The Manhattan Beach Education Foundation granted $5 million to the Manhattan Beach Unified School District on Tuesday, which will fund 72 educators across seven public schools for the following academic year.
A vast majority of the funds came from parent donations, said MBEF Executive Director Susan Warshaw.
The positions include 24 classroom teachers, science, reading and computer specialists, all middle and high school counselors, music teachers, a district-wide writing teacher and 21st Century learning teacher.
With these teaching positions, the schools are able to maintain small class sizes and programs.
“If we didn’t have this funding, these positions would be at risk,” said Ninal Patel, MBEF co-president, in a statement. “Without that commitment, schools would look very different – no small class sizes, no hands-on science, no librarians, no help with reading, fewer counselors and no opportunity to focus on writing.”
The foundation’s grant is up nearly $400,000 from last year’s $4.6 million.
Where the state has fallen, parents have picked up, Patel continued. “This stability has a compounding effect; when we don’t have pink slips, layoffs or furlough days, we get consistency and longevity in our programs, which makes them better and serves our kids better,” Patel said.
Patel also thanked the 250 MBEF parent volunteers, who have saved the foundation an estimated half million in overhead costs.
