How to Save on Back to School Blues

At this time of year most persons are trying to deal with getting their children ready to return to school and all of the stress that comes with it.  There are a lot of persons giving advice on what to do and last year I gave several tips on this issue.  However this year I want to look at an option for parents that may save them money with no costing to them.

Attend PTA meetings

The most important thing that parents can do this year is to go to the parent teacher association(PTA) meetings.  It is at these meetings that one can argue about the book list that the school provides.  Parents with children older than yours can verify whether or not the books recommended were actually used and it they were any good.  The parents can come together to help with the passing on of books especially to those who really do not have the money to buy the books.  Parents who are united are more effective in getting changes made than one or two loud ones.  It is an opportunity to talk to the teachers and the administrators of the school and to voice any concerns that may exist.  It is much easier to deal with a problem at the beginning of term than to try to rectify it later down in the year.

These meetings are also the ideal place to discuss the auxiliary fees being charged by the school.  It is critical that one knows exactly what services are being provided by these fees.  If a school cannot justify the basis on which it charges the fee then take the school board to the ministry of education over the issue.  My experience is that there are several different of elements in the fees.  There are fees related to educational material and services e.g. use of the library, id, lab fees, computer fees, stationery, etc. In addition there may be fees related to the sports programmes and those related to cultural programmes.  These can be discussed and parents together with the school can decide how much they wish to contribute to the individual programmes.  One of the biggest costs for school is their sports programmes and parents must decide how much they wish to spend on funding these extracurricular activities.

Get Involved

Finally, take the opportunity to get involved in the fund raising activities which are so necessary to fund some of these programmes and bear in mind that the more that parents can raise in contributions is the less that will have to find.  Be concerned, get involved and take an interest in everything that the school is doing.  You may find that spending a little time at school will help to reduce what you have to spend for school.