Victoria State Secondary School Fees $1600/Year - Does It Make Sense?

blitzzbargain on 15/12/2019 - 23:02
Last edited 15/12/2019 - 23:10

Hi there,

My son is starting high school next year, he will go to a government secondary school.
I am about to pay his school fees, a total of $1600, which consists of fixed amounts such as Subject Material, Student Support etc.) - a total of $850 Plus 3 types of donations - Building, Library and Working Bees (recommended $ 250 each, so a total of $750 ).
These fees do not include music and other extracurricular activities.

Does it make sense to you?
Do you think the recommended donation amount - building, Library and Working Bees ($750) too high? How much should I give?

I am just wondering what your opinions are!

Thanks.

Note that, National average government per-student funding is about $13,000.*
Source: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2018)

Poll Options

  • 45
    Too High
  • 12
    About Right
  • 3
    Too Little
  • 13
    The recommended donation amount ($750) is too high
  • 3
    Government funding should be sufficient so the fees should be reduced
Education & Work

Comments

  • WoodYouLikeSomeCash on 15/12/2019 - 23:04
    -2

    Does it make sense?

    No, it makes dollars.

    WoodYouLikeSomeCash on 15/12/2019 - 23:04 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
  • pegaxs on 15/12/2019 - 23:10
    +5

    I’m guessing the “donations” are optional? Or the amount is optional?

    • blitzzbargain on 15/12/2019 - 23:11

      The Building, Library and Working Bees donations are optional, but the "recommended amount" is $250 each.

      • pegaxs on 15/12/2019 - 23:16
        +14

        If they are optional, then you don’t have to pay them. If the amount is “recommended”, pay a lesser amount if you still feel you wanted to contribute but can’t afford the $250 for each.

        Recommended means that’s what they would like you to pay, not what you are obligated to pay. And since it is optional, I am guessing what they would accept is anything between $0 and infinity.

      • Nickels n Dimes on 16/12/2019 - 20:56

        Clearly they have planned expansion / or upgrade of facilities, which will benefit your child(ren) in coming years. All schools push parents for donations and contributions, because the education department / church education department / independent school board / etc doesn't provide enough funding for these future infrastructure works — it's rare indeed for state / federal government to pay money for new facilities, let alone maintenance, and they would rather provide overpriced 'temporary transportable buildings' than build new classrooms or halls, unfortunately.
        Seems like you have a forward-thinking school board / principal, who is concerned about future needs of their students.

  • mbck on 15/12/2019 - 23:12

    What happens if you don't make those donations…are you..somewhat…disadvantaged?

    • blitzzbargain on 15/12/2019 - 23:14

      I dunno what the ramification.
      I am still considering how much "donations" I would give to make it fair per se.

    • AbsX on 15/12/2019 - 23:46
      +2

      I'd like to know this too.

      Maybe the OPs kid gets a wedgie if no donations are made

    • markathome on 16/12/2019 - 07:48
      +5

      The reality is nothing would happen but - if nobody pays - the school's budget will be constrained.

      I'd only consider not paying (and paying the recommended amount) if I had a serious disagreement with the school. The optional nature of school fees helps the genuinely disadvantaged.

      Don't view it as optional and you won't feel ripped off. If you're looking for the bargain here investigate if the donation to the building fund is tax deductible:

      https://www.ato.gov.au/Non-profit/Getting-started/In-detail/…

      If you're really after saving a buck, you could make $0 donations to the library and working bees and $750 to the school building fund. But the school does need library funds to supply the library.

      • dasher86 on 16/12/2019 - 17:43

        Some schools will actually exclude children from certain programs that directly fund that activity.
        Or I've seen some schools even say you can't go on camp if you do no pay voluntary contributions.

        • mbck on 16/12/2019 - 19:28

          what if you paid…half?

        • netjock on 24/12/2019 - 12:59

          But then you still have to pay for camp. Add it up, probably a really expensive camp. Expensive lesson on money.

    • markathome on 16/12/2019 - 07:50

      Best response.

    • knobbs on 16/12/2019 - 11:18

      This is me, just on the inside so people can't hear me laugh

  • jackinyourbox on 16/12/2019 - 07:21
    +2

    Cheap as chips for education

    • DarthAntz on 16/12/2019 - 15:51

      This. You are contributing to your child's education. Both you and your child will contribute more towards their education knowing that there is cost involved. If your school is in a good area, this is a good deal.

  • shaybisc on 16/12/2019 - 07:55
    -1

    Is this unusually high? $1600 annual fee to attend a public school is oxymoronic. Something is broken in the system somewhere.

    • markathome on 16/12/2019 - 09:58
      +1

      You think that's broken you should see my tax bill. :-)

    • HighAndDry on 16/12/2019 - 10:06

      $1,600 per year for a 40wk school year works out to be $40/wk or $8 per day.

    • whooah1979 on 16/12/2019 - 10:07
      -2

      The public system is paid for by high income earners that are less likely to have children or fewer than those that use them.

      • brad1-8tsi on 16/12/2019 - 11:22

        The public system is paid for by high income earners that are less likely to have children or fewer than those that use them.

        Statement of fact or just an opinion?

      • [Deactivated] on 16/12/2019 - 11:40

        You show absolutely no understanding of both school funding and the taxation system. Students are funded, not the school. It doesn't matter if you send them public or private.

      • [Deactivated] on 17/12/2019 - 18:20

        Not sure why you got negged. It's a completely neutral statement that in all likelihood is factual.

    • [Deactivated] on 17/12/2019 - 18:19
      -1

      I don't think your public school correctly informed you of the proper use of oxymoronic.

