In March, our collective world turned upside down. We scrambled to assess the situation, teachers pivoted to online, and we all become homeschoolers.  Then we took a breath when some routine was established.

As we settle into the second month of stay-at-home life, we must now face what the future will hold. Yes, businesses will re-open. Vacations will be re-scheduled. But concurrently, we will have to confront the tremendous economic losses in Covid’s wake.  For EUSD—and every other school district in the country, for that matter—that means significant budget cuts…deep and quick.

In the 2008/09 school year, EUSD welcomed my son into kindergarten and I joined ESF—at the peak of the housing crash and subsequent Great Recession. In a matter of months, budgets were cut, aides were eliminated, teachers were pink-slipped. Even so, I watched the parent community rally to raise the most money in ESF’s history—over $600,000—to preserve the culture and programs that make EUSD special.

Now it’s our turn. It’s happened before, we must do it again. We are not in a situation unique to Placer County or California, which is precisely why we need to help ourselves. And as it turns out, ESF is the only variable in the budget equation. With just over a month left in the school year, we need everyone to do what they can. Please donate to ESF4Kids.org by May 15 to be included in our contribution to the district for the fall.

—Jessica Keefe, ESF President