05/21/08

Cape schools, education foundation consider developing an alumni directory

Cape Elizabeth schools, in partnership with the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation, is looking into creating an alumni directory.

The School Board is expected to vote on the proposed endeavor at its June meeting.

Peter Cary, co-president of CEEF, described the project as a way for the School Department to communicate with past graduates, and, for CEEF to raise funds for the schools.

"I don't think we've ever had one in Cape Elizabeth," said Cary.

The education foundation is proposing to work with Harris Connect, a firm based in Virginia, to develop an alumni database. "The goal would be, that we would work with Harris Connect in compiling names, non-confidential information, to put together an alumni directory that could be used for a variety of things," Cary told members of the board.

The School Department, which would also have the database, could use it to inform graduates of reunions or communicate about progress in the schools, he said.

CEEF's interest in the database are for fund-raising. "Despite these economic times, there are still people out there who have funds and that wish to be generous," he said. "We want to attract that."

The first step would be for the board to approve a letter of understanding with CEEF on the project. CEEF volunteers would then work to compile the information, provided by the School Department. That information is governed by the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act and is limited to name and year of graduation, said board Chairman Kathy Ray. "Harris Connect does all the work in terms of finding out where these folks live, etc.," Ray said.

Once the database is developed, both CEEF and the School Department would have the database to use for their own purposes.

School officials have been discussing the project with CEEF for almost a year, fine-tuning the letter of understanding and other details, said Ray. "So, hopefully by our June (School Board) meeting, we could made a decision about whether we wanted to go forward with this or not," Ray said.

Cary did say he envisions a long-term project. "My guess is we won't see anything for five years," he said.