[Avodah] School Tuition + Fundraising

[Elazar M. Teitz]

 . 
R' Rich Wolpoe described the following fee structure of our schools as being somehow lacking in yashrus:

>Instead of asking for a lump sum - say $10,000, you sometimes get
> $500 journal ad
> $1500 "scholarship" donation
> $500 registration
> $2000 "scrip" obligation (worth $100)
> $500 raffle
> Etc.
> And finally the remainder is the "tuition"
> But any "honest" accountant will tell you it's all tuition
> and none is deductible.
> So what's the point? 

     There are several points, and there is no lack of yashrus to any of it.  Indeed, as the head of a school which charges many of the above (not the raffle and the scholarship obligation), I take the accusation personally.
     To take the above examples: the journal ad, scholarship donation and raffle are generally "give or get" obligations; that is, the parents are expected to solicit them from family, friends or business associates. As such, if they choose to contribute the money themselves, it is as legitimately tax-deductible to them as it would be to whomever they would solicit it from.  The "scrip" obligation is a true zeh nehene v'zeh lo chaseir: the parent is obligated to purchase a certain amount of scrip (actually, supermarket gift certificates) which can be used at full face value; the school purchases them at a 5% discount.  Some parents prefer to pay the school its 5% profit rather than purchase the scrip.  Neither the purchase, nor the payment in lieu of purchase, is tax deductible.  As has been pointed out, these are usually per-family, rather than per-student, obligations, in recognition of the fact that having more children does not give a parent more avenues for soliciting funds, and does not increase supermarket spending proportionally to the number of mouths to feed.
     Registration fees are separate from tuition because they are non-refundable if the family decides to send a child to a different school.  It is imposed not only to defray the costs involved to the school, but to prevent parents from holding places in more than one school.  They would have no compunctions about doing it if it would not cost them; meanwhile, the school is making decisions about teacher hirings, room assignments, etc., based on the number of registered students -- assumptions which entail cost and effort, and which could prove incorrect if students could be withdrawn.
     There is also a book and activity fee charged, the latter to avoid having to collect fees for every class trip or activity.  None of these various fees is tax-deductible any more than is tuition.
     One reason for separating the fees is because there is no scholarship available for them.  They represent costs assessed to all parents alike.  It is only on the actual tuition portion -- the cost of instruction -- that scholarships can be applied for.
     It also happens to be "minhag ham'dina."  College bills have a plethora of fees over and above tuition (albeit without the fund-raising obligations), and I have yet to hear anyone claim that it is somehow immoral of them to do so.
EMT
 
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