More than likely any large company in your area is going to require time to approve a grant for this, but it might still be worth a try.
Your Principal really dropped the ball. What I can't understand is that the school's budget is approved at the end of the school year for next year, meaning that her budget should have been set last year, which should have included this trip. Who exaclty informed her, the same day she told you, that she couldn't support this?
I wonder, does she have any money to support this other than the buses? What if you explained that the trtip will have to be canceled unless she can provide half of what she was supposed to. Possibly even imply that the parents would need to be informed as to why the trip would be canceled.
I'm not trying to be difficult, just that she really is at fault and she should fix this problem. I wonder whether some extra expenses came up this year that might explain why this happened.
Also, maybe next year you can have her provide you the funds for this earlier in the year explaining that you wish to set things up early (maybe you could get a discount by booking early).
It just seems like there's more to it than her being told by someone that she can't use funds from her budget that was likely approved almost a year ago?
Anyway, I think for this year the best chance is what someone mentioned, contacting the park directly and explaining the situation. You might also try the local clubs, such as the Elks, Vets, etc. They might be able to help within the deadline.
Good luck and let us know how things work out,
PresidentJim
chgpta ~ what a wonderful example you set for the rest of us! Thank you so much for coming back to tell us how you and your team worked things out for the kids. Awesome!
Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same."
"The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat but in the true perfection of one's character."
Just an update on our field trip situation. I was able to find a much less expensive field trip to a different amusement area (~1/2 price) and the Kiwanis Club offered matching funds for the trip. We had a raffle of bikes donated by McDonalds and sold snow cones (PTA owns a machine) and parent contribution is only $3 now. So it all worked out. Thank you for the great suggestions. We will continue this annually starting at the BEGINNING of the year so we don't have this situation again.
go to your local church or news channel and get the word out! Someone out there will feel sorry for these kids and may want to help.
tell the parents up front the situation and what you are doing to help: talking to the amusement park, the money you received from Kiawanis etc...
honestly is the best policy. tell them if you don't raise the money, there will be no trips for their kids. they will probably not mind paying a portion of it or definitely will want to step up and help or brainstorm.
WFS, that's a great idea. We had a last day of school party last school year just for 5th grade, but it was not very organized. I think if we can have some activities planned, like the ones you suggested it will go over much better. We've got some acreage out back that we can have the picnic on, so no bus expense and PTA bought a good quality grill a couple of years ago because teachers like to cook out in the spring for their classes. I'll get to work on the ice cream truck. Parents are already ponying up $5 per child for the food. I wonder if we can get a water inflatable. We can "build our own amusement park."
How about running a quick raffle? You could see if a local business or local high school print shop can print the tickets. We run a raffle every fall right before Thanksgiving, and we make over $2,000. We raffle off gift cards to a local grocery store. Good luck to you.
