School Fees Policy

​Rationale

School fees and levies at Holy Spirit School are used to provide a high quality of education for our students. Our School Fees are based on the recommended fee advised by Brisbane Catholic Education Office in conjunction with allowances for educational cost increases and local context. They allow for the provision of:

  • Servicing loans for capital and technology projects;
  • Teacher support, administrative support and ground staff;
  • Essential resources and facilities;
  • Maintenance of buildings, grounds and equipment;
  • Addressing the shortfall from government payments to Catholic schools ​


Aims

  • To ensure fee collection rates enable the ongoing provision of quality Catholic education for all students.
  • To ensure all members of the school community are treated with fairness, compassion and justice in the process of payment and collection of fees.
  • To ensure that all parents and guardians are well informed about expectations in regard to fee payment and collection procedures.​


Fee Payment​

All families pay fees at Holy Spirit. Continuing enrolment at our school is conditional upon the payment of school fees, levies or, if appropriate, a concessional rate. Fee payment is a matter of justice and equity.

  • It is expected that school fees will be paid by the due date which is two weeks after fee statements are issued in February, April, July and October.  The due date for the payment of fees will be shown on each school fee account raised.
  • On expiry of the due date, a school fees account reminder for the new period will be forwarded which will highlight the amount overdue. ​


Fee Collection

  • If no suitable response to the above is received by the end of one week after the fees due date, the matter will be passed on to the Principal for consideration.
  • If no suitable response has taken place, the Principal will pass the account to the firm employed for debt collection for them to pursue payment. The account will remain with the debt collection agency until paid.  All costs associated with debt collection will be passed onto the family concerned.
  • Families who fail to reply or to attend to any of the correspondence or communication from the school will have the continuing enrolment of their child/children reviewed.  ​


Fee Concessions​​

  • A family experiencing difficulty with the payment of fees may seek concessions.
  • Fee concessions will be determined on the basis of a just and equitable formula using a Brisbane Catholic Education means-testing template. 
  • Any reduction in fees granted must be evaluated in terms of the financial needs of the family concerned.
  • All families requesting assistance will be interviewed with a view to determining a just and equitable fee which is within their ability to pay.
  • All special fee concession agreements become void at the end of the period for which they were negotiated. This necessitates a separate application and interview to obtain fee concessions at the beginning of each school year. There are pastoral benefits in this approach.
  • Families needing concessions should apply directly to the School Principal, using the above-mentioned concession form.​

Tuition Fee​s

  • Tuition Fees supplement the shortfall in Government funding to meet running costs such as cleaning, upkeep of school grounds, classroom resources, student accident insurance, rates, water, electricity, telephone, etc.
  • Tuition fees do not include the Year 6 camp or the Year 5 leadership 3-day program which will be invoiced separately.
  • Compared to 2023 there is an increase of $54.00 for one child; $172 for two children; $192 for three children; $202 for four children.​


Levies

​Capital Levy $640 (No increase)

Since January 1, 1998, Pine Rivers Parish has not provided a facility for tax deductible building fund donations.  All families with children at the school will be required to pay a capital levy to contribute to building costs.  As a compulsory charge, this is not eligible for tax deductibility. 

P&F Levy $100 (No increase)

This levy is to reduce fundraising requests which may put strain on the family budget. The P&F will use the levy to buy resources for the school or to implement agreed school projects.

Student Levy $700 (No increase)

The Student Levy includes excursions, sport (including swimming), technology, stationery and maths/literacy textbooks/apps. 

The Tuition fees have been adjusted to bring into line with required BCE sibling discount rates.

​A Voluntary Building and Library donation was introduced in 2022. The amount will appear each term on the school fee statement. This is tax deductible and as such a receipt will be issued after 30th June each year for this purpose, if you wish to donate.​

​Payment Options

  • Direct Debit is Holy Spirit School's preferred method of payment.
  • Fees can be paid by direct debit, BPay, EFTPOS, BPoint​ credit card.

© Brisbane Catholic Education, Holy Spirit School (2023)