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Committee narrows crowdfunding for Orange County Schools to approved, non‑monetary platforms
Summary
The policy committee agreed to send a revised crowdfunding policy to the full board that focuses on approved non‑monetary platforms (for example, DonorsChoose and Amazon wishlists) rather than general cash solicitations. Members discussed equity concerns and whether schools or staff might solicit repeated nominal campaigns; the committee opted to
The Orange County Schools policy committee voted to forward a revised crowdfunding policy to the full board for first reading that focuses on approved, non‑monetary crowdfunding platforms and removes language in the draft that would have explicitly allowed monetary crowdfunding in ways that bypass district oversight.
"We state somewhere in this policy that you have to use an approved crowdfunding site," Speaker 7 said, arguing that the district could disallow cash‑soliciting platforms such as GoFundMe and instead approve platforms that deliver items (DonorsChoose, Amazon wishlists) or project‑specific materials. Staff explained the intent was to channel monetary donations into the district donations policy while letting crowdfunding be used for in‑kind project items.
Committee members also raised equity concerns. "It's like I'm soliciting for $999 and then that one school can keep putting that out there, never report it because it's all under nominal," Speaker 3 said, warning repeated, untracked campaigns could exacerbate differences between wealthier and less‑resourced schools.
The committee decided to remove the additional 'monetary' language that had been proposed in paragraph one and rely on an approved‑platform list maintained by staff and procedures for review. Principals will still be required to review and approve crowdfunding requests and use approved platforms; monetary donations remain governed by the donations policy discussed earlier in the meeting.
The committee moved the crowdfunding policy to the full board for first reading by consensus, and staff were directed to finalize the list of approved platforms and procedures for review.
