Funds ensure Governor’s School remains open in 2012

WINSTON-SALEM – The North Carolina Governor’s School Foundation announced Friday that it has raised a grand total of more $675,000.

That amount is considered sufficient to open the 2012 Governor’s School program at both of its traditional host institutions, Salem College and Meredith College.

The State Board of Education has authorized the Department of Public Instruction to determine the size and duration of the 2012 program by Feb. 10, based on a final fundraising report to be provided by the Foundation.

The Foundation’s fundraising total includes more than $200,000 in grants and gifts raised in the final few weeks of the campaign.

Since July, about 1,800 of the school’s 31,000 alumni have given more than $400,000 to ensure that its doors remain open in 2012, offsetting the budget gap left open by the legislature’s elimination of all state funding for the program last May.

Working in concert with the Governor’s School Alumni Association, the Foundation is planning a large-scale advocacy campaign to petition the State to restore funding for 2013 and future programs.

Following a successful grassroots and special events campaign to raise enough money to open one campus by November 2011, the Foundation focused on winning the support of North Carolina businesses and charitable organizations to fund the second campus.

Several organizations have now pledged or donated funds to support the 2012 program, including BB&T, the Eddie and Jo Smith Family Foundation, the Golden LEAF Foundation, the Goodnight Education Foundation, the Park Foundation and SAS Institute.

The Foundation has also secured more than $39,000 in scholarship funds from multiple donors, in order to ensure that the $500 tuition charged to students will not pose a barrier to entry for low-income students and their families.

The scholarships will help offset 2012 tuition costs for qualifying applicants.

Although a two-campus Governor’s School is now a reality for 2012, the Foundation plans to continue its fundraising efforts.

The decision by the State Board allows funds raised by Feb. 10 to be counted toward the 2012 session.

The Foundation will work to raise another $25,000 over the next week, with the aim of increasing student attendance at this year’s program.

Donations for the 2012 Governor’s School program can be sent via the Foundation website at www.ncgsfoundation.org.