Local Donors Raise Nearly $170K For Sonoma County Students

Businesses and community leaders committed nearly $170,000 on Thursday, Oct. 23, to advance educational opportunities for students in Sonoma County’s public schools during SchoolsRule Sonoma County’s 2025 Impact Celebration. An additional $25,000 in-kind donation was also announced.

The event at Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa marked the initiative’s official fundraising kickoff for the 2026-27 school year. Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Amie Carter, who launched SchoolsRule Sonoma County in November 2023, expressed appreciation to the initiative’s founding donors, who backed the project before it was fully realized.

“Thank you to those who were with us at the start. You were kind of taking a flier on us and this concept,” Carter said. “ … We’re finally at that moment where we’re getting results.”

Thursday’s event included a performance from Play Marimba!, a music nonprofit that works with students throughout Sonoma County. Funds from SchoolsRule Sonoma County supported participation in the program for more than 800 students across the Bellevue Union School District in southwest Santa Rosa.

Among the evening’s speakers were Richard Crane Elementary School teacher Kristine Duran, who used money she received from SchoolsRule Sonoma County by way of The Education Foundation of Cotati & Rohnert Park to purchase a new 3D printer used by students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades at the school.

“When students get to design and print something in 3D, they're not just playing with technology, they’re learning real-world skills,” Duran said. “They’re practicing math, they’re practicing measurement, and they're thinking about how shapes fill space.”

Sean Dalton, an events manager at Sonoma Clean Power, a sponsor of SchoolsRule Sonoma County, said the company was proud to support the local initiative and another using the same model in Mendocino County, which launched in July. Both borrow a concept started by the Marin County Office of Education in 2011.

Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire led the fundraising portion of the evening, calling on event attendees to “stand for our students.”

“Were going to continue to grow our impact and the number one goal for this coming year is to be able to help thousands of additional students right here in Sonoma County,” McGuire said.

The business donors that committed funds during the event include: 

• Redwood Credit Union 
• Sonoma Clean Power
• Exchange Bank 
• Friedman’s Home Improvement 
• Sutter Health 
• Edwards, Stevens, & Tucker 
• Rebich Construction 
• F3 Law 
• Level Body Pilates 
• Wright Contracting 
• The LIME Foundation 
• Midstate Construction

Several individual sponsors also pledged donations, and The Press Democrat announced a separate in-kind donation of $25,000 in marketing support for the program. 

Visit the SchoolsRule Sonoma County Impact Page to learn more about how the initiative is supporting local students.​​​