NEWPORT BEACH

In the last three years, parents, grandparents and businesses have donated more than $2 million to the Corona del Mar Schools Foundation, a private corporation that pays for improvements at Corona del Mar High School. The foundation passed the milestone last month, Chairman Terry Hackett said, making it one of the most financially successful of the many private foundations that have sprung up at California public schools.

Parents formed the foundation to offset some of the financial difficulties in the district caused by the Orange County bankruptcy and the $4-million embezzlement of school funds by a district official. So far, the foundation has paid to renovate the school gym, repave blacktop, paint school buildings, plant trees and plants, as well as purchase work stations for every teacher.