With school budgets tight for 2013, Old Rochester Regional’s Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Dr. Elise Frangos, said now may be time to embrace online fundraising.

Rochester Memorial School’s recent success with fundraising website DonorsChoose.org was up for discussion at the Joint School Committee of the Old Rochester Regional school district on March 22.

DonorsChoose.org is a website that allows teachers to post financial needs for their classrooms and accept donations, said Frangos.

Recently, Rochester Memorial reading teacher Holly Ashley launched a campaign on the site to raise money for the school’s summer reading program.

“We want to make sure kids have the right book at the right time,” Frangos said. “If they do not interact with literacy materials in the summer, then they step backwards. We really need to push forward and engage kids with comprehension.”

The goal is for each child to bring home a bag of books to read during vacation. However, around 30 students were unable to afford the books.

In addition to asking for donations of gently used books from families, Ashley posted a “Super Summer Reading” project costing about $600 through DonorsChoose.org, and received full funding on March 7.

Frangos said “slim” school budgets and the increasing number of families experiencing financial woes can mean children get left behind for field trips and other supplemental programs.

DonorsChoose.org could be a way to fill the budget shortfalls, she said.

One concern from committee members was that any public school teacher can post a need on the site without approval from the School Committee or Principal.

DonorsChoose.org also requires a photo of the teacher and students who will be using the program.

Frangos said maintaining the privacy of students is important.

In addition to a signed permission slip, she said pictures can be taken with students facing their teacher so as to keep them anonymous.

The committee members agreed to discuss the site with their individual school committees from Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester., and report back.