HOME
Announcements
Band Dads
Boosters
Calendar / Events
FAQ's (Parent Info)
Forms / Documents
Fundraisers
Leadership
Links
Merchandise
Music Box
Performances
Performing Groups
Student Accounts
Teaching Staff
Tournaments
Tri-M Honor Society
Volunteers
Weekly Schedules

Westview Gold Boosters
P.O. Box 720134
San Diego, CA 92172-0134
(www.WestviewGold.org)

Webmaster

Money Questions

FAQ's

What are the "Fair Share" contributions?

"Fair Share" contributions are donations made by the parents of the band students on behalf of their student to cover the financial gap between what the school provides and what it really takes to run the music department.  For additional information, including the current fair share amounts, please download the 2008 Fair Share Contribution Letter (64Kb MS Word file) found in the Forms / Documents section.

Note: Fair Share contributions to the foundation are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.  Therefore, please consult with a tax advisor for guidance about tax deductible contributions.

What does the "Fair Share" contribution cover?

The "Fair Share" contribution covers the payment of all of the coaches (marching and instrumental) throughout the year.  It covers the transportation expenses such as busses to all of our tournaments and concerts.  It covers the trucks to transport our equipment and instruments.  It also covers many other items needed over the year.  We will provide parents with a detailed explanation of our budget and the Fair Share payments at our first Parent Booster meeting held on third Wednesday in September starting at 7 pm in the band room.

What are the "Time" contributions?

In order to run the calibre of programs (marching, orchestra, instrumental ensemble, etc.) that we expect at Westview, we require each family of a marching band student to contribution at least 30 hours of time per year.

Families of students that are not in the marching band program are only required to contribute 15 hours of time per year.

In additon, we require all families to contribute 10 hours of time on the Saturday of our Fall Tournament.

What is the "buy out" option?

The "buy out" option is available to families who cannot contribute the 30 hours of time through out the year. These families may pay an extra amount to "buy out" their annual contribution of "Time". For additional information, including the current "buy out" amounts, please download the 2008 Fair Share Contribution Letter (63Kb MS Word file) found in the Forms / Documents section.

Sorry, but there's no opting out of contributing 10 hours of time for our Fall Tournament. For this event, we NEED everyone to help on that Saturday.

What are "Student Accounts"?

"Student Accounts" are accounts maintained by the Boosters Treasurer that record the amounts collected by each student in fundraising activities. Each student has an account that is maintained by the Treasurer. When a student participates in a fundraiser and earns money, the money is deposited in that students account to be used for fair share or for expenses associated with trips. A summary of the student accounts is posted near the "White Box". Only students with money in their accounts will be printed on the summary. If the money in the account is not used by the student prior to graduating, the money will be deposited into the Band Booster account.

Why do we have so many fundraisers?

The Boosters organize a number of student fundraisers during the year to help families who choose to participate in the fundraisers defray the cost of the "Fair Share" contribution. Most years we run fundraisers like selling Entertainment Books and Cookie Dough where the proceeds go straight to the student/seller's "student account" (with maybe a small percentage of the profit going to the Booster General Fund to just cover administrative costs). Funds in a student account may then be used to pay for the Fair Share, band trip expenses, private music lessons etc. We will be providing more information on student accounts at the first Parent Booster meeting on the third Wednesday of September.

How should payments be made?

NO CASH

PLEASE DO NOT SEND CASH. We do not have a person in the band room who can accept cash from your student and provide a receipt, so we simply can not accept cash. Remember, there is no recourse for missing cash.

CHECKS OR MONEY ORDERS ONLY

Therefore, please make all contributions to the music program with either a check or money order made payable to "Westview Foundation". These documents will also be your receipt, so remember to PRINT your student’s name on the check or money order. This also insures that proper credit will be applied to your students account..

Place your checks in an envelope with your student's name and the reason for payment (i.e "Band Camp", "Fair Share", "Entertainment Books", etc.) written on the envelope. Have your student deposit the envelope in the "white box" in the band room. Your student will know or will find out where the "white box" is located in the band room.

A final word about CASH. Through out the year your student will be involved in some fund raising events where they may receive some cash from the sale of items like flowers and entertainment books. In these cases, we ask that you please CONVERT their collected CASH INTO A CHECK and send us the check. You can convert the cash by writting us a check for the same amount of collected cash and sending us your check. After sending us your check, you may then keep the collected cash for spending money.

ADDITIONAL NOTES FROM OUR TREASURER:

Our treasurer requests that separate checks be written for each separate thing. For example, please don’t combine your “band camp” donation with your “fair share" donation. If you are writing checks for various fund raising events please keep them separate because while they all end up in the same bank account, the funds could get there by separate paths.

In most cases your canceled check will serve as your receipt. However, if for some reason you need confirmation that we received your check, then please include a stamped, self addressed, confirmation postcard with your check. We will then mail back your confirmation postcard as an acknowledgment that your check was, in fact, received.

Are Fair Share discounts available for siblings?

Yes. Each additional sibling in the music program will get a 15% discount on their Fair Share contribution.

What about a financial hardship?

If you can not meet the payment dates or have questions about your Fair Share contribution, please contact the Booster's President or Treasurer.

Are refunds available?

FAIR SHARE CONTRIBUTIONS

The refund policy for “Fair Share” contributions is described in the Financial policies & procedures (73 MS Word file) document which can be found in the Forms / Documents section (see the money matters table).

"Fair Share" balances may be carried forward to the next year if the student or an incoming sibling will participate in the subsequent year.

"Fair Share" balances may not be applied to other fiscal obligations in the program.

STUDENT ACCOUNTS

No. Refunds are not available for "Student Accounts". However, any "Student Account" balance may first transfer to the "Student Account" of a sibling still in the program . Otherwise, the balance will be transfered back into the Booster General Fund.

FAQ's