A new Renton School District foundation would give Renton’s big businesses a way to help local schools.

“It’s not a matter of asking for more, it’s a matter of funding items that are going to go unfunded,” said local businessman Bob Bridge, who is marketing the project to local businesses.

The district is facing about $6.1 million budget gap for next year.

The Renton residents have a reputation for supporting school tax levies, Bridge said.

“Who needs to jump in now? Well, I think it’s business,” he said. “It’s really our time to lift the heavy buckets.”

Bridge and Superintendent Mary Alice Heuschel have already solicited thousands of dollars from Boeing, the Seahawks and Bob Bridge Toyota.

“It’s a pretty common thing for school districts as systems to have foundations,” said Heuschel.

Heuschel pitched the idea to Bridge, who is known for contributing thousands to Renton education, and they began to brainstorm.

The Renton Rotary club pitched in a large donation to get the fund started under the Renton Community Foundation.

The hope is for the fund to be large enough to eventually become its own foundation, Heuschel said. “It depends on how large and successful we could be.”

The foundation leaders haven’t decided what programs they’re going to start fundraising for, but at a small gathering in November, organizers discussed the successful Reading First program.

Two elementary schools went from having about 24 percent of their students reading at grade level to about 84 percent by the end of the year.

The “homerun” program will run out of grant money this year, because of how successful it’s been.

Heuschel drafted a list of the top 10 programs the district would like money to continue next year, but it’d cost about $804,000 to sustain them all, Bridge said.

Some foundations use the money to support basic needs to help stabilize the district in poor economic times.

Issaquah’s foundation buys textbooks, Heushel said. “I think that’s a state responsibility.”

The foundation instead will mostly be supporting already successful programs that might otherwise lose funding, she said.

The first major fundraiser is planned for April 26. The breakfast will feature key-note speaker Bill Gates Sr., a prominent lawyer who also serves on the University of Washington Board of Regents.

“These are very difficult times,” Bridge said. “Hopefully the business community can rally together here and do something good.”

The hope is also for long-term community giving, where people can bequest money to help the district.

“It is to put in place that kind of philanthropy that will benefit students for many many years to come,” Heuschel said.