Fees hiked as trip was planned
Parents question timing of donation increase and Cook Islands trip proposal.
An Auckland school decided to increase parent donations by 25 per cent the same day a proposal to fly 12 teachers to the Cook Islands for a working trip went before its board.
Documents obtained by the Herald on Sunday under the Official Information Act show Blockhouse Bay Intermediate’s board of trustees approved raising annual donations from $80 to $100 during a meeting on October 19, 2016. The plan for the nearly $19,000 trip was discussed minutes later.
Principal Michael Malins said the two decisions were unrelated. However, two parents the Herald on Sunday spoke to criticised the timing.
The Herald on Sunday last week reported the Auditor-General would make inquiries about the Cook Islands trip during its next round of audits.
The West Auckland school spent $18,976 on 12 teachers’ flights and insurances for the two-week trip that aimed to immerse staff in Cook Islands culture and teaching practices to help them better teach Pasifika pupils. Teachers paid for their accommodation and other expenses.
Further inquiries by the Herald on Sunday have revealed the AuditorGeneral had highlighted the school’s spending on a 2016 trip to Korea in a previous audit. Malins said the Korea trip was planned before he took office and was “not in line with the school’s current policies and procedures for financial management”. He added student cultural exchanges were now funded by families.
Regarding the decision by the board of trustees to raise parent donations on the same day as the Cook Islands trip was proposed, Malins said school boards of trustees usually set the next year’s budgets during October meetings.
The increase in the cost of donations, effective last year, was the first in several years. The change preceded a “massive investment in learning resources and technology” by the school.
But the mother of one pupil questioned two big decisions in the same meeting.
“I don’t think you’d want to announce that you’re spending that sort of money for the staff to go away but also say to parent: ‘You’re going to be hit in the pocket if you choose to pay your donation’.”
Another parent, an accountant, said it was “awfully cheeky, especially at a time when a lot of families are struggling”.
“One of the reasons I don’t pay my donation any more is because I’m unhappy with spending like that,” she said.
New Zealand Parent Teacher Association president Diane O’Sullivan said the board’s decision to raise donations was “foolish” given the context.
“If I was a parent there and I heard about that and my request for donation went up 25 per cent, I might be a little hesitant in paying that.”
“I think that is awfully cheeky, especially at a time when a lot of families are struggling.” Mother of pupil