Parents scramble as Catholic school fees become unaffordable

STEPHANIE pays $5000 for each of her daughters to attend a Catholic school. That amount is about to go up, big time. Her family could join the mass exodus.

Stephanie Sheppard has two daughters at Prouille Catholic School at Wahroonga, and pays $5,000 per child. Those fees are about to go up, yet again.

FACING a 40 per cent hike in school fees in just two years, parents and teachers are issuing a grim warning to the Government — if they cut funding, kill off Catholic education.

Parents are already deserting NSW Catholic primary schools in droves after a 20 per cent hike in fees this year, in some cases adding an extra $1000 per child, per year — a cost too much to bear for many already overstretched families.

And with an even bigger rise predicted next year should proposed funding changes be passed by the Senate in June, pupils will be Gonski, with high cost education unable to compete with nearby public schools offering the same teachings at virtually zero cost — a move that would bring the state’s overcrowded school system to crisis point.

TEACHERS IN TEARS

Mother of three Stephanie Sheppard has two daughters at Prouille Catholic School at Wahroonga, and pays $5,000 per child.

“We live out of area so drive 15 minutes each morning for the girls to attend this school as it was the best fit for our family — a small Catholic primary school with values of justice and truth,” she says.

“The increase this year was $900 per child.

“This greatly affected the school will a lot of families leaving, unable to cope with this large increase.

“Due to a large drop in enrolments in the school, Years 3-6 moved to ‘stage learning’ which combines those years together in achieving the outcomes in their stage of learning.

“We are expected to pay about half as much again next year.

“I know teachers at Sacred Heart Pymble who were told that their fees would be as close to $10k per child — the staff were quite emotional and heavy hearted, knowing that many parents will be forced to leave their small school.”

Stephanie says her two girls love their school, and she’d hate to have to send them somewhere else.

She said for her family, if fees got up to $7500 or even $10,000 per child, they — like so many — would be forced to leave the school they love and enrol in the local public school.

“And that is already a very big school with 117 kindy children this year alone versus the 40 we have in our kindy at the moment,” Ms Sheppard says.

“This is not the choice we made for our children and it makes me want to cry. “My girls love going to their school every day — I don’t want them to move, but with an increase like this with no added value, we can’t justify it — and that’s a total disgrace.

“We wanted a Catholic education for our girls, and it is being taken away from us.

“These small Catholic schools will not survive.

“Teachers will lose their jobs, and public schools will become even more over crowded in coping with the influx of Catholic families forced to change schools.

“Teachers have been in tears as they feel the burden that these fees will bring to the children they teach and their families.”

SOCIO ECONOMIC STATUS FUELLING FEE DIVIDE

School fees for Catholic schools are based on their Social Economic Status, with each school ranked using a point system of 78 to 132. For example, St Philip Neri in Northbridge is ranked 129, due to its location in a high socio economic area, meaning fees are higher because families attending the school are viewed as being able to afford to pay more. The fees are then pooled, and distributed to schools in lower socio economic areas as needed.

“Due to St Philip Neri’s Social Economic Status of 129, we will be hit with a 90 per cent fee increase since 2015,” says Annie Snell, whose daughter attends the school.

Their fees are expected to jump to $7,700 per child if the changes pass the Senate in June, a 90 per cent hike since 2015 when fees were $3,848.

“So how is it fair that the Northbridge Public School which is one block down the road and surely has the same SES status as St Philip Neri — if not higher — is free to attend?

“Many of our families are already talking about alternative schooling for 2018 — places like Northbridge, Cammeray and Willoughby Public Schools, which are already extremely overcrowded with some eight Kindy classes in demountable class rooms.

“As well as putting unwanted pressure on these schools some of our children will also miss out on a Catholic education.”

Annie Snell and her daughter.

Another parent at the school said the high fees aren’t reflective of the school’s resources.

“I love our little Catholic school for its sense of community and how faith is incorporated into the curriculum, but I don’t see the value in paying some $8,000 for it,” the parent said.

“It simply can’t compete with ‘almost free’ down the road with better facilities and resources.

“The outcome of this will be dire.

“Our school will not be able to sustain itself when the majority of families pull their children out and send them to local public schools.

“The irony is, the government will have to find extra funding for all these kids and the schools will not cope due to overcrowding.

“We don’t deserve to be hit with these kind of fees.

“It will all but destroy our school.”

PARENTS URGED TO FIGHT

In a letter sent to affected parents this week, Director of Schools Peter Hamill urged families to share concerns with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as well as local and Federal MPs.

“There are significant concerns being raised by the Catholic sector about the Federal Government’s proposed new school funding model that was announced by the Prime Minister on May 2,” his letter read.

“I appreciate that you may be anxious about the implications of these changes for your child’s Catholic school and particularly for school fees.

“If the legislation is not stopped the Turnbull government expects you to pay about half as much again next year … on top of the 21.5 per cent increase on your school fees this year.”

“To stop this disastrous outcome I am asking for your help.

“The new law is scheduled to be passed by the Senate in late June so the time to act is now.”

According to the Federal Education Department, all Federal funding for Catholic system schools in NSW is aggregated and paid to the Catholic Education Commission of NSW for them to distribute. And with per student funding across CEC NSW to grow by 3.8 per cent annually over the next four years, they say there is no reason fees should be increasing.

Archdiocese in Brisbane, Tasmania and Maitland-Newcastle have written to parents saying they will not be increasing fees, while other Sydney diocese like Broken Bay have written to schools warning of more than 20 per cent hike next year.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham said he would be writing to all schools across the Catholic education system to ensure they had the facts.

“…I want to reassure parents and families of the simple facts that funding for Catholic schools across NSW will increase by $332 million over the next four years and $918 million over the next 10 years meaning there is no reason for fees to increase beyond normal inflation adjustment,” Minister Birmingham told news.com.au.

“The growth in overall Commonwealth funding to NSW Catholic schools means there should be no reason for school administrators to be putting up fees or scaring parents with those sorts of threats.

“School organisations owe it to their families to tell the truth and to be transparent about any fee increase claims and with increasing funding there is no reason I can see for fee increases in the Catholic system beyond normal inflation adjustment.

“I will continue to ensure all schools and their communities have the facts on schools funding.

Originally published as Parents scramble as Catholic school fees become unaffordable