ALICE, Texas — Officials with the Alice Independent School District say they need to find a way to help teachers with additional funding and provide scholarships for students, and they may have the perfect solution in the form of new Alice ISD Education Foundation.
Alice ISD Superintendent Dr. Carl Scarbrough said educational foundations in public school districts are pretty common and that it is finally time to set up one of those non-profits in Alice, Texas. He said it's the perfect way for Alice ISD alumni and other donors to give money to the district and know that it is going to be used for things like teacher grants and student scholarships.
"Over time, the idea is to be able to sponsor those scholarships and those teacher grants through the accrued interest that may come to the investments that the Foundation can make," Scarbrough said.
The Dean of Instruction at Alice High School feels that those Foundation dollars are going to make a real difference in the classroom.
"Not every district has it, but the districts who do have it definitely thrive," said Maria Gonzalez, Alice ISD Dean of Instruction.
Gonzalez said that in her previous job, the Education Foundation helped teachers in a number of ways.
"For example, if they're studying the Holocaust they'd be able to visit the Holocaust Museum. If they're studying about farms, they maybe could take a trip to a farm. You know, something like that," Gonzalez said. "The monies would just be used in a way to go for innovative ways to implement instructional practices in the classroom that otherwise would not have been possible."
Allen Garza is a senior at Alice High School. He's hoping to be able to get into the University of Texas -- an expensive proposition if he doesn't get an academic scholarship.
"You have to pay for every single thing whenever you go to college, and for any student to get it, that's really cool. I think that's super cool just to get any kind of money," Garza said.
The superintendent said the Foundation scholarships are going to help all students whether they want to go to college or a trade school.
"What about the kid who has the C average but wants to go to school? Wants to go to college? May not be able to get those academic scholarships, but still needs some help," Scarbrough said.
Scarbrough said the district is still ironing out all of the guidelines and qualifications to be eligible to get money through the Foundation. He said that by the spring of next year, the scholarships and teacher grants should start to be handed out.
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