Government Donation Scheme

Friday, 21st October 2022 at 3:21pm

Kia ora e te whānau,

Seeking your opinion on school funding in 2023

As you may be aware, from 2023 the school decile system is being replaced by a new equity index, which changes the way schools receive some of their funding. The equity index number is re-calculated each year.

A few weeks ago the Ministry of Education released information about each school's position in the equity index. GBHS has an index number of 432, which means the school is eligible to opt into the government donation scheme.

The donation scheme offers eligible schools the opportunity to receive $154 for each student in funding, so long as the school charges no other fees apart from those for overnight camps, take home components (e.g. hard materials projects) and co-curricular activities (e.g. sports teams).

Option A: If we accept the government contribution:

Accepting the government contribution of $154 per student will ease family budgets in a difficult time. However, our calculations show that overall, the school will receive less income in this scenario at a time when costs are generally increasing significantly. A number of our trips and activities may not be possible or will need to be significantly scaled back including specialist PE activities and some technology opportunities. We had hoped to refurbish the Student Services and Sickbay area, which is much needed due to school growth. Projects such as this may not be able to go ahead next year under this option.

Option B: If we decline the contribution and continue requesting voluntary donations:

We have been fortunate that families have contributed generously to the school over the years. Currently we suggest a voluntary contribution of $200 for the first child attending and $50 for each subsequent sibling attending. This funding helps enable us to fund projects, activities, trips and some refurbishments. It is voluntary, and no student misses out because they have not contributed. We understand however, that times are financially challenging and that many families are having to make difficult financial decisions.

The Board of Trustees needs to make a decision in early November about whether to opt into the scheme in 2023 and would like to know your opinion.

Please can you complete this very short survey by the end of Wednesday, October 26th, so that the Board has an understanding of the community's thoughts before its meeting next week.

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY

Thank you so much for your support.

Norm Wallace Presiding Member, Green Bay High School Board of Trustees