Family fees at school - is there a better way?

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Since we’re talking about it, in all fairness I did have to go back and double-check the costs and I was off a bit.

K-1 = $125

2nd (first communion) = $175

3rd-9th = $125

10th (confirmation) = $250

Family cap of 425, so that year I thought we were on pace for over $500 will “only” be $425.
 
TC3033 said:
Since we’re talking about it, in all fairness I did have to go back and double-check the costs and I was off a bit.

K-1 = $125

2nd (first communion) = $175

3rd-9th = $125

10th (confirmation) = $250

Family cap of 425, so that year I thought we were on pace for over $500 will “only” be $425.
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This is really unacceptable. This would be unaffordable to almost every family that I know. Kids are missing out on arts, sports, music and many more because of money. The parents will choose to pull them out of religion now, too, at least in my area.

The price “gouging” over the sacraments is abhorrent. I know that confirmation retreats can be pricy, but the church always made it clear it was a $ fee or volunteering. Or even opportunities that didn’t involve a retreat that had no cost but was a bit burdensome (essays, volunteering for CCD)

If the church doesn’t take this seriously, I’d suggest getting the Bishop involved.
 
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Still, Holy Cr*p!

K-12 - $0
Confirmation $0
First Communion $0

We bought classroom sets of teacher and student books through aforementioned funding, and we purchase bibles and catechisms for all confirmation students that comes out of the general operating budget. We do volunteer based retreats for sacraments prep kids. I buy supplies for crafts and such, and that comes from general budget. Parents provide snacks on rotating basis.

We don’t have paid staff, but in a parish that does have paid RE staff, it’s my personal opinion that should be paid out of the general operating fund like all other paid staff positions, not just borne by the parents of students. Catechesis and evangelization is one of the central missions of the Church. It is something we all share in.

RE doesn’t have to cost a lot, in fact outside staff salary I would say it doesn’t cost much at all. Maybe the kids’ textbook if you are using consumables. we use classroom sets that are kept year to year.

I think the discussion shouldn’t be so much around itemized costs (although seeing them should be enlightening) but around the mission of the church and stewardship of time talent and treasure. How can we as a parish make catechesis for all ages free or very low costs? What is a must have versus a nice to have? How can we fund a great program through the general operating fund?

At least ask the questions.
 
Ya, tomorrow’s first parent workshop may be interesting as it has been and is becoming more of a point of contention where this money is going. We all found out over the summer after RE was over, so this will be the first time we’re “together” in a sort of open forum.

I have a feeling they did that to kind of avoid some confrontation. I spoke to the DRE how I, the non-Catholic parent, fits in this new program and my wife’s worries. He took some notes and said he owes us some answers, but that was back in early July.
 
I can see VBS having a fee, BUT I know our VBS in the past has been really low cost because we made a lot of the stuff instead of paying $$$ for kits. We did buy some kit elements (and our diocese gives away free kits from prior years, so we would do a theme from a prior year and get free kits with the leader stuff in it). We’d then use craft paper and props that we had around… like someone had an old canoe that was used for one theme that had a boat in it.

I think you can make this stuff expensive by believing you have to buy a bunch of stuff and that just isn’t so. VBS can be fun with popsicle sticks, yarn, and imagination.
 
TC3033 said:
Ya, tomorrow’s first parent workshop may be interesting as it has been and is becoming more of a point of contention where this money is going. We all found out over the summer after RE was over, so this will be the first time we’re “together” in a sort of open forum.

I have a feeling they did that to kind of avoid some confrontation. I spoke to the DRE how I, the non-Catholic parent, fits in this new program and my wife’s worries. He took some notes and said he owes us some answers, but that was back in early July.
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I don’t think it really matters if the money is 100% going to the children. The fact that there are magical and significant spikes around a sacrament to me says one thing, “pay up, or get lost”.

I get it. I had to be confirmed with a bunch of kids who were getting computers and even cars and didn’t give a hoot if they received a religious sacrament.

Nearly 2 decades ago I attended my confirmation retreat. It was $80 and the only money that had to be taken. It was bare bones as far as spending and they did everything they could to control the costs over 2 nights. I volunteered for several weeks to bring the price down for my family.

I can see the expense reaching $250 and being “fair” however, even in the 20 years since my retreat income has stagnated and families are struggling more than ever. Every effort should be made to ensure that sacraments are free of cost, even if that means that the materials are not prime.
 
