The roughly 3,400 students enrolled in Burlingame's public elementary and intermediate schools will keep their PE, music, world language, and academic intervention teachers when the new school year begins, thanks to what the Burlingame Community for Education Foundation calls the largest single-year grant in its 45-year history.
BCE announced Monday, July 20, that it will award $3.21 million to the Burlingame School District for 2026-27. The grant funds approximately 20 teaching positions across all six elementary schools and Burlingame Intermediate School. It also covers planned salary increases of approximately 6 percent, BCE said.
The total breaks down as $3.185 million raised through BCE's annual campaign and $25,000 from the BCE Endowment Fund. It tops the previous grant of $3,035,000, as reported in BCE's 2024-25 annual report, by about $175,000.
"One of the things I love most about Burlingame is that people genuinely care about our schools," BCE Executive Director Meredith Dunn said in the announcement. "Families, businesses, neighbors, volunteers... Everyone understands that investing in students strengthens the entire community."
Why it matters
BCE was founded in 1981 by a group of parents, including co-founder Ron Burks, after Proposition 13 slashed property-tax revenue for California public schools. The foundation's annual grant now represents nearly 5 percent of BSD's budget, per BCE's most recent annual report.
That funding is especially significant given the district's fiscal uncertainty. BSD's funding designation flipped from state-funded to community-funded during the current school year, meaning local property-tax revenue now exceeds what the state formula would provide, adding $450,000 to its budget. But Kevin Bultema, deputy superintendent of business services at the San Mateo County Office of Education, told the San Mateo Daily Journal in June that the numbers are "very volatile, very difficult to predict," and the district could flip back within three to five years.
BCE's grant covers programs in music, performing arts, physical education, world languages, and academic intervention. As of a 2019 statewide study, roughly half of California school districts employed no elementary PE teachers at all.
Growing support
The foundation has raised $42.6 million since 1981. Its business partner program grew to 32 local sponsors in 2024-25, a 60 percent increase in one year, contributing $220,000. The BCE Endowment Fund, established in 2015, has reached $3.2 million and is targeting $5 million by the end of 2027.
BCE intentionally made a smaller endowment distribution this year, preserving capital while strong annual campaign results covered the grant goal.
BSD Superintendent Marla Silversmith said the grant's reliability and flexibility allow the district to respond to emerging needs and continue providing students with opportunities that would otherwise be difficult to sustain.
The BSD Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet Tuesday, August 11, at 5:30 p.m. at district headquarters, 1825 Trousdale Drive, according to the district's posted calendar.
