Funding Center – School Funding

A Capital Asset is a long-term asset that is not purchased or sold in the normal course of business. Generally, it includes fixed assets, e.g. land, buildings, furniture, equipment, and fixtures. Schools account for these expenses as assets rather than operating expenses, because they are resources which have extended, useful lives.

Capital Equipment Funds are used during a particular period to purchase or improve long-term assets such as equipment or property. Realityworks products are long-term assets, many of which come with multiple-year warranties. These may be considered capital assets.

See your school principal for more information on capital equipment funding available and purchasing policies in your school or district.

Operating funds are used to pay for the day-to-day expenses of a school district. Those expenses include salaries, benefits, utilities, textbooks, supplies, equipment, etc. They DO NOT include construction, renovations, or building maintenance, which are funded by separate sources like voter-approved bond sales.

Realityworks products include curricula (similar to textbooks) and may be considered equipment. These may be purchased through the use of operating funds in some cases.

See your school principal for more information on operating funds available in your school or district.

Local Education Foundations (LEFs) provide financial support to enhance local education. These nonprofit foundations are likely to fund auxiliary academic projects such as an artist-in-residence program or an after-school enrichment program.

The LEF movement started in the early 1980s, and the number of LEFs continues to grow. The foundations are a lot like parent groups. They work with local schools to help them meet their goals. They raise funds for school projects. And they bring together school administrators, parents, and community members.

But there are a few key distinctions. LEFs typically work with an entire school district rather than one school. They tend to solicit larger gifts than parent groups do and focus on donations from area businesses. Funds could go toward the purchase of pathway packages to update or create new CTE programs and more!

Many LEFs operate with the purpose of building an endowment, a perpetual interest-bearing account. Foundation endowments range from a few thousand dollars to $2 million or $3 million. Typically, LEFs fund grants to teachers and schools with the interest from the endowments.

Check with your school principal to see if there is a Local Education Foundation in your district.