Teachers, district staff gathered at ScienceWorks last week to watch The Kelly Clarkson Show on $890K donation to the foundation

By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news

The anonymous donor of $890,000 to Ashland Schools Foundation in December 2024 amid upwards of an $8 million structural budget deficit has prompted a $10,000 contribution to the foundation from Emmy Award-winning talk show host Kelly Clarkson, who is matching a $5,000 donation from Scholastic.

The award was announced last week during the airing of an episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show about the initial donation and the gratitude wave it spurred among Ashland School District staff and students following the generous gesture. Ashland Superintendent Joseph Hattrick and foundation director Erica Thompson traveled to New York last month for the show’s taping.  Ashland teachers can now apply for a grant paid for by the donation through the foundation.

“It wasn’t about us, it was about the district, it was about our staff, it was about the donor,” Hattrick told Ashland.news. “We didn’t seek this out and we didn’t want the self-promotion, we really wanted to keep the focus on the district and that’s even what today’s about — It’s about celebrating the commitment and sacrifices our staff made and celebrating the donor and what that brought, but also what came from that … gratitude and showing kids how to be gracious.”

Hattrick and Thompson hosted a viewing party at ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum on Thursday, Oct. 16. It was attended by school board members and district staff, as well as donors and supporters, to celebrate both the sacrifices made by staff during the last year and acknowledge the delightful aftermath of the $890,000 anonymous donation made to the district via the foundation. 

Applause broke out around Thompson and Hattrick as Clarkson introduced them both on the screen, sharing how Hattrick had recently started in his role as Ashland Schools Superintendent before discovering the deficit.

When asked by Clarkson what he did after finding out about the deficit, Hattrick told her, “I took a deep breath.

“It was heartbreaking,” Hattrick added, seated next to Thompson on the show. 

“Our school district, we have seven schools, about 400 employees. It costs $150,000 each day to operate and so, when we realized that, we knew we had to act and we had to act quick.”

Hattrick shared that the district considered all the possible cuts: programs, including music, and up to 15 school days, in addition to teachers.

“Where you really look at when you can save money is, do we need to cut teachers, classified staff, administrators, and that’s mid-year,” Hattrick said. “As an educator, the worst thing you can do is think about telling students, ‘Hey, when you come back from winter break … You’re going to lose your teacher.’

“That’s hard for kids,” he added.

Thompson was the first to find out about the donation. She oversees Ashland Schools Foundation, a nonprofit tasked with fundraising to aid schools with needs ranging from extracurricular programs to materials and supplies and special projects.

“That must have been a good day,” Clarkson told Thompson.

Thompson responds directly to teacher requests for funding needs.

“Teachers come to us, they tell us what they need,” Thompson said. “It’s anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousands for classroom libraries, sets of books, musical instruments, materials, supplies, equipment, that kind of thing.

“Sometimes we’ve done larger district-wide projects or capital campaigns, but never have we ever dealt with anything close to $8 million,” she added, referencing the structural deficit.

Thompson told Clarkson how Hattrick shared the news of the deficit with the Ashland School Board in December 2024. That next morning, Thompson got a phone call from the anonymous donor.

“They said, ‘I think I’m in a position to help,’” Thompson said.

The donor then contributed $850,000 to help mitigate furlough days and the number of staff that would’ve been laid off mid-year. Additionally, the donor contributed $40,000 for affinity groups at Ashland School District, which were at risk without necessary funding, according to Thompson.

As reported by Ashland.news in December, the donation cut the number of furlough days by up to half what was initially proposed, which was upwards of 13 days.

Ashland.news reported in December that Hattrick had encouraged those wishing to thank the donor to drop off thank you cards and/or letters to the Ashland School District office in mid-December. But he told Ashland.news he never anticipated writing campaigns by entire classrooms or school projects centered around gestures of gratitude.

The two weeks following the donation were among the most memorable of his time in Ashland, Hattrick told Clarkson.

“The community showed up,” Hattrick told Clarkson, noting that students, staff, and local residents all played a role in responding with gratitude.

An Ashland Middle School class created angel wings with thank-you cards covering them.

“Boxes and boxes, probably hundreds, maybe thousands of letters showed up,” Hattrick said.

“It was the most moving experience.”

Thank-you cards filled Thompson’s car before she drove to the donor’s home.

“They were speechless,” Thompson said. “They were blown away, one, because they didn’t expect all of this from the students and the families.”

Clarkson made a point also to speak with students and staff about their part before a break in the show. A technician from The Kelly Clarkson Show traveled to Ashland and facilitated a live chat between Clarkson, Hattrick, Thompson in New York and students and staff, with school board members on hand, at the district office.

“What’s up, ya’ll? Welcome to the show,” Clarkson said, in her signature way.

Watching back in Ashland, teacher Paul Huard and students Soren Vaughn Brown and Grace Snyder beamed.  

Vaughn Brown told Clarkson that when he heard of the potential budget cuts, he was worried about his teachers, especially Huard, who was seated next to him.

Huard was at the time teaching his students, including Soren, about social contracts and “the power of the pen.”

He swelled with pride over Vaughn Brown and Snyder and all of his students who wrote thank-you notes and cards.

“The notes that they wrote were heartfelt, they were genuine, they were expressing gratitude — not only about what that donation had done for them individually, but for all the students in Ashland,” Huard said. 

“In an age where you have text messages, emails, even AI-generated thank-you cards, these young people wrote their own thank-you notes,” he added.

Both Hattrick and Thompson reveled in participating in the show’s taping in New York City and in finally watching the show air. 

In an interview before the show aired, Hattrick recalled the “warm” and “welcoming” atmosphere while taping the show and from Clarkson and her staff.

While being interviewed by Ashland.news, Walker Elementary teacher Kathleen Mateas came up to Thompson excitedly, thanked her, and the two hugged.

Mateas, in her 20th year teaching at Walker, has been well aware of the financial challenges faced by the district. She noted how teachers can often feel somewhat like a “social worker” trying to find the resources needed by students and their families. She knew personally of individuals in the district with jobs on the line.

“The idea of losing people was the hardest part,” Mateas said. “It takes many hands to make a rich experience for kids.”

As Mateas thought about how to get by with less help due to budget cuts being proposed, she began to  think, ‘How are we going to do this well without as many people?’”

When Mateas learned of the anonymous $890,000 donation made to the foundation in December, she said teachers “seriously celebrated” with party hats and confetti after school.

Her classroom wrote thank-you notes to the donor. She is also a past recipient of Ashland Schools Foundation grants, and praised the foundation in her conversation with Thompson. 

Referencing the school’s foundation, Mateas called the foundation a “game-changer”’ for staff and students.

School board chair Rebecca Dyson, who was on hand serving up pizza for attendees prior to the viewing, shared that the show’s airing also served as a “spotlight” on districts state and nationwide that have been struggling financially.

“There’s so many financial issues statewide, nationwide that we’re facing,” Dyson said. “When even (one) individual makes an effort, it really can make a big difference.”

Hattrick clarified after the show’s airing that comments about the anonymous donor “saving the district” refers to the district being saved from having to cut significantly more days and more staff due to a structural deficit in December 2024. 

The next application deadline for teachers wishing to apply for a grant from the Ashland Schools Foundation is Nov. 10. For more information, go to ashlandschoolsfoundation.org.

Reach Ashland.news reporter Holly Dillemuth at [email protected].