The Hart School District is pleased to announce it has launched an Education Foundation that is dedicated to providing quality education and opportunities for all students in the Santa Clarita Valley. The newly formed education foundation will be called the WiSH Education Foundation, with the acronym representing “William S. Hart.”

Following several months of meetings with community leaders and local public education advocates, the steering committee has selected the founding board, as follows: Hunt Braly, attorney and SCV Chamber of Commerce board member; Amy Daniels, parent association president, former teacher and businesswoman; Jim Doty, Vice President, TriStar Home Loans; Carl Goldman, co-owner KHTS AM-1220; Rick Gould, Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services, City of Santa Clartia; Julia Hicken, parent and member of Hart District Measure V Oversight Committee; Marlee Lauffer, SVP Marketing and Communications, Newhall Land; Dennis King, Certified Public Accountant and past Hart Governing Board member; Ed Masterson, marketing and sales manager, SOS Entertainment and business community activist; Fred Trueblood, Senior Partner, Paladin Principle and SCVTV Vice President; Brian Walters, attorney and Newhall School Board member; and John Zaring, entertainment and event production company owner and advocate for Castaic-area high school.

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The steering committee is comprised of Rob Challinor, Superintendent, Rob Gapper, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources and Student Services; Joe Messina and Paul Strickland, Hart District Governing Board members; Gail Pinsker, Community Liaison Officer, Leslie Littman, teacher and president of the teacher’s association and Deborah Dunn, classified employee and vice president of the California School Employees Association.

The Vision Statement of the WiSH Education Foundation is “The William S. Hart Education Foundation is dedicated to quality education for all students. Through the generosity of our caring community and corporate partners, we fund programs and initiatives that go beyond what tax dollars provide and help elevate and prepare our students for life. WiSH is the official private-fundraising organization for the support of the William S. Hart Union High School District’s educational programs.”

Members of our steering committee have attended sessions produced by the California Consortium of Education Foundations to learn how other districts throughout the state have been successful in raising funds for student programs that include: academics, extra-curricular, athletics, technology, science, performing arts, art and other enrichment programs. The common vision of education foundations is to improve education for all of California’s students. In Santa Clarita, we are fortunate to have high performing schools that are greatly supported by the community.

The Hart District is looking forward to this strong leadership team taking the reins of the WiSH Education Foundation and we encourage the support of the community in this new endeavor. Students and community will benefit greatly.