the dreaded fundraising debate

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Permalink Reply by Catherine on September 9, 2009 at 9:30am

In my experience on council it was usually the principal who steered the group towards fundraising, whether intentional to keep councils from actually doing what they were developed to do or not is the big question.

If school councils insist on fundraising it would be because the parents want it. Some councils do an excellent job of submitting a fundraising plan for the year and sticking to it, then reporting back to the school community what was done with the money.(that's actually stated in the operations manual for school councils).

I can tell you that one year at the elementary school my kids there were so many fundraisers that the parents just had had enough and stopped contributing. Guess what? Nothing happened - life and education went on.

Under the next principal after that year we did a plan at the beginning of the year. We also started to suggest that in lieu of continuous fundraising that parents consider making a donation to their child's classroom. That way parents are ensured that their money is going to be spent on something that benefits their child eventually.

Parents and councils need to know that they're valued for something more than their wallets.

What really annoyed me was in the new Accommodation Review guidelines when determining "value to student, community, board" of a school one of the criteria points is amount fundraised. If Annie's looking for how the province actually sets up those "have" and "have not" schools that whole valuation process is a prime example.

I was surprised when I attended our board's PIC meeting a year ago and the chair asked the school council chairs assembled how many of their councils fundraised. Most did not...and wrote it in to their constitution.
The councils that did not fundraise left it up to other parents to do. Don't forget that fundraising may be a way that some parents wish to contribute their time to their school. That's ok. It' s not my choice but if other like to do it great. Event they should report back to the school council on how and what they're doing.

Secondary schools need to list a shopping list of activities offered and the cost right up from to allow for a family to budtget. Yes, the cost is sometimes high enough that it requires a family budget for it.

Re: tax credit - you should ask your board. The feds. are offsetting the cost of sports/fitness activities up to,
I think 13 years old. Boards should have this in their policy by now. I know that our board had PD last year on how to apply the credit, and issuing receipts etc.

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Permalink Reply by Catherine on September 9, 2009 at 6:32pm

Every new council member should read the copy of "School Councils - A Guide for Members". It lays out the info. re: fundraising and accounting to the school community in that. If a copy hasn't been passed on to you from the School Council chair person the principal should have one.

All board should also have a Parent Involvement Committee.

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Permalink Reply by Joanne MacEwan on September 9, 2009 at 7:53pm

Our Board has a PICommittee. We worked with our Senior Staff on this issue of fees and making sure that anyone who cannot afford the fees, is not penalized. The Board now mention to their principals to be aware and to be sensitive to family/student situations. The principals work within their schools and with their teachers to increase awareness of possible families/students who might not be able to afford fees. Suggestions were made like asking teachers to not write names on the blackboard if money not in or not to single out students who had not paid fees….that sort of thing

In our Board, we (Regional council) recommend that School Councils do one fundraiser a year and that the Principal, if chooses, can do one Fundraiser. We recommend that any fundraiser is very clear about what the funds are for. ie for a play structure, improve the playground, support the library, field trips....

I have been active in my children’s schools for 15 years. Our elementary school council, including the Principal, decided about 13 years ago to only hold one major fundraiser, a Walk-a-Thon at the beginning of the school year. We did a big rally, gave out pledge forms and asked parents to donate only once what they wanted to. On the last afternoon in September, the whole school goes out and walks for 2 hours. Parents come and volunteer to count laps. The fundraiser is still a Main event and still running at the school. This is very easy to organize and determined how much the school had to spend.

At my intermediate (7/8) school and now at my high school, we do not fundraise at all. There are student fees ($40/student which includes agenda and yearbook) but our school, which is an inner city and very diverse is careful about asking families/students for funds.

Finally, we have a huge Foundation in our Board and the focus is on poverty reduction. Funds can be applied for and are used by our Principals to cover costs that cannot be collected. Is it perfect? not yet.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Polanyi on September 11, 2009 at 4:57am

Hi there -

I agree there is a need for the province to review fees and fundraising in school.

Here are the fees so far - after three days - at my son's high school (he's in Grade 9):

$75 - student activity fee (yearbook, agenda and co-curricular activities)
$25 - gym shorts and shirt fee
$25 - art supplies fee
$43 - spanish class fee

And for the football team:

$100 - equipment deposit
$50 - transportation fee
$80 - football shirt fee

Grand total: $398

As far as I have seen, there has been no indication with any of these fees that alternative arrangements can be made for parents in difficult economic situations. In fact, the first letter indicated fairly clearly that students would only be given their ID cards and timetables AFTER they had paid the $75 student activity fee.

