kerry267 Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 I'm trying to work out what all the different school charges and contributions on my daughters latest school invoice are and wondered if anyone could clarify? The charges are for a secondary school and are first split into voluntary contributions and compulsory charges. These are charged per subject and I understand the charges cover any materials required for the particular subject..no issues there. There is then an optional cost for a yearbook followed by 'Voluntary approved requests' for the building fund, chaplain fund and P&C Association. What does it mean by voluntary approved requests? and is it actually voluntary?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StraighttothePoint Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Is it a private school? My son was at one and we got these all the time, then they wanted us to buy chairs in the school hall and put our names on them, then it was do you want to contribute to a fund for new gym equipment and on and on. Ignored the lot of them and only paid the fees on the basis that the fees were high enough and we had no spare cash at the time. Never knew what they were but always assumed they were for things that the school wanted but could not get public funding or other sources of funding or support for. Nobody came near us ever for non payment in 6 six years, I am still alive and no magic spells placed on me or my family If it is a state school then could be a similar reason as to why they ask - government cutbacks. Sure somebody will come on and confirm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry267 Posted January 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Thanks for the reply. Its a state school and I suspect the fees are for things that are not covered in the schools budget. I just wondered if there would be any comeback if I didn't pay these ones.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Give me a break! Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 They are not allowed to call them anything but voluntary by law however it does put schools at quite a disadvantage to other schools where all parents pay . At my sons old state school only 60 percent pay as apposed to other schools which may have 100 percent pay. IMO if you can afford it you should pay but it's not compulsory so it's your choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest9824 Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 When we first came to oz my youngest went to a state school for a while, til we waited for a place for her at a private school, and we paid the voluntary contribution, even though we knew we would not be there long, to be honest I felt a bit like we owed it to them to pay, although many parents were adamant that weren't paying it, so I agree with GMAB, pay it if you can, it helps...we donated all the new uniform we had just bought back to the school so someone would get the benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry267 Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 I'm not against paying the fees as I am aware of the cutbacks for education and can see how it would benefit the school and therefore the students. However due to us still having a rented house in the UK which seems to have a new issue every couple of weeks it would be very helpful if we didn't have to pay the voluntary fees right now. I just wondered if it was actually optional or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Give me a break! Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 I'm not against paying the fees as I am aware of the cutbacks for education and can see how it would benefit the school and therefore the students. However due to us still having a rented house in the UK which seems to have a new issue every couple of weeks it would be very helpful if we didn't have to pay the voluntary fees right now. I just wondered if it was actually optional or not? Yes it is optional you dont have to pay them lots don't . You can also choose to pay them at any point in the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 Yes it's optional, but like others we have always paid, more so this year due to the massive cuts in education which means that some services offered may very well depend on how often they are offered e.g. chaplain is student support services, The voluntary contribution ($15 in our case) will probably go to providing support materials, leaflets etc. I don't get the school diary (he never uses it), I do get the year book, They're a fantastic keepsake. Our voluntary contributions are about $203 (including diary and year book). The building fund is tax deductible. I'm sure your school would allow you to pay in instalments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry267 Posted January 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 Thanks for the advice, I think I will contact them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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