(Beginning Letter)
Concern #1
The Boosterthon fundraising activities may create a hostile school environment. Such an environment may foster bullying and has the potential to emotionally damage students and interfere with student learning.
Our most fundamental concern is that Boosterthon manipulation tactics seem to create a hostile environment for our children. This environment may, in fact, be functionally the same as bullying. The District 5 “Student Behavior Code K-12” clearly states that bullying involves “….Harming a student physically or emotionally…insulting or demeaning a student or group of students causing substantial disruption in, or substantial interference with, the orderly operation of the school.” We argue that the Boosterthon fundraising activities have strong potential to expose our school to unacceptable levels of risk because their activities are in conflict with our school policy.
The tactics used by Boosterthon to motivate the students to obtain pledges has the potential to harm our students emotionally and insult and demean them (and therefore may be in direct violation of the District’s bullying code). Boosterthon tactics can humiliate the children that do not obtain pledges. Children who cannot participate in the fundraising effort are still required to sit and watch while peers are awarded prizes and verbally praised for their “success.” These individuals would likely feel embarrassed or humiliated. No child should have to go to school and be put in such a position. Think about how those students would dread going to school the next day for fear of incurring another round of humiliation. The humiliation is repeated several times over the course of two weeks.
Further, the Boosterthon representatives constantly facilitated unhealthy competitions between the students (e.g., boys against girls, class against class, grade against grade, etc.) to motivate the students to raise money. The reason these competitions are unhealthy is because, in most cases, the children have no control over their ability to collect pledges. Some parents simply refuse to participate in these fundraisers. Some cannot financially afford to do so. Even children with parents who cannot or will not allow their children to collect pledges are required to participate in these competitions. Competitions are unhealthy when the participants are unable to exert control over the outcome of the competition. In other words, the children’s own ability and effort have no bearing on whether or not they “win” the competitions because their parents may determine how much in pledges they are allowed to collect (if they collect pledges at all).
The competition between the boys and girls at school is a good example of how the Boosterthon tactics may create a negative environment that can lead to bullying behaviors. Several parents noted that throughout the competition the girls were taunting the boys that the girls would make the boys wear make-up if the girls were to win the pledge competition. Some boys were filled with such anxiety over this that they would come home crying. They really believed that humiliation would be thrust upon them if they were to lose the pledge completion. The children reporting these same incidents range in age and grade; which supports the credibility of these events. We are unsure where this belief (that girls would be permitted to put make-up on the boys, if the girls won) originated, but clearly the Boosterthon competition was a catalyst.
School should be a safe place and the children should be confident that the adults at their school would never seek to humiliate them. Boosterthon tactics can create an environment that causes the students to lose this trust in their school. Rewarding children in front of peers for things they have little control over can be harmful to those who do not get the rewards. We beg you to never allow such potentially divisive tactics to be used in our school again.
Concern #2
It is not ethical to make a direct solicitation of funds to the students (as was done during the Boosterthon fundraiser) while they are a trusting and captive audience that is compelled by law to be at school.
During the weeks that Boosterthon is permitted to be at our school, the children cannot escape it. It is not the case that parents who object to this fundraiser could simply protect their kids by pulling them out of the assemblies each day. During the weeks Boosterthon is present, it permeates the school. It is our understanding that Boosterthon personnel are permitted to: speak to students via the morning announcements each day, enter the classrooms at various times each day, and also have lunch with the students. Further, even when the Boosterthon people are not directly present at a particular moment during the course of the school day, their presence is felt. As noted above, the competitions they initiate between the students can take on a life of their own and lead to exchanges throughout each day that can negatively affect the children. There is no escape for our children while they are at school for those weeks the Boosterthon representatives are present. Essentially, if parents really want to prevent their children from being subjected to the Boosterthon fundraiser, they would have to remove their children from school for at least 9 days. It is simply inappropriate to subject children to fundraising efforts while they are in school. It is unethical and should not be permitted.
