Southwest Partnership
Education Committee Meeting
Thursday, April 7 2017
7pm
Present
Matt Benning
Bill Joyner
Jane Buccheri
Lou Packett
Elizabeth Weber
Edith Gilliard Canty
Jane Mayrer
Amanda Benjamin
Vernell Lewis
Meeting Minutes
State Funding Opportunities
There are two main state funding opportunities that the Education Committee could be eligible for: Community Legacy and BRNI (Baltimore Regional Neighborhood Initiative). BRNI has the most money set aside and the smallest potential applicant pool so it would be our best option for funding. The Committee discussed possible projects that would be good funding opportunities. It seems as though the community school planning would be the best program to fund. The Committee discussed what the program would look like. Right now, the details of the planning process are not solidified, but we could be potentially asking for funding for a consultant and a full time staff person to manage the process, as well as funding for other programs to support community schools.
Matt suggested the Rec Center in Carroll Park as a potential project. There is enough money for a design available from the Casino Impact Area Fund for a design phase, and Southwest Baltimore Charter School is very interested in having the center reopened. The Rec Center could definitely be a project, whether this year or in the future. Matt and Elizabeth will check on the progress.
Small Grants Fund for Schools
In the past the Southwest Partnership received some one time donations which allowed us to establish the Small Grants Fund for school to make small donations to the schools in the area. That Fund is now spent and we have been trying without much success to raise additional funds for it. Most potential donors would rather give directly to specific types of programs or to specific schools. Elizabeth asked if the Committee wanted to continue to try and fundraise for the fund or if it would be best to keep the Fund available as a pass through for donations to a specific school or program.
Edith: The Franklin Square Neighborhood Association has a pool of money they set aside for Franklin Square Elementary/Middle School because that’s the school in their neighborhood.
Bill: There may also be competition for donors/grant requests from the Community Benefits Agreement fund that will be established when ground is broken at the BioPark building at 873 W Baltimore St. This fund will have money set aside for schools.
Elizabeth asked if it made sense to think about building a pool of donors who could be tapped for specific requests rather than a fund? The Committee liked the idea.
Bill: also, donors tend want very specific information before they will fund a request. It would make a lot of sense to work with schools to increase their capacity to make those requests successfully. Possibilities include individual meetings with schools or a larger training. Schools would also need a directory of resources–including free resources–that they can use to implement funding. Jane B is interested in continuing to work with Dotie on this project. Elizabeth will connect them.
Separation of Education and Workforce Development Committee
At the last SWP Board of Directors meeting the Board voted to split the Education and Workforce Development Committees into two different Committees–Education and Workforce Development. Lou will stay on as the Chair of the Education Committee. The plan is to have the Workforce Development Committee be made up of community members and meet in the evenings, and have the Workforce Roundtable of workforce development providers continue to meet as they have been during the day and be a sub-committee of the Workforce Development Committee.
The Committee discussed what would need to be done to ensure that there was full communication between the Roundtable and the Committee, and that the Committee’s work was meaningful. There will also need to be a way for the Committee, which will be made up of people from the neighborhoods, to hold the Roundtable responsible.
The Committee also discussed what exactly the Workforce Committee would do. Lou envisions them connecting area residents to resources, and they could provide a lot of outreach support to the Roundtable partners. Bill emphasized the importance of being clear about what the Workforce Development Committee would work on, what attendees would get out of attending, what their goals and objectives would be, and what their relationship to the Roundtable would be like.
Jane B suggested that the Workforce Committee work on identifying what types of training programs are needed to make sure area residents are ready for in demand careers. Lou would like the Workforce Committee to work on bringing new industries to the area.
Announcements
Jane B: Morgan State University, in coordination with NIH, has a program called ASCEND for community participatory research. They provide 6 $20,000 grants that need to be a partnership between MSU and a community. SWP didn’t get funding last year because we were a community with a project that was matched with a Morgan State researcher rather than having a project that came directly from MSU. Jane has been in contact with a professor, who may be interested in doing a education project. She has two projects both of which would be a good fit for SWP goals. The grant funded projects are intended to be seed projects for larger programs.
Jane M: Jane provided BEC’s update on the funding gap for schools. There will be a BEC action this coming Wednesday April 12 at 6pm at the War Memorial for Taxpayers Night to focus on cuts in OST programs and community schools in the Mayor’s Budget. Let Jane M know if specifically on the need on ost programs and community school funding–let jane know if you’re interested.
Jane–put together a short statement of why community schools are important–Mr Miller or Emily could provide a parent to speak at the rally.
Bill–PopFarm has secured a project supervisor for the Youthworks program for the summer. (Virginia Grant and Stand For Youth)–also have funding for after school internships for two youth after the program is over. They are also raising money to finish the raised beds (for the soil and paint). Need to raise the money by April 18th for a April 22nd event. The total is $2000 and there’s a GoFundMe which Elizabeth will send out to the Committee.
