Kiera Chion supports the idea of some portion of the money her children's school council raises going toward helping other schools. School-generated funds at TDSB schools totalled $35-million in 2022-23, according to the most recent publicly available data.Duane Cole/The Globe and Mail
The annual fun fair at Kiera Chion’s kids’ school in the Oakwood Village neighbourhood of Toronto is a lavish event.
Corporate donors write cheques in exchange for putting their branding on the day. There are bouncy castles. Sometimes a local realtor pays for an ice cream truck to dole out cold treats.
The one-day event often raises upwards of $25,000.
That money has been used to pay for everything from the grade 8 graduation trip, the Scientists in School program, academic achievement support programs and buying a branded tent for sports events.
The school is in a rapidly gentrifying area with a well-connected parent population that helps raise this kind of money, an advantage that schools in less affluent neighbourhoods don’t have.
Ms. Chion supports the idea of some portion of the money her school council raises going toward helping other schools.
“We have a collective responsibility in this moment to show up for everybody around us,” she says.
The question of whether or not a small percentage of the net income of money raised by schools should go to a common fund to support other schools has proven to be a highly controversial issue and one that Toronto District School Board trustees will vote on next Wednesday.
TDSB staff proposed that one per cent of fundraising money go to the common fund, although that figure may change. If approved, the board will become the first in Canada to make it mandatory that schools contribute a portion of their fundraising dollars to a common pot.
Some parents say this approach will come with high administrative costs and parents may end up donating less, or some not at all, while others say this model is only fair considering the large economic disparities between schools.
“I totally agree that we should help others,” says Jason Ng, a software developer and father of four. But he disagrees with the mandatory approach.
“It’s not an efficient use of resources,” he says.
Mr. Ng says he would not donate any more money under a mandatory approach and instead find ways of donating in-kind gifts.
“People want to have a choice with their giving and how they spend their money. And when you take away that choice then yeah, people will be less likely [to give],” he says.
In 2023, TDSB staff began a review of the fundraising policy. A survey asked parents if they would support the creation of a common fund that would take a portion of school fundraising money, as well as money from other sources, such as employee donations, to help schools pay for identified needs.
Of the 323 responses, 54 per cent supported the fund, with 60 per cent saying contributions to the fund should be voluntary. Only 30 per cent supported a mandatory approach (10 per cent had no opinion).
Under provincial guidelines, schools can use fundraising money to pay for field trips and other excursions, guest speakers or presentations, upgrades to sporting facilities, school-related extra-curricular activities and events as well as scholarships and bursaries, among other items.
School-generated funds at TDSB schools totalled $35-million in 2022-23, according to the most recent publicly available data.
That figure includes fundraising dollars as well as revenue from external charities, money collected from parents for field trips and donations.
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There is a large disparity of school-generated funds among schools. For example, at the Etobicoke School of the Arts school-generated funds totalled $691,009 in 2022-23. At Sheppard Public School they totalled $2,957.
Afsaneh Shahsavar, a college instructor and mother of twins in grade 8, also objects to the mandatory approach.
There is a wide disparity of economic means among families at individual schools, and fundraising dollars should be used to help them, she says.
“We do have our own community in need. If they make it mandatory, then what about them?” she says.
Given the novelty of the proposal, there is no research on what the outcome might be, says Shelley Laskin, a TDSB trustee. She supports a voluntary approach.
“I just don’t believe parent fundraising should be a board budget line,” she says. “Mandating parent-based school fundraising is not a way to equalize the system. I just don’t believe that to be true. I believe it’s a system responsibility, not a parent responsibility.”
Alexis Dawson, a TDSB trustee, supports the mandatory approach, saying she was elected on an equity platform.
“As a public school board trustee, it is my job to see the system as a whole and the impact of our decisions across the city,” she says.
Anu Sriskandarajah, another trustee, also supports the mandatory approach.
“This idea that parents would stop fundraising because they would have to give a little bit away, I just don’t think it’s true,” she says.
Adopting a mandatory approach would also represent an important cultural shift that might influence other school boards to follow suit, she says.
“It creates that culture of, most importantly, that part of our role is to make sure we’re helping others,” she says.
Joseph Taylor, a leadership coach and father of two children ages eight and 10, supports a mandatory approach in the name of fairness.
“We’re all responsible for encouraging a supportive environment where all children can thrive. It’s a shame that we’re even debating this, in my opinion,” he says.
He points out that under the proposed figure of one per cent, a family that donates $1,000 a year to school fundraising initiatives would see $10 of that go to the common pool.
“That’s less than what most people spend on coffee in a day,” he says.
The debate over how fundraising dollars should be collected highlights the need for more provincial funding, says Neethan Shan, chair of the TDSB.
“The root of all this is that we have to be funded better for education in the school system,” he says. “What we see is that more and more schools are forced to fundraise for something that should be part of education funding.”