2 Schools Added to Improvement Association Marketing Program

The Studio City Improvement Association voted Monday night to add Rio Vista Elementary School on the border of North Hollywood and Dixie Canyon Elementary School in Sherman Oaks to a marketing program that could help the schools fundraise up to $5,000.

However, by adding the two schools to the mix, along with Carpenter Community Charter, Colfax Community Charter and Walter Reed Middle schools, the piece of the pie of available money diminishes from $8,333 to $5,000 for each school.

The Improvement Association allocates money that it raises from a Business Improvement District that extends along Ventura Boulevard from Carpenter to Whitsett avenues (see the exact borders here). It gives a total of $25,000 to the public schools, plus another $1,000 to the Studio City Co-op.

The fundraisers collect original receipts from businesses within the BID area and 10 percent of those total receipts are paid out to the schools, with a maximum of $8,333.

“This has been a very successful program and it helps the schools,” said Improvement Association president Tony Richman at the annual Property Association meeting of the BID held at the CBS Radford Studios lot.

Board member Ben Di Benedetto said, “I have been concerned since we started this program that we are not including other public schools that Studio City residents send their children to. Studio City residents send their kids to Rio Vista and Dixie Canyon so they should be included. Those people shop in Studio City, too.”

Another concern from the board came up when Improvement Association executive director Lorena Parker pointed out that 77 percent of the receipts from the schools came from Trader Joe’s. The board voted to allow no more than $1,000 of the receipts per school from the same business.

“We want to be able to include more businesses in the area in this program,” said board member Alfredo Annino.