Valley Schools Look Toward Endowment Funds

The Ansonia school district has 42 separate bank accounts for small scholarship awards. 

The Board of Education is looking to combine those into one account — an education endowment fund that will be administered by the Valley Community Foundation.

The community foundation is pushing for each of the five Valley school districts to start such a fund as a way to create permanent investment accounts from which to consistently draw interest from. 

From the interest, the districts can hand out scholarships, or pay for other general education expenses, as dictated by the donors to the account. 

In addition to compiling existing donation accounts, the endowment funds will also be a way to garner future donations for general education funding, according to James Cohen, the president of the Valley Community Foundation.

There is a larger picture,” Cohen said. The idea of starting a public school fund to act as an umbrella to many different kinds of funds.”

Shelton schools have already voted to create an educational endowment, and the Seymour Board of Education is expected to take the same action discuss the endowment fund at its meeting next week, Cohen said. 

The Ansonia Board of Education Wednesday tabled any vote on creating the fund, waiting for a review of the proposal by the district’s counsel. 

But board members said they were happy with the idea.

I think this is a wise move on our part because it relieves some of the burden on us doing the accounting tasks,” said board member George Boath. They (the community foundation) can manage the money. We can direct it.”

Dwindling Accounts

Board members said the endowment fund will help with the problem of one-time donations that don’t continuously pay out scholarships. 

Schools business manager James Gaskins said the 42 bank accounts for scholarships have a combined $170,000.

Most of the money is in the minority of the accounts,” Gaskins said. The principal dwindles, dwindles, dwindles.”

You get to the point where there is only $50 left in some accounts that intend to give out $100 scholarships, Gaskins said. 

It just sits there,” he said. 

Cohen said he will soon present the same pitch to the Derby and Oxford school districts.

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