Jackie Joyner-Kersee approached Care to Learn to join its board.
Since its launch in 2008, Springfield-based nonprofit Care to Learn has worked closely with school districts to fill the health, hunger and hygiene needs of its students. Started with support by Springfield businessman Doug Pitt and his brother, actor Brad Pitt, and wife Angelina Jolie through their Jolie-Pitt Foundation, as well as businessman Jim D. Morris, Care to Learn has funded its operations through donations that now exceed $1 million annually.
But change is on the horizon.
Four months after its new executive director came on board, the nonprofit began gathering input from district officials about a new fee to support coordination of services from the growing charity. Following a February meeting with a half dozen school superintendents invited to Community Foundation of the Ozarks, plans are in the works for Care to Learn to establish an administrative fee assessed per student in the 27 school districts it serves across Missouri.
“In most cases, the fee will be just 25 cents or 50 cents per student, and on average last year we spent over $8 per child across our more established chapters,” said Care to Learn Executive Director Linda Ramey-Greiwe in a statement provided to Springfield Business Journal. “The fee will be used to provide more students with more basic health, hunger and hygiene needs so they can stay in school.”
Ramey-Greiwe, who took the director job in October, said the proposed change has yet to be set and is still under discussion with school officials. Across the organization’s footprint, which mostly covers southwest Missouri but stretches to St. Charles, Care to Learn serves 99,000 students, she said. The nonprofit has helped students 675,000 times since inception.
Shawn Randles, superintendent of the 2,300-student Logan-Rogersville Public Schools, said Care to Learn’s proposal at the February gathering was higher than the current price point.
“I had concerns about the initial proposal and was very grateful that they did call in area superintendents to work an agreeable proposal,” Randles said, declining to disclose the amount previously discussed. “I feel much more comfortable with what’s currently on the table.”
Nixa Public Schools Superintendent Stephen Kleinsmith and SPS Superintendent John Jungmann also attended the CFO meeting. Kleinsmith said the discussion was largely informal, and he couldn’t recall a specific amount being proposed. About two weeks later, however, he said Care to Learn officials began discussing a fee of 25 cents or 50 cents per student.
Nixa would support a which could amount to as much as $3,000 per year for the roughly 6,100-student district.
“We went through the rationale for the fees. We looked at it carefully, and it was easy for me to see this is something we can support,” Kleinsmith said. “I feel like if anybody has proven themselves to be of service to the families and young people of this community, it is the Care to Learn Nixa unit.”
Springfield Public Schools spokeswoman Teresa Bledsoe acknowledged district officials are in talks with Care to Learn about possible fees.
“We haven’t presented anything to our board or had that conversation with our board yet. I think at this point we are trying to discuss those options for how we could work together,” she said.
With roughly 25,000 SPS students, the higher end of Care to Learn’s fees under consideration would total around $12,500 a year in administrative support.
While Care to Learn continues to speak with school officials, Doug Pitt said fee rates could vary by district within the determined range and based on local chapter needs.
“We are growing at a rapid pace, and these are just costs to the program that we’ve assumed in total for our eight years in existence,” said Pitt, who runs TSI Technology Solutions by day. “We are getting better at what we’re doing, which means we are reaching more kids, but it also means costs elevate. We treat it like a business, and just like anything in our daily lives, you’re either moving forward or you’re moving backward.”
In 2015, the nonprofit raised $1.4 million in revenue for operations, Ramey-Greiwe said, and posted expenses of around $730,000, including grants to students and services. This year, donations were flat through April before a bump in May with the Give Ozarks fundraiser netting over $23,000, plus another $11,000 gifted to its endowment, according to GiveOzarks.org.
Though a dozen regular corporate sponsors are on board, Pitt said the vast majority of donors are individuals. As part of its business model, Care to Learn requires superintendent approval before starting a district chapter; a community liaison to manage requests; and at least three community members who commit to raising funds.
Last fall, Ramey-Greiwe joined Care to Learn after 28 years with Gannett Co. Inc. She succeeded Morey Mechlin, the nonprofit’s first executive director. Ramey-Greiwe manages a paid staff of four full-time employees and two part-time workers.
