Dublin Partners in Education Honors the Past and Showcases the Future at Open House Event

DUBLIN, CA–Since its formation in 1992, the Dublin Partners in Education (DPIE) has functioned to support all school sites associated with the Dublin Unified School District. Historically, the City of Dublin was not officially incorporated until 1982. Until that point, schools operated in the Amador School District (Pleasanton, CA) until the district was formalized. During that time, the first class of high school students formed at Amador High School until the construction of Dublin High School – starting with a freshman class and then adding one class per year.

Today, the DUSD is home to over 9,000 students that are housed in 11 different school sites. A critical partner to bridge fiscal gaps for support programs has been DPIE. While each individual school has invested into continuing efforts into funding their own initiatives, there has been a “blanket” need to ensure that every site can benefit from programs that can impact an entire campus of students.

In the 2017/18 school year alone, DPIE has donated over $100,000 in support of programs funding. This has included: funding for PSAT and SAT testing for ALL high school students, Simulcast equipment for the Dublin High School Video Production team, Mobile Science Cart to Kolb Elementary School, 3D printers for Makers Space at Murray Elementary School and Garden Supplies for Dougherty Elementary School. This is only a partial list.

These non-profit organizations are not unique throughout the country. However, on a per/capita student funding basis, student programming in California resides in the lowest portion of the scale. It is simple math and demographics. Program funding for schools in California cannot be compared to individual student enrollment in Montana. Further, the newly adopted Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) by the State of California has deleteriously impacted the funding that ultimately reaches the Dublin Unified School District – a comparatively high performing school district.

At the Open House current Dublin City Councilman and retiring DPIE board member Don Biddle was recognized for his service. Biddle has served on the DPIE board since 1999. His retirement from this role represents 18 years of service to the development and growth of this cause. The past two decades have delivered a rise of status of this foundation and has also yielded benefits to all of the schools in the district.

The office celebration was supplemented by hors d’ourvres provided by the Dublin High School Culinary Program led by instructor, Jackie Lawson. Over a three hour program, multiple members from the school, family and business communities mingled to discuss program and fundraising opportunities for the upcoming year. Staff members from Dublin High School, Amador Elementary & Dougherty Elementary were seen mixing with DUSD Council members along with City of Dublin staff and business leaders. It represented a true cross-section of all stakeholders in town.

Moving forward, DPIE is seeking to expand all business channels for fundraising opportunities and the vision to support each and every school site in the district. The school and city communities can look forward to expanded communications in the coming months. In the meantime, the physical location of DPIE can be found at: 6379 Clark Avenue, Suite 200. We would invite all interested citizens to visit our office and to meet its staff and to discuss the future.