By Karen Gutierrez
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FORT THOMAS - Doreen Taylor was shocked when she took over fund-raising for the Highlands High School marching band this year.

Katie Lockwood (left) plays clarinet during 7th grade band class at Highlands Middle School. (Steven M. Herppich photo)

A large portion of the $60,000 annual budget must be raised by parents and students, and they face tough competition, Taylor says. There are so many other school groups and charities raising money that sales tend to overlap, which can lead to donation fatigue.

"People just get inundated with kids trying to raise money," says Taylor, whose son, Bryce, plays percussion for Highlands. "They have to pick and choose who they're going to give to, who seems the most desperate and/or who gets to them first."

A recent survey of 22,000 U.S. parents found that schools do an average of four fund-raising events per year, raising a total of about $18,000 for items as basic as textbooks, the National PTA says.

And that's just the schoolwide sales. At middle and high schools especially, there are also sales to benefit alumni groups, student clubs, sports teams and class trips.

So far this year, Highlands' 63-member band has sold Christmas trees and LaRosa's discount cards, among other items. Its first dinner/dance is scheduled for March 13.

That was one of the few dates available, Taylor says, between galas sponsored by Brighton Center, the Fort Thomas Education Foundation and others.

School officials do what they can to minimize problems.

At Highlands, every school-related sale must be approved by the administration, and groups are not allowed to sell similar products at the same time, Principal Elgin Emmons says. He tries to make sure there is community demand for the items, so people don't feel harassed.

Mildred Dean Elementary School in Newport stopped doing schoolwide catalog sales this year. The school now asks parents to drop off General Mills box tops and Remke grocery receipts, for which it receives a percentage of profits, principal Steve McCafferty says.

Some organizations also are giving families the option of simply writing a check. At R.C. Hinsdale Elementary School in Edgewood, for instance, the PTO this year determined that its budget would be covered if each child contributed $30. Some parents made the donation and were exempt from fund-raisers.

Of all the school groups, marching bands are among the most pressed for money. Hiring part-time instructors and traveling to six or eight competitions a year is expensive, and bands do not get money from ticket sales, as sports teams and even drama clubs do.

At Ryle High School in Union, student fees for participating in marching band are likely to increase from $450 to $550 next year. Fund-raisers simply haven't been profitable enough to support the 64-member band, director Matthew Carron says.

At Dixie Heights High School in Edgewood, the band's budget is about $50,000 a year, which comes to $1,000 per student, booster president Dave Smith says.

About 40 percent of that is generated by student fees, while the rest is raised through selling concessions at Reds games and at Dixie Heights soccer and football games, as well as selling mulch, candy and fruit.

Highlands' band is in an especially tough spot, says Emmons, the principal.

Concessions at all the schools' sporting events are already handled by sports booster groups. And due to a parking crunch, Highlands can't host band competitions to raise money.

Taylor, the band parent, is considering asking the school board for assistance this year.

"We have a hard time getting people to understand how difficult it is for this band," she says.

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E-mail kgutierrez@enquirer.com