School defends donation expectation from parents | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

A row between Rathkeale College and a pupil's mother over payment of "voluntary" donations could set a precedent for other state-integrated schools.

Trinity Schools' board of trustees chairman John Greenwood has defended asking Karen Bock to pay "voluntary" donations, which he believes should be made compulsory by the Government.

The dispute was dragged into print this week when the Carterton single mother revealed the school had insisted she pay off an outstanding $13,000 in donations against the future sale of her home.

She told reporters she had been harassed by the college about the donation, which she said she could not afford to pay.

Mr Greenwood said Ms Bock had signed a contract that outlined the $1052 a term donation when she enrolled her son in the Trinity Schools system.

That included tuition donations, which provide funding of smaller class sizes and education benefits, and tuition facility donations, which provide funding for facility improvements.

Re-wording the term "donation" to "fee" would compromise the amount of funding the college received from the state.

"It's definitely my preference that donations should be compulsory. I'd like the Government to make a transparent public-private partnership."

Responding to claims around the sale of Ms Bock's home, Mr Greenwood said he had only made the suggestion because Ms Bock had indicated she was "doing up her house for sale".

"It was all done in good faith and quite frankly I got an indication she would consider it. Clearly, it's been rejected."

Asked if he would have made the suggestion had she not mentioned the possible sale, he said: "Absolutely not."

Whether parents should be held to pay expected voluntary donations is something yet to be tested, he said.

Both parties had approached the Ombudsman and the Ministry of Education over their rights.

Principal Willie Kersten believed the "real heart of the matter" was that Ms Bock had arranged payment of $2300 for her son Thomas to attend a geography tour to Australia, when "50 percent" of parents could not afford to but had still paid their donations.

Thomas would not have been affected academically had he stayed home, Mr Kersten said.

He said the board could have tried to stop Thomas from attending, but allowed him to go to "appeal to her moral side" and enable conciliation between them.

"That it's been flung back in our face is disappointing. I'm disappointed it's come to this."

Disputes with Ms Bock had been ongoing for the past 4½ years, he said.

Rathkeale board of trustees chairman Andy Pottinger hopes the outcomes of the issue would serve to benefit other schools with similar policies.

Ms Bock could not be reached for comment yesterday.