Foundation for Schools Planned

The Torrance Teachers Assn. is in the process of setting up a nonprofit foundation to raise money for the Torrance school system.

The new group, to be called the Torrance Education Foundation, will solicit funds from corporations and individuals to help improve education in Torrance. The association announced its plans Monday, at a time when teachers are locked in a contract dispute with the Torrance Unified School District.

Some of the money raised by the nonprofit foundation could be channeled into grants to help pay for classroom supplies or sending teachers to conferences, said William A. Franchini, executive director of the association, which represents about 875 district teachers, counselors, nurses and other employees.

Despite tense relations between the association and the district, school board President David Sargent said he liked the concept of a foundation. “I take my hat off to them. I applaud their initiative,” Sargent said.

The foundation initially would be run by the association’s board of directors, but it later would have its own board, planners said. It already has a director, former teacher Tom Sutherland, who said he signed a contract with the association last week.

“I would like to think that teachers are looking at this as a ray of sunshine,” said Sutherland, a retired West High School teacher and former varsity basketball coach who said he first approached Franchini with the idea of the foundation several years ago.

Sutherland said he also hopes the foundation can assist the district’s teaching staff, perhaps by funding sabbaticals.