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Cardinals Rising donors read at board meeting; district details how donations will fund restored positions
Summary
Community group Cardinals Rising read a long donor list at the meeting. District leaders described how raised funds have been allocated to restore staff positions and programs, citing specific uses and partial public funding sources.
Cardinals Rising volunteers read the names of individual and business donors during public comment and the Annandale Public School District board heard an update on how that fundraising has been used to restore staff positions and programs.
The donor list, read aloud by Cardinals Rising representatives, included individual donors and businesses across multiple giving tiers (bronze, silver, gold and platinum). The group’s speakers said the purpose of reading names was to highlight community support for the district’s students and staff.
District leaders followed public comment with an explanation of how Cardinal Rising funds were applied. A district administrator said the group’s early fundraising in January produced just over $100,000; those dollars were used to restore a student services specialist at the elementary school and to bring back a fourth-grade teacher. The district also credited Cardinals Rising with helping fund a robotics program ($30,000) and contributing to the partial funding of several new or restored teaching positions.
Board discussion named several specific allocations tied to Cardinal Rising funds: - A full-time fifth-grade teacher (approximately $85,000), added to keep class sizes lower in fifth grade. The administrator said the position had not been on the most recent reduction list but was prioritized to limit class sizes. - A full-time special education teacher at the middle school, funded about 65% by state special education revenue and about 35% by Cardinals Rising money. - A 0.6 full-time equivalent healthy living/physical education teacher at the middle school, funded by Cardinals Rising dollars to restore elective coverage. - A roughly $24,000 allocation the administration said was used to maximize benefit for students across programs.
Administrators said they will follow up publicly to show donors how funds were deployed and thanked Cardinals Rising and its contributors. Board members who moved and seconded approval of the May resolution accepting donations voted in favor; the board recorded the motion as carried.
The Cardinals Rising speakers and district administrators emphasized that the fundraising was intended to be used directly for student-facing roles and programs rather than general operations. District staff noted some positions are funded through mixed sources (for example, partial state funding and community donations).
