of the counselor’s salary costs (we fund this so we have a counselor 4 days a week, otherwise we would only have a counselor 2 days a week)
- 60% of the nurse’s salary costs (we fund this so we have a nurse 4 days a week, without our funding we would have the nurse 1 day a week) ;
- 100% of the ILab program
- 100% of the garden program
- 100% of the performing arts program
- $4000 towards new art supplies
- 100% of the cost of handwriting without tears for grades 2 and 3 and IXL (all grades)
- 100% of new election curriculum for grade 4
- PTA events, other curriculum and professional development support for teachers and students; and
- Scholarships to support participation in music, field trips, extracurriculars.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Do PTAs Fundraise at All?
Many would agree that, ideally, PTAs shouldn’t be fundraising, that the state should fully fund public education. But the reality is Washington state chronically underfunds education and this has only gotten worse in recent years. 1) McCleary, a 2012 Washington State Supreme Court case meant to address historic underfunding of rural districts, has over-corrected things such that urban districts like Seattle are not getting their fair share of education dollars. Especially given the cost of living crisis in Seattle, it simply costs more for our teachers to live here and more for us to fund their salaries and we are not getting this funding from the state. 2) Education funding as a % of overall state funding has decreased from approximately 50% to 42% in recent years. Put another way, the state is underfunding education by approximately $4 billion a year. 3) To limit state funding on education the state arbitrarily caps the % of special education services it will fund to 10% of the student population. But in Seattle the special education population is more like 14% – and this “extra” 4% of students are morally, ethically and legally entitled to receive the special education services they need. This creates a big hole in SPS’s budget.
Why Are you Asking for So Much?
Faced with financial scarcity and impossible choices, the district has to decide where to deploy its too limited funds. Sensibly, there is an equity-tiering model to funding, and schools deemed less in need both because of the socio economic background of the students and because of test scores, get less funding. For this academic year Cascadia is SECOND TO LAST OUT OF 102 SCHOOLS IN SPS IN TERMS OF PER STUDENT FUNDING. This is despite Cascadia being an elementary school full of young children that need a certain number of adults in the building for there to be adequate adult supervision.
What Do I Do With My Red Envelope?
Our goal is for every family to return their red envelopes regardless of the level of giving. Every year we see a range from $0 to well above the per-student ask. 100% participation is the goal! Please complete the enclosed response form and return it in the red envelope to your child’s homeroom teacher. Even if you donate online, or are choosing not to donate at all, please return the response form and red envelope for each child you have at Cascadia. You can also digitally “return” your Red Envelope by submitting your form and financial contribution online using the links below.
When is the deadline?
Response forms and red envelopes should be returned to your student’s homeroom teacher (or submitted online) by Tuesday, October 29, 2024.
Can I use a credit card to donate money?
Yes! Click here to donate online via PayPal. Please be sure to also submit a paper or digital donation form so we can track your donation and provide you a receipt). You can also submit cash or a check payable to Cascadia PTA. Please note PayPal charges a non-profit collection fee of 1.99% + $0.49 per transaction. You can choose to offset these charges when you donate.
Can we spread our donation throughout the year?
Yes! You can set up recurring monthly donations via PayPal.
Do you accept employer matches?
YES!!! Every year, employer matches play a big part in our red envelope campaign. Please reach out to your employer and request matching funds. Please indicate the name of your employer your Red Envelope form (paper or digital) so that the PTA can anticipate the matching gift. If you need more information, please email us at fundraising@cascadiapta.org.
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Yes! Cascadia PTA will provide you a letter documenting your contribution. Letters will be distributed approximately one month after the conclusion of the Annual Fund. Our Tax ID is 45-2972289.
Click the Dragon to donate via PayPal today!
