Ministry of Education deputy secretary Katrina Casey was quoted as saying: ″Compulsory BYOD policies breached provisions in the Education Act guaranteeing a "free education" at state and partnership schools for all children from age 5 to 19.″ ″We will be reminding all schools that boards of trustees can ask, but can't compel, families to bring their own digital devices because schools can't deny a child's access to learning if their parents can't provide them one.
Schools can ask for, but not insist on, payment of fees for activities that fall outside the curriculum or have a "take home component", at the beginning of the year.
As they get less Government funding, and because parents have more ability to pay, high decile schools typically request a larger donation.
On 10 May 2013, the NZ Herald reported that in 2012 parents raised "more than $357 million a year in donations and fundraising to support the "free" schooling system."
[6] Wellington College, a decile 10 school, charges $720 per student and $250 for each sibling each year for "extras" such as sports gear and computers, and the headmaster Roger Moses has admitted that it is powerless to act against the quarter of parents who refused to pay.
Auckland Grammar deputy headmaster Wayne Moore said only 65 per cent of parents paid and his school would introduce a $250 "compulsory fee" in 2008 for technology subjects.
and that his school was considering hiring a full-time commercial manager to raise the extra $1.5 million a year it needed to operate.
[8] School Trustees Association head Ray Newport says fewer parents have been paying the donation in recent years.
On 29 May 2013, the NZ Herald reported that Avondale College would not allow a student who had not made a donation to attend the school ball.
[10] on 2 June 2013, the NZ Herald also reported that Macleans College added surcharges to ball and graduation dinner tickets, sports, drama and dance activities, and fees for Cambridge International exams if a student had not made a donation.
Ministry of Education spokeswoman Katrina Casey said that: she would seek assurances from Macleans College that: - Any unlawful charging of fees will cease.
- There will be no coercion to pay donations Principal Byron Bentley was quoted as saying: "We beg to differ that these charges are unlawful – we had our lawyers look at this years ago".
[11] On 30 January 2013, Seek.co.nz reported that: In 2010, Karamu High School in Hastings was reprimanded after advising a parent that her daughter could not buy a ball ticket or order a school-leaver's jersey until donation money was paid.
On 20 January 2008, The Sunday Star-Times printed an article entitled Cash-strapped schools call in heavies to collect donations by Catherine Woulfe.
It further claims that community law advisory group YouthLaw has received calls from parents who have been chased by debt collectors because they have chosen not to pay school donations.
Minister of Education, Chris Carter said coercing parents to pay donations was illegal and "I would not tolerate any New Zealand school breaking the law.
The article also claims that YouthLaw has heard from students whose families have not paid the donation who have been banned from school balls or trips, or not given the leaving certificates needed for entry into university or other tertiary institutions.
[9] On 14 February 2009, The New Zealand Herald ran an article entitled "Parents asked to dig even deeper"[13] which was based on the results of a survey of Secondary schools in its distribution area.