‘Ludicrously nonsensical’: NSW public school P&Cs under pressure to fund budget shortfall

With volunteer numbers falling and government budgets failing to honour funding promises, P&Cs are pursuing unusual strategies to continue supporting NSW public schools – to the tune of $40m. Read the latest plan.

Parents have fundraised more than $40 million for the state’s public schools in the past year alone but with volunteer numbers falling and government budgets failing to honour funding promises, P&Cs are now pursuing extraordinary means of keeping the revenue stream flowing.

NSW P&C Federation president Yvonne Hilsz said across a statewide membership of nearly 1900 P&Cs, $40 million is a “conservative” estimate of the total figure raised to supplement school resources, activities and infrastructure.

“If schools were fully funded, fundraising wouldn’t need to be a priority for some of our P&Cs,” she said.

“If we really look at the function of what we are often fundraising for, most of it is … not extras, it’s the basics – whether it be buses, or shades over preschool grounds, or soft fall (playground surfaces).”

It comes after the NSW budget revealed public schools would continue to remain underfunded unless the federal government coughs up the remaining five per cent of the ‘school resourcing standard’, despite an additional $481 million injection from state coffers.

The P&C Federation, which acts on behalf of nearly 1,900 public schools in NSW, is lobbying governments to fully fund the 'school resourcing standard'. Picture: NSW P&C Federation

Amid cost-of-living pressures P&Cs finding themselves straddling a “delicate balance” between fulfilling the school’s needs and avoiding asking cash-strapped and time-poor parents for more and more money.

“The challenge can always be that if you’ve got huge amounts of (money) being raised exclusively through volunteers, it does put a lot of pressure on the P&C,” Ms Hilz said.

“We know that about a quarter of our members are spending 40 hours a term volunteering for P&Cs.”

The mounting pressures have prompted the Federation to investigate ‘affiliations’ with corporate partners that can be rolled across the state, kicking off their new strategy in a deal with frozen meal delivery service Providoor.

P&C Federation NSW president Yvonne Hilsz says parents are paying for “basics” that should be covered by the government. Picture: Supplied

School P&Cs are increasingly paying for things like softfall groundcover and shading. Picture: iStock

Nine schools have already signed up for the scheme, which gives P&Cs an 8 per cent commission on meals sold through a unique QR code.

The Orange Grove Public School P&C was first cab off the ranks, with fundraising manager Katina Weston excited by the opportunity to raise money for items like virtual whiteboards, sun umbrellas and garden landscaping without leaning on volunteers.

Orange Grove P&C volunteer Katina Weston with husband Adam and her daughters, two-and-a-half year-old Addison and Year 1 student Camilla. Picture: Thomas Lisson

“Given there’s a pretty lengthy list of things (staff) would like for the school, I’d say we’re pretty necessary,” she said.

President of the P&C Mirjana Tann said Orange Grove, like many schools, relies on community funding to top up the ‘pot’ for resources and teaching materials. The situation is “completely, ludicrously nonsensical”, she said, and shortfalls in public education funding are “so easy to fix”.

“The majority of (federal government funding) is going to private schools, and it’s completely illogical, because the parents that send their children there have far deeper pockets to pay their own way,” she said.

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