  • Cheeper on 16/12/2019 - 08:01

    Anyone here with a child attending a NSW high school that can compare fees? It does seem excessive but may be the norm these days?

    • brad1-8tsi on 16/12/2019 - 11:29

      I don't recall anything like that in the past 10 years I've paid my kids HS fees. Certainly no suggested building, library and working bee fees (nor were we asked to do working bees which are a primary school thing).

      I'm fairly sure ours was ~$800 which I thought cheap considering I work with people whos whole after tax income goes to private school fees.

      I happily would have paid more if the teachers (youngest just finished HSC)
      1) Could speak english properly
      2) Could explain the subject matter properly
      3) Wanted to be there.

      Having said that, there are a few good teachers and they do a good job considering a lot of the students don't want to be there either

    • onetwothreefour on 16/12/2019 - 15:47

      My daughter's starting next year and so far they haven't mentioned anything about fees or donations. Her primary school was only about $75 in donations.

  • Ugly on 16/12/2019 - 08:55
    +4

    I would have thought that the Socialist Government of Victoria would provide all indoctrination education for free?

  • whooah1979 on 16/12/2019 - 09:12
    +3

    It's only money. This money well spent considering it is for your own child.

    • orangetrain on 16/12/2019 - 17:44

      Who cares about frugality and practicality when it comes to children?

      • [Deactivated] on 17/12/2019 - 18:22

        Why won't anyone think about the children!?

  • salmon123 on 16/12/2019 - 09:32
    +3

    You can look up how much schools are getting from "voluntary contributions" on myschool.edu.au. Should be easy enough to figure out a per-student figure and compare it to surrounding schools.

    In my experience, public schools that manage to collect more funding from voluntary contributions/grants/fundraising have it taken away from other sources (eg federal and state funding).

    edit: I just had a look at some high schools around sydney: Mosman High School (affluent area) comes in at $1600/student in voluntary contributions and $13.5k/student in total funding. Penrith High (less affluent area) comes in at $1000/student in voluntary contributions and $12.6k/student in total funding.

  • wannagrababargain on 16/12/2019 - 10:07
    +2

    Is it a question of you can't afford to pay or can you afford it but you think it's not "fair" ?

    There's nothing shameful about saying "Sorry we can't afford to contribute to the building and book fund this year." (Of course you'll look silly if you say you can't afford it then drop your kids off in a brand new Mercedes.)

    If you think it is "too high/unfair" because it's slightly higher than average / people on Ozbargain told you so, well how would we know? Wouldn't the school accounting people be the best ones to know how much they plan to spend on books, building and working bees over the next financial period? Basically they are asking, if you can afford to, please contribute this amount because we have determined this is what we need to fund our plans. Other schools, with perhaps less facilities and more run-down buildings, might not ask for as much. I guess you probably went to the open day and saw how nice all the buildings are and how well stocked the library was, which might have contributed to your decision to send your child to that school, and now when it comes to being asked to help fund all of that you are saying it's "unfair."

  • apu on 16/12/2019 - 11:08
    +1

    I guess it all depends on how tight you want to be. Are you (or your child) going to be happier if you kept the voluntary payment? Can you afford to pay it? As one poster said above, it's only money. See your payment as a contribution to your local community, and fortunately your child (or children) will actually directly benefit from the payment.

    If all parents felt the same way (i.e. not pay it, even though they could afford to) I'm sure the school wouldn't go bankrupt, but the school's budget to spend on discretionary improvements would be constrained.

  • [Deactivated] on 16/12/2019 - 11:43

    I don't think there should be any personal contribution to government schools. We already pay for this through our taxes. This would be laughed at overseas.

    • HighAndDry on 16/12/2019 - 14:48
      +1

      Other than the top 20% of tax payers, everyone vastly either overestimates how much tax they pay, or underestimates how much publicly provided services cost.

      To put it bluntly, no, unless you're in the top 20% of income tax payers, you're not remotely paying enough what it actually costs to put a kid through the system.

  • Slippage on 16/12/2019 - 13:45

    When I was in school, if you didn't make the 'donation' they would withhold the graduation papers. Same went for overdue library books. (late 90's)

    • [Deactivated] on 17/12/2019 - 18:22

      Graduation papers for highschool?

      I don't think I even collected mine.

      • Slippage on 18/12/2019 - 07:59

        At the time I thought they were important 😆

        I couldn’t even tell you where my degree is now…

  • orangetrain on 16/12/2019 - 17:40

    $13,000? That's close to a newstart level.

    • Slippage on 18/12/2019 - 08:00

      I’d be interested how they come to this figure, but I’m not surprised. I see a lot of wastage in schools

  • mini2 on 17/12/2019 - 16:16

    Cross out that voluntary stuff.

  • netjock on 24/12/2019 - 09:33

    Block-quote Do you think the recommended donation amount - building, Library and Working Bees ($750) too high?

    Don't you just love rip off Australia.

    Send them a copy of a cheque and tell them you'll retain it as a performance bonus when your child achieves something. One thing I find is, it is a good will / donation when they ask for it but they don't volunteer it back when the wheels fall off.

    • whooah1979 on 24/12/2019 - 09:42

      A child that is mediocre isn’t going to get straight A (or B) because of a few hundred dollars.

      • netjock on 24/12/2019 - 12:54

        So why pay for the options? Peer pressure.

        • whooah1979 on 24/12/2019 - 13:58

          Hardbacks instead of paperback.

  • Eeples on 27/12/2019 - 13:19

    You should pay $0.
    You should pay for excursions.
    You should pay for sport transport and sport fee (if any).
    You should pay for elective materials when he chooses electives next year or the year after.

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