Issaquah Schools Foundation

“The 990 is first reviewed by the finance committee and then presented to the full board for review prior to filing.”

“The directors and employees are required to review and sign the conflict of interest policy at the start of their employment or board term and again annually at the start of each fiscal year. If a director or employee believes that he or she has a conflict of interest, the director or employee must report the conflict to the executive committee. Upon review, if the executive committee determines that there is a conflict of interest, the director or employee is prohibited from participating in deliberations and decisions regarding the transaction.”

“The foundation has a compensation policy which states that the foundation will pay at the midpoint of the non-profit salary survey. We benchmark against other non-profits achieving comparable revenue who do similar work. The executive director sets and recommends staff compensation based on policy. This recommendation is presented to the human resources committee for oversight of policy; recommendation is then made to the finance committee and then to executive committee before approval by full board.”

“The foundation makes its governing documents and conflict of interest policy available to the public by request. Our financial statements are available online at www.isfdn.org and are mailed to donors via an annual report.”

“In fy18 the foundation expanded with three new programs: student intervention services support, elementary stem and feeding student success. Student intervention services support provides professional development opportunities for student support coaches and counselors as well as supporting bullying prevention and emergency preparedness. Stem (science, technology, engineering and math) programming expanded at the elementary level through robotics clubs in two schools and professional development that prepares teachers to integrate computational thinking and computer science pedagogy throughout their teaching. Feeding student success provides breakfast bars and funds student lunch accounts for hungry students in all schools and supports grab-and-go breakfasts in participating schools.”

“The voice mentor program is a foundation run program that pairs caring community volunteers with students in need of academic and/or personal support. Trained mentors meet with students regularly throughout the year with transformational results. In fy18, voice supported a total of 300 mentors serving 400 students and, due to ongoing training and mentor appreciation efforts, boasted a 90% mentor retention rate. The program expanded its outreach into multiculutral communities recruiting 17 new billingual mentors into the program to serve our increasingly diverse student body, bringing the total number of mentors who speak a language, in addition to english, to 86. The dedicated fine arts fund supports vocal, drama, band, orchestra and visual arts programs at the secondary level that play an essential role in a well-rounded education. In fy18, the fund purchased 51 instruments to support orchestra across the district. These instruments create an equitable orchestra program districtwide. Low-income students are able to access instruments through a free 'loan program'. In addition, these instruments allow students with a bulky instrument (such as a tuba) to have an instrument at school and an instrument at home. Teacher grants (classroom enrichment and kateri brow) provide teachers with funding for projects that enrich education, fill unmet needs and serve as incubators for innovation. The foundation feels that employees - teachers and principals - are best at identifying problems and developing grassroots and practical solutions. The foundation partners with the district to first fund these grants, and if proven valuable to student learning, replicate these solutions across the district. Last year, the foundation funded 21 grants, with most grants having multi-year impact. In addition to the above, overall, here is a snapshot of how the compassionate support to the foundation made a difference in the lives of children during the 2017-2018 school year: - after-school homework help: 19,800 students received one-to-one help from teachers at after-school homework labs - food aid: more than 17,000 free breakfasts, snacks, and lunches were provided to elementary and middle school students to help them be ready to learn - basic needs: families that need financial support received more than 900 free backpacks filled with school supplies to help kids go back to school with confidence - stem: three high schools received $6,000 each, providing 240 students the opportunity to purchase equipment and attend competitions as part of their math, biology, rocketry and engineering clubs - academic enrichment: more than 1,600 ninth grade students were inspired by three-day residencies with seattle shakespeare company.”