Scraping the barrel of our free education ?myth?
Newlands College Principal Grant Jones says ?the concept of ?free education? is a myth?. Beyond parents donations the school has to raise 50-60 percent of its budget through alternative funding, but that covers ?just the bare minimum?. ?We work with families through a number of things and have a conversation and see how best to manage their payments. ?Some parents make fortnightly payments as low as $5 dollars and we can live with that, so long as the intent in there,? says Mr Jones. Newlands asks for a $125 voluntary fee, and get a 60-70 percent rate of return from parents. Along with the donation, families are expected to cover uniform costs, stationery and the cost of school trips. ?We have a take home component that we charge, for example the eggs and bacon in food tech classes; where the students take home a pie at the end of the day. ?The fees are separate and depend on the sorts of classes, if a year 11 class wanted to make a wooden table that could get expensive. ?A big cost is technology, it?s all good and well to want the best technology in the world but it takes a lot to maintain a technician, hardware and maintenance is a huge cost,? says Mr Jones. Tawa College?s voluntary fee is $230, and they offer reduced rates for families with more than one child at the school. Principal Murray Lucas says the school normally gets around 60 percent of parents paying the donation. ?This year we had budget for 70 percent, and we?re pretty close to that which is a pleasant surprise in the current financial climate. ?The impacts of falling below 60 percent for state schools are that it?s very challenging to make ends meet. ?Even at 100 percent contributions we would not get everything we want; some sports trips can cost $500 dollars, and we want to be a school of opportunities,? he says. The school also has a payment plan, and don?t hassle parents beyond sending invoices for fees throughout the year. ?We normally write it off when people don?t pay, I?m uncomfortable penalising parents that can?t afford it. ?Socially we are a decile nine school, I can?t imagine what it?s like for other schools,? says Mr Lucas. ?Any principle will tell you education is not free, and any parent for that matter,? says Hutt Valley High Principal Ross Sinclair. He says the school runs a budget deficit and ?like every school? is scraping the barrel to cover costs. ?It?s hard to trim just one area, so we look across the board,? says Mr Sinclair. Parents can pay the school?s $200 voluntary fee by a variety of methods, including automatic payments over the year. The school make ?arrangements? for parents that can?t cover the cost, and say the only consequence of not paying is they don?t receive a school magazine. Samuel Marsden College is a private school where parents enter into a contact with the school regarding fee payments. Principal Jenny Williams says the fees cover most costs, but parents are also asked to pay for some additional trips. It?s not the school?s business how fees are afforded, and fee payments can depend on different families? priorities. ?It is part of the deal that fees are paid ... if there is an issue the child will move school; we don?t want parents getting into debt. ?I believe the community need to be provided with public education, but we should also support a choice in education. ?It strengthens the whole system,? she says. It costs around $10-15 thousand dollars per year to attend Samuel Marsden College.
