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Health & Fitness

Blog: I (Heart) Carlsbad Schools Week April 28 - May 6

Please visit carlsbadunified.com & click on the "I (Heart) Carlsbad Schools Week" tab to learn more and to get involved to help save our schools from April 28 - May 6.

Have you heard about the upcoming I (Heart) Carlsbad Schools Week from April 28 to May 6?

If not, please read on... 

Please visit carlsbadunified.com and click on the "I (Heart) Carlsbad Schools Week" tab to learn more and to get involved to help save our schools.

Find out what's happening in Carlsbadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

This is a new citywide event that I created to raise revenue in order to help reduce the next year facing the .  Rather than asking for direct donations from parents and business owners, this is a program designed to be a net-positive for the school district, business community, and, most of all, our kids. 

The CUSD Parent & Community Budget Task Force, of which I am a member, is partnering with the (CEF) to bring this event to the community. 

Find out what's happening in Carlsbadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As the father of two sons at , I moved to Carlsbad for the great weather, the high quality of life, and the great schools.  There is a direct correlation between the financial health of a school district, real estate prices, the strength of the business community, crime rates, and the quality of life in a city.  Simply, if Carlsbad offers less than the world-class education for which it is known and admired, over time, all citizens of Carlsbad will be impacted. 

On the carlsbadunified.com site, you can find participating businesses (check back as the list grows over the next two weeks), print vouchers to take to the businesses (will be posted soon), sign the Letter of Commitment as a business owner, join as a volunteer to obtain more commitments, post a comment, and raise public awareness about the budget deficits. 

I developed the “I (Heart) Carlsbad Schools” slogan, the idea for the I (Heart) Carlsbad Schools buttons (to raise public awareness and collect donations - $1 or more per button), and the concept for the event in November after attending School Board meetings and hearing only plans for "expenditure reductions." 

There were few plans to raise public awareness about the projected multi-year budget problems and no plans presented for revenue-generating solutions. 

You can help make this program a success when you shop and eat at businesses that are participants in this program.  A percentage of your sales, typically 20%, will become a tax deductible donation from the business to CEF, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.  100% of these donations are then passed on to CUSD to offset the currently projected $2.4 million budget deficit for the 2012-13 school year.

We scheduled the event around 3 other major Carlsbad events to maximize the amount of sales and thus donations to CUSD:

1.  April 28:

     - $20 per ticket/contact CEF 760-929-1555 /www.carlsbaded.org

2.  May 5 - the Barrio Spring Festival

3.  May 6 - the Carlsbad Street Faire

     - the largest one day street fair in the country

We really need people to visit, email, or call businesses this week and ask for their participation (restaurants, retail establishments - virtually, any type of business in and around Carlsbad).  Then, refer them to thecarlsbadunified.com blog to sign up.

The business receives an I (Heart) Carlsbad Schools window decal and a sales & donations tracking form.  To promote the businesses and to publicize the event, there is a significant marketing campaign starting this week:  pre-event and post-event press releases, social media, email & phone blasts, flyers home with students, CEF booths at the 3 above-mentioned Carlsbad events, and more.

Problems facing CUSD:

Class sizes have already increased (from 22 to 32 students per teacher on average from last year to this year in Grades 1-3).  Plans are for class sizes to be increased next year in middle and high school classrooms.  On March 15th, roughly 20% of teachers received layoff notices; labor negotiations continue between CUSD and the certificated teachers’ union and classified employees’ union.  The campus for 2 of our 15 schools (Carlsbad Village Academy and Seaside Academy) will be closing next year.  Many programs cuts were recommended by the school district and passed by the School Board in attempts to balance the budget. 

Please share information about this fund raising event with all of your contacts who have an interest in Carlsbad Schools - on Facebook, by email, and by word of mouth.  Also, you can like our Facebook page, Carlsbad Unified Parents.

The I (Heart) Carlsbad Schools Week is a win-win for schools, businesses, and the city.  

If we all act now to save our schools, we can save our great city of Carlsbad.

Thank you for your support!

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