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Comment on Kindergarten forced to back down after proposing to charge parents $2,200 for their own children’s art

A_norny_mousse@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

So it was a fundraiser? Hm, I actually don’t have a problem with that and I think it’s a nicer (more creative if you will) option than - idk, simply asking for money.

I work in this area and underfunding is a constant companion. Add to that the abysmally low pay and the disregard for all the extra work educators do, usually for no overtime pay at all, I get positively pissed off that they get in trouble for trying to fix a bad situation. Probably, as you said, brought up as unpaid labor by someone who had no nefarious thought at all about the whole thing, just wanted to help. Apparently they were unaware of rules and regulations, is the worst I can say here.

Did parents step up and donate the money anyhow? That is the real question.

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null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Yeah. I feel like a little bit of finesse could’ve averted this disaster.

$40k debts is pretty manageable. If that’s owed to the ATO for example, as soon as you get a payment arrangement (easy to obtain) then you’re no longer “insolvent”. Pay it off over 2 years, so you get 3x of this type of fundraiser.

Given the staff “walk out”, it’s possible that the money is owed to employees, which muddies the waters.

Instead of saying “everyone has to pay $2,200”, they should have said…

we have this structural financial problem and to keep the centre open we need to raise $40k in the next 2 years.

we will just give you whatever individual art works you want for your kid

however, for $1,000 we’ll assemble a nice scrap book. You get your photo on the wall and in this pdf we’re going to email to everyone, and you can include your business details if you wish.

finally approach local council, show that they’ve done all these things but only raised $10k this year, they need a grant of another $10k to keep the doors open for another year.

It’s still a long shot, but it’s a better chance than trying to guilt every parent into paying $2,200.
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- A_norny_mousse@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  
  Given the staff “walk out”, it’s possible that the money is owed to employees, which muddies the waters.
  
  Possibly. From experience, I can almost guarantee you that there’s way more drama behind the story than the numbers show.
  
  trying to guilt every parent into paying $2,200.
  
  That’s the read I got from the article too, but again I’m pretty sure the whole thing had a long prelude that also involved parents, so it didn’t exactly come as a shock.
  
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  - null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Yeah. Nothing like solvency issues to drag out a bit of drama is there.
    
    Sadly, everyone involved in this fiasco is at best underpaid but more likely a volunteer.
    
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    A_norny_mousse@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    
    Yeah. Nothing like solvency issues to drag out a bit of drama is there.
    
    That’s not what I meant. Working with children & their parents, it tends to get very emotional.
    
    Sadly, everyone involved in this fiasco is at best underpaid but more likely a volunteer.
    
    Underpaid for sure.
    
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