Dr. Brittany Murray is an Assistant Professor of Educational Studies and Political Science at Davidson College. In 2019, she co-authored a study investigating parent-teacher association (PTA) funding across the state over a decade.
“One of the things we learned is one thing that we kind of suspected, was that richer, Whiter schools are more likely to have high fundraising PTAs,” Murray said.
Murray said there are differences in these schools’ abilities to provide “facilities, equipment, curricula, field trips; improving the playground and supporting teacher professional development.”
WHQR’s analysis of local fundraising organizations found disparities like those predicted by Murray’s research. WHQR looked at IRS records for organizations around the New Hanover County Schools (NHCS) district — which go by a number of names: there are PTAs, which are aligned with the state and national chapters, PTOs (parent-teacher organizations), and athletic booster clubs, which are common in middle and high schools.
Dues for these organizations vary, and some raise just a few thousand dollars, while others raise tens of thousands or even more.
For example, the top eight fundraising elementary schools averaged $74,000 in revenues in 2022, according to the most recent 501(c)(3) records from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Wrightsville Beach Elementary’s Foundation and PTA are included in this average — those nonprofits collectively brought in $235,000.
On its website, the WBE Foundation has touted funding positions at the school, such as full-time teachers, teacher’s assistants, and tutors. On April 16, WHQR sent a public records request to view the Foundation’s payments to the district, but NHCS has yet to fill this request. We also requested all parent organizations' attestation forms, telling the district who runs their groups and how they operate, but we have not received them.
WHQR reached out to some of these high-fundraising PTAs or boosters — including Wrightsville Beach, Ogden, Eaton, and Hoggard — but they either declined or didn’t respond to interview requests.
WHQR also asked all PTAs, PTOs, and athletic boosters to send information on their organizations. Only five responded, but it gives some sense of what these organizations look like.
For example, as of April, Alderman’s PTA has about 52 members, a fund of $6,500, and raised about $27,500, of which $7,500 came from a Landfall Foundation grant to improve the school’s library and courtyard.
Laney’s Athletic Booster Club has about 280 members and a budget of about $177,000. New Hanover’s booster AdvoCats raised about $32,000 this year, and awarded a $500 teacher grant.
Since New Hanover’s AdvoCats is relatively new, they don’t appear in previous IRS filings, but Laney’s, Ashley’s, and Hoggard’s do. From 2022 and 2021 filings, they average about $202,000 in annual revenues.
Strong parent-teacher groups also spend time supporting teachers and staff. Murray emphasized that this is important work — but that it also highlights what happens at schools that don’t have the same level of support.
“That is admirable work because teachers need all the love they can get, but I do think there's this disparity between schools that can treat their teachers really well and schools that don't have those additional resources to be able to do appreciation and provide grants for classrooms,” Murray said.
A 'global' PTA for New Hanover County?
That’s where Scott Whisnant’s effort to establish the non-profit, Friends of Public Schools comes in.
Whisnant is a member of the Turnaround Task Force, which was formed last year to address the district’s lowest-performing schools. He’s also the former director of government affairs at New Hanover Regional Medical Center.
“We've identified 16 schools, which includes some middle schools, one high school, and two or three specialty schools, that would benefit from having [...] quality field trips, some teacher recognition events more than one, and some three or four of these concierge services and professional development,” Whisnant told WHQR.
Whisnant said these services could mean anything from helping teachers with their taxes to mowing their lawns or getting their vehicles an oil change and a carwash.
This newly created non-profit is under the umbrella of Communities In Schools of the Cape Fear — which organizers hope will mean it meets the New Hanover Community Endowment’s funding criteria, which includes a requirement that organizations have an existing track record (or an approved passthrough entity).
Whisnant and others hope the Endowment will provide about $1.5 million over three years.
“I'm looking at a seven-year-old, and the [lack of resources] isn’t that child's fault. We certainly can't just tell them, ‘We have nothing for you.’ I think we're better than that as a community,” Whisnant said.
Burgeoning parent groups at Forest Hills, Trask, and Wrightsboro
In the meantime, parent-teacher organizations and associations in New Hanover County Schools are succeeding in some schools with higher-than-average free and reduced lunch (FRL) student populations, a sign of a family’s lower economic status.
Brittany Fountain has been the PTA President of Forest Hills Elementary for the past three years. This school has about 78% FRL and 80% minority students. It has about 10 members who pay a $5.25 fee to join.
“Even if it's just walking the halls and smiling at the kids and the teachers. That's been something, that even though we're small, we do try to create the most joyous impact possible, even if it can't be displayed in dollars raised,” Fountain said.
They have had to do more with less. Fountain said they have about $1,500 to work with each year; they recently did a fundraiser that asked families to bring in their spare change.
“We've had one that was ‘give your change to be the change.’ Classrooms would collect pennies, nickels, dimes, or just things that people had lying around; we got some tokens from some arcades and some pesos and foreign currency, which was fun. But that's more of just an involvement and showing kids the collective power of coming together as a community,” she said.
Fountain said many Forest Hills families attend school events, but finding parents who can consistently volunteer or fundraise is difficult.
