With shifting state budgets and legal uncertainties around future funding for public schools, local and flexible funding is more critical than ever to support continued excellence in the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District (TTUSD). For the Tahoe Truckee Excellence in Education Foundation, challenges like these are core to why we exist.
This is a full-circle moment for our organization, founded nearly 40 years ago when a group of dedicated local citizens came together to fill the gaps created by California court rulings and policy changes that drastically reduced funding for public education. That effort became the Tahoe Truckee Excellence in Education Foundation.
In the 1980s, our foundation successfully worked to pass Measure E, a regional parcel tax designed to fund local education. Following that success, we broadened our mission to respond to teacher-identified needs and to continue to fill gaps in educational funding at TTUSD.
Nearly four decades later, as the only educational foundation that supports all of TTUSD, we are still passionately committed to our founding mission to identify and inspire excellence in education through innovative, targeted, and responsive funding.
The Excellence in Education Foundation is a unique and agile funding mechanism for TTUSD. Our board of 20-plus members with diverse perspectives and expertise engages with teachers, students, administrators, and community members to advocate for the most impactful resources and learning opportunities. Unlike state or federal funding, which is often prescriptive, our grants go where they are most needed.
We serve all 10 TTUSD schools and Sierra Expeditionary Learning School (SELS). We work hand in hand with the district and school sites to step in where traditional budgets fall short. Our grants support creative, hands-on learning opportunities, educational tools, and innovative classroom practices that directly benefit students.
During the pandemic, we collaborated with the district to provide every TK–12 student a Chromebook for distance learning, making it possible for all students to learn. In 2022, we partnered with TTUSD to bring more social workers into the schools to address the growing need for student mental health services.
We have invested in outdoor education resources like snowshoes and cross-country skis for school sites, and bunk beds for the district’s new TAHOE Lab and Outdoor School at Rideout on the West Shore. We funded numerous targeted literacy resources to support the science of reading, equipped North Tahoe High School with a molecular biology laboratory, and brought science standards to life with the birds of prey program in an elementary classroom. These are just a few of the hundreds of grants funded, each enhancing and strengthening the learning for TTUSD students.
This responsive, community-rooted support has always been, and remains, our organization’s fundamental strength.
As we look ahead, continued support of our foundation is an essential way for our community to come together for the benefit of local students. Another critical source of funding is Measure AA, the local parcel tax that provides TTUSD with vital resources not covered by state funding. Its renewal will appear on the ballot as early as June 2026, and like Measure E, Measure AA represents a powerful opportunity for our community to unite in support of our schools by providing secure and reliable funding.
This is a defining moment for local residents, echoing the commitment that founded our organization decades ago. By donating to organizations like the Tahoe Truckee Excellence in Education Foundation and voting yes on the renewal of Measure AA, we ensure our public schools remain places of innovation, opportunity, and excellence. Together, we can uphold this tradition and provide every student with the high-quality education they deserve, securing a strong future for our children and our community.
~ Anna Yarbrough is the executive director of the Tahoe Truckee Excellence in Education Foundation and a parent of four TTUSD students. She has over 20 years of experience in education as a teacher, administrator, consultant, and PTO president. She is deeply connected and committed to the Tahoe/Truckee community.
