Clarity about money at school.

Clarity about money at school.

Schools get money in different ways. Every school must make choices with that money. Those choices affect the teaching and the way the school works. The finances at school are very important, but also quite complicated. In a new animation, we explain how the school gets money and how the school participation council can join the discussion about spending it.

Schools and money

The finances of schools are complicated. There are different ways schools get money: lumpsum, money for Tailored Education, subsidies and project funds and also through the voluntary parent contribution or for example crowdfunding and sponsoring. Some funds are only for specific spending, while other money can be used widely. This often makes it unclear for parents in the school participation council. What are you actually talking about? While the spending of money is very important when making choices. Every educational or organizational choice has financial effects. To help parents in the school participation council, Ouders & Onderwijs has already listed the financial dilemmas. Now there is also an animation that explains the money flows in the school. The school participation council can use this to start the talk about money and ask questions, so that conscious choices are made.

Call for transparency

The animation comes at a time when politics also urge schools to give more insight into the financial choices they make. Schools have a lot of freedom within the current funding system. They can decide themselves what they spend their money on. Ministers Slob and Van Engelshoven think that public accountability can be expected for that. That is why they want school governing bodies to show better what they do with the money.

Accountability by school governing bodies

The ministers want school governing bodies to make more information publicly available. So that everyone involved can see how the governing body stands financially and what choices are made. At least, they want school governing bodies to make the following information public:

• How much money the school governing body gets
• How many reserves there are
• How much money is used for management
• How the incoming money is divided over the schools
• An annual report
• The annual accounts are already publicly available and will remain so

Schools are given space first to put things in order themselves. If good accountability from the school governing bodies fails, the ministers want to change the law.