“Because of the makeup of our school, because of how it's districted, our parents don't have that flexibility. So many of them are working two and three jobs, a lot of them do not speak English, a lot of them are caretakers for young children or older parents,” she said.
But Fountain said she’s dreaming big for her PTA — and would one day like to supplement staff positions. If they couldn’t do that, “maybe fund a one-time experience, where somebody comes to your school.”
Allison Childs has been the PTA President at Trask Middle School for the past two years. Childs was one of the PTAs that submitted information detailing her association. As of April, the school has about $5,194 in their fund, has a total of 65 members, and brought in around $9,000 in fundraising this year.
The Trask PTA pays for things like technology, teacher grants, and sometimes the $25 fee for background checks to volunteer in the school.
Childs said she worked hard to build up the organization during this time. Trask has a 47% FRL student population and 40% minority.
“And there were no parents to participate, no volunteers, and that really upset me,” she said. “I really worked hard. It is the hardest thing I've ever done, but it's the most rewarding thing I've ever done.”
Childs said she and the other parent volunteers serve as a support network for the school’s employees when times are tough.
“You give them space to talk and tell you, ‘Listen, I'm really worried about losing my job. You know, what can I do?’ You know, the human aspect of it. Every school needs a person to go in there and listen to them,” she said.
She said she and her son go to school every morning to dress up the school mascot, Lloyd the Bear, and ask to make copies for the teachers.
“I’ve done it all, and when I walk in that school, I feel the vibe, you know, I can sense it, that, 'Hey, this is gonna be a good day — people are excited,' or maybe they're struggling a little bit. And so you walk around and have to check in on your people,” she said.
Bailey Cookson is a parent-teacher organization volunteer at Wrightsboro Elementary and a former pre-K teacher. Like Fountain and Childs, she said fundraising is important, but it’s not necessarily the top priority.
“We want to make the teachers as happy as we can because happy teachers are happy classrooms and in happy classrooms, kids are learning,” Cookson said.
Lauren Babson works alongside Cookson as the treasurer of the PTO at Wrightsboro Elementary, a school that is 72% FRL and 70% minority. They have about 52 families who paid a $5 fee to join the PTO.
They successfully planned their Spring Fling last month and were excited when they received a donation from a local business, Alice Lawson Salon and Spa. The year before, it was canceled because they couldn’t find enough volunteers to run the event. They raised close to $600 for a special edition to the school – a new mascot outfit.
“Yes, the costume. Bailey did find the old one. And it's scary like you wouldn't want to take it to a kid event. So we're trying to find a little more kid-friendly, Cool Cat,” Babson said.
Addressing inequity between parent fundraising groups?
The district’s parent groups largely bear out Murray’s research, with more affluent schools having more resources than schools like Wrightsboro. Despite this, Cookson said she’s proud of her school.
“The stigma that goes along with that doesn't seem fair. We're working families. I'm a former educator, and my husband's a police officer. And we love where we live. And we're happy to send our kids to Wrightsboro. And so we just want that to be the best experience for them and all the other families going there,” she said.
According to Cookson, they’re still trying to recruit parent volunteers. Still, there are issues with communication for some of the school’s Hispanic families, whose students account for 40% of Wrightsboro’s population.
“My children walk to school, and so I get to meet a lot of people at the crosswalk. And I'm trying to tap into some of those ladies there,” she said. “But there's definitely that language barrier. [...] I mean, having taught at this school, I know all parents care. And so how can we find a way to get them involved?”
Murray said there are some ways districts nationwide distribute PTA funds more equitably. For example, a school district in Evanston, Illinois has a “One Fund” where “all the PTAs in the school district put their money into one pot, and then more equitably allocate all those fundraising dollars to schools.”
But said she realizes that some parents would be resistant to this idea.
“For some families, that means, ‘Well, I don't even want to donate anymore if my kid won't benefit from my resources.’ So there's a lot of fear around this initiative because schools are so resource-strapped, the idea that parents would stop donating or pull their child out of public schools altogether is a real threat,” Murray said.
For Childs, she said the lack of equity throughout the district’s schools is unfortunate.
“I've lived here all my life; I'm educated in the system. And there's always been inequity. You can't change it. But you have to realize the inequity and work with it,” Childs said.
Still, she added that it can be painful, by contrast, to see what wealthier PTAs like Wrightsville Beach can pull off.
“Imagine being able to have ice cream for all of their kids who made the honor roll. And you're like, ‘Well, you know, good for them.’ But at the same time, you want it so badly for your teachers and students because everybody deserves to be celebrated,” Childs said.
Fountain, too, sees the disparities and wants them to change. She wants to see “a more democratized approach to our schools. And I think when you do that, you have parents who have the means, the time, and the know-how of what it means to run a PTA and how you can fundraise effectively. And you can have those parents lock arms with parents who otherwise would not be able to step away from home and be volunteers in the school, to set up a fundraiser that will provide meaningful support to a school.”
Redistricting, which would ensure a better balance of affluent and lower-income families in the district, would be up to the school board — and that’s unlikely at this political moment.
Right now, Fountain, Whisnant, Babson, Cookson, and Childs are focused on supporting the district’s employees. They’re all gearing up to support teachers during this month’s ‘Teacher Appreciation Week,' May 6-10.