What is also upsetting is that fees vary so much from school to school.

And the Education Act says that all persons shall be allowed to attend school "without paying a fee"!

Michael Polanyi

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Permalink Reply by Joanne MacEwan on September 11, 2009 at 7:56am

Michael P's list of fees if high. I have paid

Student fees Yearbook, agenda and ID card

$40 for grade 12 daughter
$20 for grade 10 son (second family student lower)

Sports team try outs just started. Son does not know if made team. I know there are fees associated with these teams.

The school is in full Uniform. I did not buy my daughter or son any clothes this year! They have been in uniform since gr 7.

These are the only fees I have paid so far.

As I mentioned we are in an inner city school and I think there maybe a difference between Fees in suburban schools and inner city schools. This might be something to research!

Schools vary and Boards vary. My question, the education system cannot affort to pay for all this...so who should be paying and what guidelines should be in place.

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Permalink Reply by Sheila Stewart on September 11, 2009 at 8:59am

From the north here...my kids' fees so far! High school: Student fee = $15; Grad Fee = $30; Yearbook = $35 (if you want it). Elementary: Agenda = $2. But I do get the sense that there is support for families who can't afford all of it.

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Permalink Reply by Sheila Stewart on September 11, 2009 at 9:24pm

Correction! Elementary/Gr. 8 note home today: $25 to use a musical instrument in the program if you don't have one from home.

Permalink Reply by Ann Rosenfield on September 13, 2009 at 8:52pm

Me too

My son's high school fees top $190 so far including $10 for a French workbook, $10, English workbook, $15 geography workbook - no mention of alternative accomodation for those who can't afford.

My daughter's middle school fees now at $58 + a request for $25/family so that the school won't have to fundraise this year.

Grrr.....

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Permalink Reply by Sheila Stewart on September 11, 2009 at 8:55am

Hi Christine,
Have you received the information from your board/PIC about the $500 fund for your school council activities, or info on the PRO Grant application opportunity? Mind you, these funds must have the "parent outreach" connected to them...they can't be used for school supplies or equipement.

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Permalink Reply by Joanne MacEwan on September 13, 2009 at 9:03pm

Hi Christine,

Here is our Catholic School Parents Association Website address (Ottawa Catholic School Parents Association CSPA) http://www.ottawacspa.ca/ or go to Ottawa Catholic School Board and the PRO Grant info is on the front page.
We at CSPA explain all about PIC $500 funds for schools and the PRO grants that are due Oct 16, 2009…(up to $1000).very easy for any parent to fill out. Just find anything to involve parents…workshops, speakers, resources. We have a ton of school who have great ideas and we try to share them with all our schools.
The Chair and the Principal need to sign the PRO Grant application. Good luck

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Permalink Reply by Catherine on September 15, 2009 at 9:28am

Archana - you're not alone in your feelings. It's more common than you know. The good news is that there are parents like me around who actually see how the system uses me and then spits me out or ignores me when I ask to many intelligent questions about actually educating children.

Sounds like your council has turned into the principal's own club.

The sad thing is that if, since their inception school council and parents could have relied on a provincial body like the OPC to actually get down and interacting/advocating for what's good for parents instead of being handy puppets for whichever government was in place at the time, I believe we'd see much stronger councils around the province who actually know where their power and authority lies.

I do believe that there are many parents out there now who no longer have kids in the system that can mentor other parents through their challenges and successes.

I remember years ago when my own school council was in trouble and the cold shoulder I rec'd from the OPC and a phone call left unanswered from People for Education actually. I decided then to start my own ParentNetwork Ontario and devote my time and resources to helping parents negotiate the system.

With that comes telling parents the truth about what they're up against when they experience the education system and advocate for their children.

I'm also big on celebrating the successes and small victories. They exist, but usually only in pockets of the province.

Re: fundraising - I think every parent who enrolls their child in public school should be given notice to expect to pay up to an additional average of $200-$300 per year per child in fundraising and fees.

The system needs to be upfront and honest about how much it costs parents and in that way account for the money generously collected by parents.

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Permalink Reply by Sheila Stewart on September 11, 2009 at 8:50am

I understand the motivation of prinicipals to encourage fundraising, and respect those who want to help with that--as long as they don't do the guilt thing on other parents. Myself, I have been involved in school councils for 6 years now and I have not yet been directly involved in a fundraiser selling stuff. I have helped with family fairs that have charged small fees for this and that, but it involved the students having fun and I never say no to a party! :) There should be a variety of ways to give time and effort to a school council/school and they should all be valued.

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