Concern #3
Boosterthon representatives should not be permitted to pose as teachers in our school. Fundraising activities and academic activities should be kept completely distinct.
In your letter you note that the character building and history lessons provided by Boosterthon are the greatest value of the Boosterthon program. We argue that this aspect of the program can be the most destructive. Academic content should not be taught within the context of fundraising efforts. Allowing the Boosterthon representatives to pose as teachers is potentially harmful to our children. Teachers have a certain credibility with children that other adults simply do not have. The manipulation tactics used on our children (i.e., the high pressure sales pitches) by Boosterthon representatives may be even more effective at manipulating our children when the children believe that this message is coming from legitimate educators. It is simply wrong to allow the Boosterthon representatives to gain credibility as teachers and then be permitted to make sales pitches to our children. It is dangerous (from an ethical and psychological standpoint) to blur the lines between fundraising efforts and academics. They should be kept strictly distinct.
Further, Boosterthon officials are not all trained educators (with the necessary educational background and certifications to be permitted to teach in our school). Therefore, they should not be permitted to teach our children and their exchanges with our children should only pertain to fundraising activities.
Concern #4
Parents were not provided sufficient information about the tactics used by Boosterthon to motivate children to get pledges and the level of content and accessibility to our children their staff was permitted to have during the time they were in our school. Parents should be fully informed in advance when an outside organization will be permitted to have influence on, and such close and varied contact with, their children.
Finally, parents have not been made aware of Boosterthon tactics or how they make their presence felt throughout the weeks they are permitted to be at our school. I feel my husband and I are very informed parents. We read all the newsletters that sends out. We frequently visit the school webpages to see if there is any new information. However, we were unaware just how pervasive Boosterthon is and the wide range of accessibility they are given to our children. For example, when I sent the previous letter, we were not fully aware that Boosterthon officials were permitted to speak during the morning announcements, have lunch with our children, and generally allowed such intimate access and physical contact with our students. Given how much access to and influence over our children the Boosterthon representatives are afforded, it is the responsibility of the school to make sure parents are well-informed of the procedures and tactics used by Boosterthon. As parents, we are very uncomfortable with allowing the staff of a private organization to have such intimate and frequent contact with our children.
Ways to Address Our Concerns
1. The high-pressure tactics used by Boosterthon to raise money should not be allowed in our school. The use of these tactics has strong potential to create a hostile environment that can lead to student humiliation and bullying.
2. Students should not be asked to compete in competitions when they have little to no control over the outcome of those competitions.
3. No academic content should be taught during any fundraising efforts. The goal of fundraisers is to raise money and should not be confused with academics. Combining academics and fundraising efforts can potentially confuse children (and adults). People trained to make sales pitches to children and parents have no authority to teach our children anything of academic value and should not in any way be presented to our children as legitimate teachers. Therefore, Boosterthon officials should not be permitted to teach history or character building (or anything of academic value) to our children.
4. Fundraising efforts are good and positive when done correctly, but they should not be permitted to permeate the school as Boosterthon has been allowed to do. Fundraising representatives should not get to speak over the loud speaker, be permitted to have lunch with our children, or be allowed in any classrooms. The fundraising efforts should be restricted to a specific time of day and in a specific location each day (and should not exceed a few minutes). Boosterthon representatives should not be permitted to have such close intimate contact, or physical contact, with our students.
5. It is absolutely essential that before any decision is made about Boosterthon being permitted in our school, that parents be given a fair and detailed description of what Boosterthon does each day, the types of tactics they use to motivate children to raise pledges (e.g., distributing prizes in front of other children), the types of access to our children they are provided, a complete list of the mechanisms that are put in place to make sure these individuals are safe to be around our kids, etc. After speaking with both you and the PTO representatives, we would be happy to take the lead and draft a document in that regard that can then be circulated for all parents. We encourage you to include this in the school newsletter.
Questions
Below, we have several questions for you and the PTO. These are the items we would like to discuss during our meeting(s) with you some time over the following weeks.
