Governor’s School seeks out private funding to remain afloat

Freshman global studies major Abigail Cooksey says Governor’s School inspired her educational pursuits and outlook on life.

So it was disappointing when she learned that the program’s funding was eliminated by the state legislature.

“Governor’s School taught me, and 600 of my peers, the difference between school and learning and gave me the skills to engage in learning outside of class,” Cooksey said. “If that’s not worth tax dollars, then I don’t know what is.”

Cooksey was relieved when Governor’s School announced that it will open both campuses — at Salem College and Meredith College — this summer.

The Governor’s School Foundation began seeking private donations and grants in June when the N.C. General Assembly slashed its funding. The Golden LEAF Foundation, an organization created by the state to administer grants, recently awarded Governor’s School $175,000, the latest in a string of donations that will finance operations at both campuses.

But Roice Fulton, vice president of the Governor’s School Foundation, said private donations and grants are strictly a short-term solution.

“We can’t do this more than one year,” he said.

Fulton and other organizers will begin an advocacy campaign by the end of the month, he said. They will urge supporters to contact and persuade legislators to support refunding the program.

“It will put us in a good position to make a direct plea to the legislature,” he said.

Cooksey and other Governor’s School alumni donated money to keep both campuses open this summer in hopes that it will regain its funding.

The Golden LEAF Foundation grant allots $15,000 to assist students with the $500 tuition fee, said Dan Gerlach, president of the foundation. The remaining $160,000 will go toward general costs of running the school, he said.

For almost 50 years, students attended Governor’s School for free, Fulton said. But in 2009, the legislature cut the program’s budget in half and prompted administrators to charge tuition fees.

“We have already heard reports of students deciding not to apply because they do not like the tuition,” Fulton said.

Members of the Governor’s School Foundation hope to raise $700,000 by Friday. They are less than $25,000 away from their goal, Fulton said. Overall, $39,000 has been raised for tuition scholarships, he said.

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