FCPS policy committee sends updated fundraising, donations and gifts policy to board; charters to get explicit language

The Frederick County Public Schools policy committee voted unanimously Aug. 27 to send a revised fundraising, donations and gifts policy (policy 4‑26) to the full board for first reading, asking staff to add explicit language clarifying how the district’s public charter schools will be treated under the policy.

The committee’s move follows months of drafting and two regulations finalized this spring and summer: regulation 4‑2601 (fundraising) approved May 27 and regulation 4‑2602 (donations and gifts) approved Aug. 4, 2025. Staff said the new policy title — "Fundraising, Donations and Gifts" — is intended to reflect activities that occur both in schools and in central office.

Why it matters: The policy governs how schools and outside organizations raise and donate money and seeks to balance community support with required audit controls, limits on hidden costs, and systemwide equity. Committee members and public commenters pressed staff to clarify how autonomous public charter schools are treated when they fundraise or receive donations.

In public comment before the policy discussion, Lisonbee Rizzo, who identified herself as a parent, urged the committee to recognize that "public charter schools are operated by independent organizations that have autonomy in how they spend their funds, how they raise their funds and spend their funds." Rizzo said charter foundations and boosters sometimes handle money differently from traditional schools and asked the policy to explicitly acknowledge that distinction.

District staff told the committee they will draft a paragraph to articulate "bounded autonomy" for charters — preserving audit and compliance safeguards while acknowledging charters’ independent fundraising practices. Staff noted that when charitable funds enter a charter’s books they are typically recorded in the charter’s audited financial statements and are not directed by FCPS.

The proposed policy also clarifies permissible donations, identifies what the board would consider prohibitive gifts (for example those that impose unsustainable maintenance costs), and includes a new implementation section authorizing the superintendent to accept donations on the board’s behalf, subject to regulations and existing student activity fund procedures. Staff said the student activity fund balances are material: "at the end of the year, it was about $2,000,000 in assigned balances to the student activity fund," and that the revised regulations introduce tiered acceptance procedures so principals can accept small donations without central-office approval.

During committee debate, members agreed staff and legal will draft charter-specific language and share it with at least one public commenter before presenting the policy to the board. The committee approved the motion to forward the policy to the board for first reading with the proposed additions; the vote was unanimous.

The policy will return to the board with the staff’s charter language and regulatory cross-references for a first reading and later final action.