Parents across the state are paying less towards their children’s public school education as funds raised via voluntary contributions fail to return to pre-pandemic levels.
There was $71 million worth of voluntary contributions and subject fee payments paid by parents to public schools in 2022 – short of the $73.1 million in 2019, NSW Department of Education data shows.
Sydney Boys High School raised more than $1 million in parent contributions.Credit: Janie Barrett
Bucking the trend of parents paying less, selective school Sydney Boys High received more than $1 million in financial contributions in 2022.
Sydney Boys’ parents are sent a “statement of account” at the start of each year. In 2024, the school will ask parents to pay upwards of $2600 per student, a fee which covers a raft of expenses including a $1180 voluntary contribution, a $345 technology levy and $695 for the building fund.
“Quality services, extra staff and high standards come at a price,” Sydney Boys High principal Kim Jaggar told parents last year.
NSW Secondary Principals’ Council president Craig Petersen said the disparity across the state was because of differences in parents’ ability to pay.
“You get varied responses. Some parents say ‘Schools are supposed to be free and secular and I shouldn’t have to pay fees’. Others are quite happy to pay the fees because it allows them to provide a better educational experience,” he said.
“The vast majority of the parents understand we provide a high level of education on a shoestring budget – they’re happy to fork out particularly on the subject fees and being better prepared to go into the workforce.”
A NSW Department of Education spokesman said: “Principals determine the level of voluntary school contributions in line with published departmental advice and in consultation with the school community.”
The parents at Balgowlah Heights Public made the largest amount in voluntary contributions of any primary school last year, according to Department of Education data. Parents are sent a contribution request twice a year for $450 each time. It pays for activities such as music and physical education, a $100 contribution to the P&C and an $80 technology levy.
Caleb Taylor volunteers at his son Lachlan’s school in Lane Cove as the P&C president.Credit: Janie Barrett
Balgowlah P&C president Diana Worman said parents raise additional funds for numeracy and literacy resources, books for the library and to fund school upgrades such as a new playground.
“Arguably what is more important is how a parent is able to volunteer within that school community – we have parents who do sausage sizzles, sort lost property, run a gardening club, recycle soft plastics, volunteer in our canteen, volunteer in our uniform shop, read to children – that kind of in-kind contribution is priceless,” she said.
“It is hard work, it is an investment of time … it is a constant quest to recruit more volunteers and that’s the story for all P&Cs across the state.”
Lane Cove Public P&C president Caleb Taylor said this year his organisation ran events on weeknights including a Vivid cruise and a world food fair in a bid to get more parents volunteering and involved.
“It has been challenging coming out of COVID, people were reluctant. This year we ran a good grassroots campaign and had the slogan of ‘Bringing back community in 2023’,” he said. Taylor ran as an independent candidate in the Lane Cove municipal council elections in 2021.
Lane Cove Public’s P&C operates a canteen and a uniform shop; they also generate revenue by renting out musical instruments to students in the band, and they host a lucrative volunteer run every year which made $35,000 last year. That event is expected to raise $50,000 in 2023.
The Centre for Volunteering director for research, policy and advocacy Dr Ben Hillier said recruiting had been made trickier this year due to cost-of-living pressures.
“People are having to pick up extra jobs. P&Cs, the State Emergency Service – everyone is feeling they’re not getting as many volunteers or they’re saying volunteering is changing. A lot of people will do it remotely … like on a phone helpline,” he said.
Northern Sydney P&C district president David Hope said after decades working in schools, while parents had less time, it had also become harder for parents to simply help out in schools.
“As more and more people become less interested in the P&C, they will become even less involved in the school in general,” he said.
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