School production - auction for best seats

[rubeeeee]

Primary school is doing first whole school production in years. Everyone is so exicted. They have already said tickets will sell out and be limited. Email has just come out allowing people to bid for up to 32 seats in the front two rows by putting in their best offer. Normal tickets not out until end of the month.

For some reason this really doesn't sit right with me. It means parents with money will get a) the best seats and b) get to buy earlier than everyone else.

Am I overthinking this? The kids are all so excited and it just seems really unfair to those on lower incomes who are struggling. It's not a fun day or fundraiser, it is their DC's performance so should be equitable? Maybe it's a normal thing to do to raise money?

I think thats quite different. That is no different to business class on flights etc. Paying for a higher / faster / better service in public places.

A school should be creating equality not allowing people to buy privilege amongst pupils.

And why shouldn't they @NeverDropYourMooncup ?? It's hardly like PTA committee are shrouded in gold. It's hard hard work and there has to be some perks and this might be a way to get more people active and involved.

Valid point @skyscrapersinging

Agreed @GeneralReflection

And that' the exact point. This involves the children's performance not a service or commoditiy.

To another pp, the issue is not just the best seats, it is also allowing someone to bid on so many when they have clearly indicated it will sell out.

I always thought that would be a good way to raise money. Some of the parents would have spent any amount to be in the front row.

I'm not convinced by first come first served. It used to mean at the juniors that if you had a younger child who needed to be dropped off then you wouldn't get anywhere near the front unless you had someone who would save a space. And then you'd get a couple of people queueing and saving spaces for 15+ people.

Dh used to reckon it was the one universal perk of being a governor; he was always offered a front row seat whatever the performance, but he always refused unless he was there under official capacity.

I used to go and stand at the back-it was normally a better view than being half way back and not as agonising when the recorders squeaked out "rhapsody on B" (yes, it was all on the note B) again.

Well, when I was doing 18 hour days and 2 days at weekends for rehearsals, set building, sound design, programme design, printing and running the ticketing system, I wasn't hugely appreciative of somebody from the PTA coming in and informing me that I had to allocate the front 4 rows of tickets to a list of people who had done precisely nothing to assist - or complaining that she didn't understand how to open the Excel ticketing file, what did the number 2 underneath the column marked 'Tuesday 15th Adults' (once I'd had to print it out for her) mean in any case and why was the parent marked Y under 'disabled Access?' at the front (in a direct line from the lift for his powerchair) when surely he could sit at the back of the hired bleachers and free up a space for her best mate next to her.

Never come across this.
I can see the merit.
"First come first served" privileges the parents with the privilige of not having to work for a living and have the leisure to start queuing early rather that turning up 5 minutes before the play starts.

How about a lottery system, where you can "buy" up to 5 lottery tickets with each ticket being either a £10 donation to PTA funds, an hour's work volunteering for the PTA or an hour's work as a reading buddy volunteer.

Look first come first served isn’t the issue. The issue is the way it has been done.