Good afternoon. My daughter attends one of the secondary schools in Antigua. I will leave the name out at the moment.

About a few weeks ago, prior to midterm report distribution, we were sent a notice telling us the date of the midterm distribution, and we were told that if lab fees were not paid, the parent could not collect the report card.

Several days leading up to the distribution, the same message was sent. However, we were told that we should be interested in knowing what is going on with our children, however if we did not pay the lab fee we could not get the report card.

On the day of the distribution, I hadn’t gotten paid so I did not go and collect my daughter’s report. Subsequently, I did get paid and I did go and collect the report card.

Last Friday, we were sent a message saying that many of the report cards were not collected and that the parent should accompany the children to school on Monday, pay the lab fee and then collect the report card.

Apparently that wasn’t done because yesterday we were told that many reports remain at the school and so the parents have until today to come pay the lab fee and collect the child’s report card or the children will be sent home.

Now I know that we have had a rise in fuel variation for APUA so parents are paying more to APUA. The gas prices has also gone up so we’re paying more at the pump. With the cost of things going up, salaries have not increased. If there are so many report cards not collected, doesn’t it say to the school that parents are facing financial difficulties?

Now I’m not naive. I know there’s several parents who are not interested in their children and so they will not go for the report but if there’s so much more than normal, it means that parents are facing financial difficulties.

Isn’t it for the school to reach out to the parents and say “let’s have a conversation, or let us know what is going on with you, you have not made an effort to pick up your son’s or daughter’s report, is there something we should know” and you work from there? No, you’re going to send home people’s children.

Now this school has fundraisers every month. They either have a casual Friday or they have a mod day. At the end of the month they’re having another mod day and after that they’re having a run, ride ,walk where they want parents to contribute sixty dollars.

Now what is the school doing with all the money that they collect? They don’t give a financial report to us as parents and from speaking to the staff they don’t give a financial report to them either. So what are they doing with the money?

Another thing, the same school has a breakfast program and a lunch program that the less fortunate should be able to benefit from. However, many who need the program can’t access the food because they have to pay $1 for half of a disposable plate. How heartless can this school be? The breakfast is sponsored by past students. Can’t the school bear the cost of the containers? Or seek a sponsor? What about the money they are taking from us monthly? Use some of that. I wonder what that school would do if parents stopped supporting their fundraisers.

I’m calling on the Minister of Education to audit these schools that are having all these fundraisers because you are demanding money from parents that some of us can’t afford but there’s no accountability to us.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Parent Accuses School of Threatening to Send Students Home Over Unpaid Lab Fees, Calls for Audit of Fundraising Money.