A new set of rules governing school fundraisers is designed to ensure schools don’t get unfair educational advantages over each other simply because their communities are willing to fork over more money.
In addition to the guidelines laid down by the Ministry of Education, school boards also often have their own rules around fundraisers.
In the case of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board, schools are limited in the number of fundraisers they can run.
"Our big, overarching rule is that you can do one major fundraiser for your school to enhance things at the school, and one major fundraiser for charity,” says Waterloo Catholic District School Board spokesperson John Shewchuk.
If a fundraiser is raising money for a school, that money can only be spent on a narrow range of items – not, for example, to repair buildings or replace textbooks.
“The funds that are being raised at the school are going to enhance what’s already been given, or to bump it up to a certain other level, but not to replace things that are lacking,” says Shewcuk.
At Kitchener’s St. Mark Catholic Elementary School, students are using a $500 provincial grant to make food, selling the food, and using the profit to buy iPads for the school.
“We have wireless Internet now, so we can go do the library and use (iPads) for lessons, or taking notes or research,” says Grade 7 student Laura Morton.
“They could be a very useful tool.”
The iPads are a permissible use of fundraising money, but it’s not as if St. Mark students will find themselves with a significant advantage over peers at other schools – the school expects they may only make enough in the fundraiser to buy three of the tablets.
Grade 8 student Jonathan Freitas says even if the program doesn’t lead to a bonanza for is school, it’s still a good way to boost school spirit.
“It’s a big opportunity to show initiative in the school and show that you’re proud to be a St. Mark Lion,” he says.
