West Kerr Public School Foundation postpones fundraiser, keeps giving grants to classrooms
After its Ingram-focused launch, the board quickly recognized that West Kerr operates as “its own little world” — where elementary students in Hunt and Divide eventually matriculate to Ingram Tom Moore High School.
LaCee Paxton knows what it feels like to ask your neighbors for money when your neighbors are still gutting their houses.
“We don’t want to go and ask our friends and family and neighbors for money right now,” Paxton said Tuesday on Lead Live’s Nonprofit Week. “It just hasn’t felt right to really push at this point.”
The West Kerr Public School Foundation — launched in June 2025 as the Ingram Public School Foundation, just weeks before the July 4 flood — has chosen to postpone its planned “boots and jeans” western-themed kickoff fundraiser until spring 2027 out of sensitivity to the economic strain weighing on the community it serves. The decision cost the organization its biggest early revenue opportunity, but the board felt it had no other choice.
The foundation was initiated in spring 2025 by a community group that included Ingram ISD Steve Schulte and grew organically from a conversation about replicating the success of Kerrville’s existing public school foundation in the outlying districts. After its Ingram-focused launch, the board quickly recognized that West Kerr operates as “its own little world” — where elementary students in Hunt and Divide eventually matriculate to Ingram Tom Moore High School. The three districts share a natural educational pipeline, and a unified foundation made sense.
The schools the foundation serves rank among the state’s best. Tom Moore High School is the highest-scoring high school on the state STAAR exams. Hunt ISD is the highest-scoring district by a single point over Ingram. Paxton described Ingram as a district that has “come out of the shadows” with a specific institutional ambition: ending generational poverty through education.
The foundation’s core mission is straightforward — direct classroom funding so teachers don’t pay for supplies out of their own pockets. Its Inspire and Elevate grant programs range from $500 classroom initiatives to $5,000 programmatic grants. Despite being less than a year old, the foundation has already distributed three grants in fall 2025, three in spring 2026, and two major grants issued on the eve of the 2026 school convocation.
The board of seven — working alongside a school board representative and Ingram’s new superintendent, Justin Turner — has found that corporate outreach to national chains yielded silence. H-E-B, Whataburger, and local trucking companies, however, have stepped up with support.
The foundation is actively seeking volunteers with communications and event management experience to expand the board’s capacity.
To learn more or join the board, contact the West Kerr Public School Foundation through the Ingram Independent School District.
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