1. Do any of the Boosterthon representatives who were at our school have educational backgrounds (beyond attending “Boosterthon University” as the Boosterthon website describes)? In other words, would all of the individuals who were permitted to teach our children during the Boosterthon fundraiser have the education and certifications/licenses necessary to teach in our school, even if they had not been affiliated with Boosterthon? Do any of the individuals who were teaching our children academic content and character building have the necessary education and certifications to teach in our school independent of a fundraising agency?
2. Are thorough background checks conducted on the Boosterthon representatives by the school? We realize that Boosterthon claims to have a fantastic background check process, but given how close these men are permitted to be to our children and the wide access they are allowed, it is absolutely essential that do their own thorough background check on each of these individuals. These checks should be just as involved as they are for anyone who is hired by the school.
3. Are Boosterthon representatives familiar with and District policies and procedures? Given how long the Boosterthon representatives are permitted to be at and how much direct and individual contact they are permitted to have with our children, it seems reasonable to expect that they have been given instruction pertaining to rules and regulations (i.e., the information found in the handbooks). Are the Boosterthon representatives trained in this regard? How has ensured that Boosterthon representatives are indeed aware of school/district policies and procedures?
4. Several parents noted that their sons were incredibly anxious during the Boosterthon fundraiser because they believed that the girls would make them wear make-up if the girls won the pledge competition that was supported by Boosterthon. Are you aware of where this belief originated? Did one of the Boosterthon representatives indicate that this was a potential consequence of the competition? Did a teacher say this? We’d like to know that the school has looked into these incidents and determined why so many children had this belief. The children reporting the same concerns (that boys would be forced to wear make-up if the girls won the pledge competition) range in age and grade; which supports the credibility of this event.
5. How often were Boosterthon representatives permitted to have lunch with the children? Was it everyday and multiple times a day? What was discussed while the Boosterthon representatives had lunch with the kids? Was this used as another opportunity for the Boosterthon representatives to make sales pitches to the children? Did Boosterthon representatives use this time to facilitate the pledge competitions? Was an teacher or other staff member present during these exchanges to ensure that no inappropriate conversions occurred? In what other contexts were Boosterthon representatives permitted to be in such close physical proximity to our children? Was parental consent obtained? That is, did the parents of the children who ate lunch with the Boosterthon representatives provide their consent for this prior to the event occurring?
6. Do teachers get a percentage of the amount raised by the Boosterthon fundraiser? Are teachers aware of how much in pledges individual children (in their class) raise? Did any teachers provide incentives or punishments to students who secured a certain amount in pledges? As an example, did any teachers give out homework passes as rewards for pledges? Were teachers aware which students successfully collected their pledges and were any punishments or rewards distributed to students based on this outcome? For example, were students who did not successfully collect all their pledges penalized (or rewarded) in any way?
7. Can you please provide us with details regarding how Boosterthon was implemented? For example, a list of how and where Boosterthon was permitted to speak with or communicate with our children each day would be useful. This can be given to us in written form, or this is something we can discuss in our meeting. But, it is important that we go through exactly what Boosterthon did each day they were permitted on the grounds of . As parents, we think this is a reasonable request.
8. Does the PTO at our school follow any fundraising guidelines? Can we get a copy of the fundraiser guidelines used by the PTO? We are aware of regional guidelines that prohibit fundraising during school time, but we are unclear if each school is obligated to follow those rules or if they are just guidelines for individual PTOs. Any guidance you can offer regarding this would be appreciated.
9. What process will be used by the PTO and to decide if Boosterthon is permitted back next year? In your letter, you indicate that the school and the PTO have not yet decided that Boosterthon will be invited back to our school next year. Who will make the final decision as to whether they are invited back? Will the PTO request that Boosterthon make changes to the program prior to agreeing to do the fundraiser again? We would really like to know how the decision will be made and how parental concerns will be addressed if Boosterthon is permitted in the school again.
(End Letter)
No to Fundraising in the Classroom 