San Marino Schools Foundation

Annual Campaign

Each school year, the Foundation commits to providing the San Marino Unified School District with a vital source of income for operating expenses such as teacher salaries and instructional materials. Generous support from parents, the community and businesses enabled the Foundation to donate $2.4 million to the 2011-2012 district budget. These donations currently fund the equivalent of 30 teaching positions in our schools.

Many people believe that with San Marino's high property values and the amount of taxes paid by our residents, our schools should be flush with money. In fact, the opposite is true. Decreases in state funding in recent years have impacted the programs and experiences available to our students. As much as 39% of our district's budget has had to come from locally generated school funding in the last few years.

To understand why this is the case, you need to have some understanding of the process by which schools are funded in California.