The Good And The Bad Of A Mandatory Parent Participation Fee
When I worked as the principal of a private elementary school, there was a debate going on before I got there, and it was still going on after I left.
The debate centered on the issue of creating a "mandatory parent participation fee".
Basically, for those of you unfamiliar with this concept, a mandatory parent participation fee would be levied on every enrolled family in the school.
Let's say the amount was $1,000.
This fee would have been over and above the regular tuition price.
Even families on financial aid would be included.
The fee would not be charged until the end of the school year, however.
And the fee could be lowered if the family participated in certain school sponsored events.
For instance, if a parent served as a chaperon for a field trip, the amount would be lowered by $150.
Then if that same parent attended a board meeting, he/she could take off another $100.
Furthermore, if this parent volunteered to work the school auction as a committee chair, $500 could be deducted from the bill.
Eventually, with enough time invested, a family could completely eliminate their $1,000 participation fee.
If, however, a family decided not to participate at all or only on a couple of items, they would be compelled to pay either the entire amount or whatever amount they didn't work off.
OK.
That's the general idea behind the concept.
What follows is the chief argument we heard on either side of the issue.
Those supporting the fee said that no matter what, the school won.
If a family paid off the entire amount through service, the school received significant volunteer help that it didn't have to outsource.
More got done for less money.
If the family didn't do the work, the school got a nice financial boon.
Really, it was a win-win for the school, they said.
The reason this group put forward the proposal in the first place was to combat declining volunteer rates.
With costs running so high, the school was forced to rely on more and more volunteer help.
When those volunteers weren't signing up for what the school needed, they came up with this idea.
The group that opposed this fee claimed that such a fee was insulting to the tuition paying families of the school.
By mandating participation, the school was taking away from the true spirit of volunteerism, where people gave because they were moved to give.
Under such a system, they argued, people would feel like indentured servants, and the joy of volunteering would be lost.
They also said that the system didn't allow for families with special circumstances.
For some families, finding the time and the ability to volunteer was next to impossible, due to job or family situations.
Therefore, these people would be penalized at the end of the school year for working the second shift or having multiple children where babysitting was a real concern.
This was a pretty passionate subject, but one we did not act on during my time at the school.
I would be interested in hearing if any of you readers have experience with such a system and what your school decided.
There are many more arguments both for and against, but the main positions, at least at my school, are listed above.
The debate centered on the issue of creating a "mandatory parent participation fee".
Basically, for those of you unfamiliar with this concept, a mandatory parent participation fee would be levied on every enrolled family in the school.
Let's say the amount was $1,000.
This fee would have been over and above the regular tuition price.
Even families on financial aid would be included.
The fee would not be charged until the end of the school year, however.
And the fee could be lowered if the family participated in certain school sponsored events.
For instance, if a parent served as a chaperon for a field trip, the amount would be lowered by $150.
Then if that same parent attended a board meeting, he/she could take off another $100.
Furthermore, if this parent volunteered to work the school auction as a committee chair, $500 could be deducted from the bill.
Eventually, with enough time invested, a family could completely eliminate their $1,000 participation fee.
If, however, a family decided not to participate at all or only on a couple of items, they would be compelled to pay either the entire amount or whatever amount they didn't work off.
OK.
That's the general idea behind the concept.
What follows is the chief argument we heard on either side of the issue.
Those supporting the fee said that no matter what, the school won.
If a family paid off the entire amount through service, the school received significant volunteer help that it didn't have to outsource.
More got done for less money.
If the family didn't do the work, the school got a nice financial boon.
Really, it was a win-win for the school, they said.
The reason this group put forward the proposal in the first place was to combat declining volunteer rates.
With costs running so high, the school was forced to rely on more and more volunteer help.
When those volunteers weren't signing up for what the school needed, they came up with this idea.
The group that opposed this fee claimed that such a fee was insulting to the tuition paying families of the school.
By mandating participation, the school was taking away from the true spirit of volunteerism, where people gave because they were moved to give.
Under such a system, they argued, people would feel like indentured servants, and the joy of volunteering would be lost.
They also said that the system didn't allow for families with special circumstances.
For some families, finding the time and the ability to volunteer was next to impossible, due to job or family situations.
Therefore, these people would be penalized at the end of the school year for working the second shift or having multiple children where babysitting was a real concern.
This was a pretty passionate subject, but one we did not act on during my time at the school.
I would be interested in hearing if any of you readers have experience with such a system and what your school decided.
There are many more arguments both for and against, but the main positions, at least at my school, are listed above.