At a regular DeSoto County School Board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Benton and district staff reported $1,100,000 in approved gifts from community partners and outlined how the money will be used to expand early-childhood, aftercare, literacy and music programming. The superintendent said the district is also awaiting additional funds described in the meeting as “another 300, almost 4,000.”

The district presentation, given by a staff member identified in the meeting as Jake, said the Branson Foundation support will fund full-day BPK services and enrichment through Mustang Care. The Community Foundation of Sarasota is being considered for a decodable text library to support the district’s literacy work aligned to the science of reading, and Gulf Coast Community Foundation has approved a $25,000 award for new band instruments and is considering additional support for athletics and band repairs. Suncoast Credit Union approved $20,000 for high-school algebra classroom upgrades, and the Henson Fund approved $284,000 to provide about 100 scholarships for aftercare, holiday and break coverage and enrichment. The district said United Way Suncoast is reviewing approximately $270,000 to support a community bus and routing for out-of-school programming.

Jake told the board the philanthropic support grew from conversations about the district’s early-literacy work and that several foundations contacted district leaders after an initial call with Dr. Benton. The presentation named Ashley Coon and Christie (last name not specified in the transcript) as staff members who helped coordinate foundation visits and program planning. The district said some grants were fully approved while others remained under review by funder boards.

Board members and the superintendent said the gifts will support specific programs: full-day BPK and Mustang Care enrichment; decodable text libraries that students can check out; expanded music instrument inventories at multiple schools; algebra classroom whiteboard and instructional upgrades; additional scholarships for after-school Mustang Care; and planning for a district community bus. The district also plans invites and site visits for participating funders and discussed organizing a founder’s appreciation event.

The district did not provide an itemized, final accounting in the meeting. Several dollar amounts were reported in the presentation (see clarifying details). Speakers noted that some awards are approved while others are pending final action by outside foundations; the district said it will coordinate next steps with those funders.

Board members praised staff for fundraising and community partnerships and encouraged continued coordination with administrators and foundations.

Less-critical details: the presentation referenced software under discussion as “Magic School AI” for curriculum development and personalized materials; district staff said roughly 50 additional Mustang Care scholarships were under consideration from Gulf Coast Community Foundation. The district plans to host funder visits in quarters 2 and beyond and to consider a breakfast event to thank partners.