School fund compulsory... Cheeky???

[justdeserves]

Hi
My hubby went to the new parents meeting at the school my son attends and my twin girls will be attending from September, and suddenly instead of paying £15 per family for school fund they are now stating its compulsory and £15 per child. It may not seem a lot however with school dinners snack funds (which are £7 a week... Sky high) school trips,fundraising for this and that every other week, non uniform days which we have to pay for etc etc I think it's cheeky to suddenly demand this money and then also say if you can't pay you need to explain why! Why should I? Am I being unreasonable? Any thoughts...

The £45 goes into a building fund as Catholic schools get 10% less than maintained schools as the diocese usually owns the buildings etc. this attempts to make up the shortfall for capital repairs etc. I can't see why you are so gleeful about not paying for it. This is part of why do you choose a catholic school, you are prepared to accept responsibility for funding this shortfall. I am slightly disgusted by your attitude. If you don't want to catholic education for your children, then choose another one and let somebody else avail of that place.

Your post also implies that there something suspicious about where this money goes to. The school, as a state school, will be fully audited and any misspent money will be identified at that point.

I saved myself £2500 by not having a holiday this year.... Super saver

I am not saying it's suspicious with the monies paid I'm just wondering where all the cash they received goes... I guess overheads are high etc It just makes me wonder why they are suddenly saying compulsory and money would come out of their budget... Where has it been coming from until now then? Do the church no longer fund them etc I think more clarity needed

I also think if she had said "look we've had our funds slashed and need help with paying for the schools repairs" a lot of parents outlooks would have been different rather than the whole it's compulsory and explanations why we won't pay towards it

It's not only illegal and unethical, it is also bad fundraising.

The fundraising campaigns that say 'if everyone pays X then we'll can afford Y' fail - because not everyone can/will give, and some people would pay more if asked properly.

So - we need X for [specific need e.g. repair the roof, buy new books for the library, whatever]. Someone (ideally fellow parent) to talk enthusiastically about why this need is important, and that they are giving money towards it because it is so valuable to their DC. We need 10 people to give X per month (a total of 12X per year), 25 people to give Y per month, and 50 people to give Z per month. Please join me!

Forms available on the evening for parents to sign up (hardly anyone gets round to it if they take it home).

I (and others) have helped state schools raise 1 million plus amounts. OK, in affluent areas, but none of it trying to pressure parents to give.

The £45 goes into a building fund as Catholic schools get 10% less than maintained schools as the diocese usually owns the buildings etc. this attempts to make up the shortfall for capital repairs etc.

Well, the Church (which is not exactly strapped for cash on a national level) demands certain privileges from the State, and part of the quid pro quo is that it doesn't get quite as much funding (though the state still funds all admin and most of its capital).

The Church then demands the right to cherry pick its students, which is shown to be discriminate in favour of middle class, less ethnically diverse students than are found in the surrounding area.

So yes, the school has a bit of a nerve to try to defray these costs onto parents rather than the Church stumping up the cash for which it demands its privileged place and the ability to discriminate against children.

I live in Scotland and I've never heard of "School Fund" contributions or paying for "compulsory" snacks and not being allowed to provide your own kids playtime snacks. Such a thing would not go down well where I live.

I might add, our school had a Dance-a-Thon last term which raised £3,500 for the school, the kids loved it. That's the sort of thing schools should be doing to raise money, not asking making parents to pay.

For those in Scotland:
The snack thing - is very unusual - never heard of it before! (other than requests to send in fruit).
School Fund - very common - but legally has to be voluntary. (i'd be tempted to forward anything in writing to LA, or send a write note if it was just verbal).

BTW the Heads of my DCs secondary all have very nice cars, but also earn 6 figure salaries. But they are running a reasonable sized company.

Catholic schools get 10% less than maintained schools

No they don't. They get exactly the same revenue funding as community schools. They normally have to find 10% of the funding for any capital works. So, for example, if a roof needs repairs that would come out of the revenue budget and be 100% funded but if it needs replacing the school will normally have to find 10% of the cost.

Yes that's why I said a building fund.

I would be very likely to make the contribution if school approach it like this (makes my blood boil!). But I would contribute if it is clear that it is voluntary and it is worded in such a way not to make people feel uncomfortable about not paying.

I've never heard of this voluntary contribution before, sounds to me like they are breaking the Law. Many parents I know would struggle to pay it.

However to all those saying the 'church' should be paying this...what do you think the church is? We are ordinary people some rich, some poor, some highly paid, some on benefits. This money is raised through fundraising, fetes, fairs, money dropped in collections, etc. By sending your child to a Catholic school you become part of the wider church community, even if you are not a church attender, and so should expect to take part in this fundraising. There is no magic Catholic money tree.

I disagree totally with what you are being asked to give and how the school is forcing encouraging you to pay it. But, in general, if you send your kids to a Catholic school, do expect to be involved in fundraising.