Schools get $14m donations

Donations to Canterbury schools have hit a new high of nearly $14 million, according to official figures.

Families and communities gave $13.9m to state and state-integrated schools between Hanmer and Ashburton in 2017, the latest year for which Ministry of Education data is available.

The total surpasses the $12.3m donated in 2016 and the $13.4m given in 2015.

Once again, some schools raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars while others received barely enough to buy each of their children a single lunch.

For the first time in recent years, Christchurch Boys’ High School was not the top earner. Decile 4 West Spreydon School received $654,763 in donations in 2017, the equivalent of more than $2000 per child. Education Minister Chris Hipkins, whose party promised at the election to pay $150 per child to schools that stopped asking families for voluntary annual donations, said the Government remained committed to the policy but offered no details on when it might come to fruition.

‘‘We are aware of the cost burdens on parents and we are working on a number of ways to address them,’’ he said.

On average, donations account for about 1.8 per cent of schools’ revenue but the cost of a public education has increased, up 13 per cent in the decade to

2018.

Donations pay for common resources like library books, IT equipment, and first aid supplies as well as sports, arts, music and extra teacher aide hours. They can include voluntary annual donations, locally raised funds, grants and bequests.

Canterbury’s three top earning schools in 2017 – West Spreydon School ($654,763), Christchurch Boys’ High School ($599,278), and Middleton Grange School ($425,316) – each received the equivalent of at least

$300 per child in donations.

Three local schools received less than

$100: Te Waka Unua School $70, Halswell Residential College got $41, Southern Regional Health School received none.