When School Board Chairman Brian Barefoot said at a March 8 meeting he is consulting with an unnamed legal expert about the best ways to establish a nonprofit foundation to raise money for major public-school initiatives, other board members appeared surprised by the news.
School Board member Jacqueline Rosario questioned whether Barefoot was getting out ahead of the board by meeting with the confidential legal expert without consulting the board.
“As much as I respect Mr. Barefoot, I am sure that Mr. Barefoot does not think the same way I think,” Rosario said. “This is a board directed effort. None of us work independently apart from each other.”
But Barefoot essentially asked the rest of the School Board to trust him because of his extensive experience working with high-echelon philanthropists at several foundations.
The Cleveland Clinic Indian River Foundation, where Barefoot serves as vice chairman, has transferred $120 million to the hospital since 1998, and could serve as a model for the School Board’s nonprofit foundation, Barefoot said.
The foundation would aim to raise money to enhance academic, athletic and artistic opportunities for Indian River County public school students and fund major capital projects for the District.
The legal expert’s recommendations regarding the optimal approaches for setting up the School Board’s foundation will be presented at the March 22 meeting, Barefoot said. “It’s going to be recommended on how this thing is structured and what the governance looks like. Whatever the options are, we will bring that back.”
The School Board voted unanimously at the March 8 meeting to approve a policy authorizing Schools Superintendent David Moore to establish a foundation fund and organize the foundation.
The policy that was approved requires the superintendent and school board chairman to serve on the foundation’s board of directors. That provision prompted some school board members to question whether the provision created a conflict of interest or reduced their input.
School Board member Mara Schiff said having Moore on the foundation board put him in the position of voting on actions he may be tasked to carry out as superintendent.
“I have seen in other organizations where that could get complicated,” Schiff said.
School Board member Teri Barenborg asked for the foundation board meetings to be televised so other school board members could speak up on issues, as well as Barefoot.
“You can check with the attorneys, but I think making it available on camera would allow any of us to go to those meetings,” Barenborg said.
Barefoot said the School Board can revise the policy after the confidential legal expert provides his recommendations but seemed to push back on the idea of televised meetings.
“From a practical standpoint . . . there is a degree of sensitivity,” Barefoot said. “If we’re sitting there talking about trying to raise money for a specific project, you’re talking about people who might donate. I guarantee you, if you want something to fail, just start mentioning people’s names in public that are potential donors to a project.”
“That information is typically kept confidential within the framework of the board and the executive director staff of any foundation,” Barefoot said. “So, let’s be careful when we want to have these kinds of discussions in public.”