I believe our current parish is charging $60 per child for CCE and youth group. Parents are also asked to contribute toward the youth group dinners (with Mass, it’s a 3-hour block, so the kids need to be fed), but that’s on a voluntary basis. There may be some extra expenses for confirmation–I don’t know yet. However, I believe it’s CCE or youth group is $20 per kid for registered parish families. At our previous parish, there was no charge, but the CCE program was fizzling around the time we left after the old pastor left and there was a series of unsatisfactory replacement pastors.

One thing I’ve heard a lot from pastors in our area is that there are many families that send kids to CCE but do not go to Mass with their children.
 
Very true.
And one of the other reasons why people send their kids to Catholic school actually…they figure of their child gets religion every day, that absolves them from any participation in the parish. On Mondays I would ask the kids what the Gospel was about on Sunday. Crickets. Maybe one or 2 kids had even gone to Mass.
 
pianistclare said:
Very true.
And one of the other reasons why people send their kids to Catholic school actually…they figure of their child gets religion every day, that absolves them from any participation in the parish. On Mondays I would ask the kids what the Gospel was about on Sunday. Crickets. Maybe one or 2 kids had even gone to Mass.
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I think that is what causes church leaders to establish ridiculous fees. If people aren’t going to “pay up” with their spiritual life than they need to “pay up” from their wallet. It’s a horrible way of doing things.

I do like what one local parish does, which is have CCD directly after Mass with a meal provided for both parents and children who come from Mass. There’s always the people who hang out in the parking lot during Mas and dash in at the last minute, but they are often far fewer in number than traditional CCD.
 
Xantippe said:
I believe our current parish is charging $60 per child for CCE and youth group. Parents are also asked to contribute toward the youth group dinners (with Mass, it’s a 3-hour block, so the kids need to be fed), but that’s on a voluntary basis. There may be some extra expenses for confirmation–I don’t know yet. However, I believe it’s CCE or youth group is $20 per kid for registered parish families. At our previous parish, there was no charge, but the CCE program was fizzling around the time we left after the old pastor left and there was a series of unsatisfactory replacement pastors.

One thing I’ve heard a lot from pastors in our area is that there are many families that send kids to CCE but do not go to Mass with their children.
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This is what I was told by our DRE for their decision to go with family formation…basically to force families to Mass at least once a month (although he does notice there’ll still be families sneaking in right at 11).

That still doesn’t really explain why a “self teach/parent teach” program is so expensive… We’ve debated just ordering the books ourselves and my wife teaching it at home.
 
There’s a big difference between parish schools and region private Catholic schools folks.
The private Catholic schools are run by a Superintendent who decides what they charge.
Parish schools are going away because most pastors don’t have School Administration degrees and that is often a prerequisite for a Principal. The local pastors have no say in what the fees are. I believe the OP is talking about Sunday school /Catechism fees in parishes vary widely. My colleagues at bigger parishes (6000 families+) make more money than I did, but they also had people who handled records, had secretaries and translators. At my parish of only 1500 families I did it all. Including invoicing, training and certification tracking of catechists.
Teaching Religious ed is more than a nice volunteers showing up and doing crafts.
The curriculum has to be provided and monitored.

Family Formation is the hot new thing right now, because parents are SUPPOSED to be the primary teachers of the faith. Churches quickly found out the parents knew less than the children, and that;s when Sunday school programs took off, and parents were relieved. One a month meeting to review the packet of materials, share, and have a master session with the DRE, Priest, and various catechists keeps people on track. But someone still has to track their attendance, keep sacramental records, and make up the packets of materials to send home with each family.
No shortcuts to a good program. Previously catechists had to come up with a weekly lesson. In Family catechesis, they expect a bit of instruction daily and that material has to be provided, beyond say a rosary together once a week as a family.
All the major catechetical houses are now selling programs for those who have no idea what to provide.
The expense is in the implementation, not because you “get” something in your hand.
 
Pianistclare,

Knowing our family, I have a really bad feeling about how monthly “Family Formation” would go for us.

I remember back at our old parish, they used to send home a pile of CCD homework (especially, for some reason, in K), and it used to get done in a huge spree the night before/day of.

We’re not particularly godless, it’s just that that longer deadlines are bad for procrastinators.

I also find it easier to remember and prepare for a weekly engagement rather than a monthly engagement.
 
LOL

I never ever let my catechists assign homework.
Nor did we give “report cards”.
If we had an issue with a student, the child had a talk with me, and then if not remedied, the parents were called in.
Catechesis should not be a chore for anyone. 😺
 
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Many schools give a volunteer assignments to defray the cost

For ccd, many pastors work with familes who cannot pay religious ed fees.
 
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Yes, in fact, no one EVER has to pay fees for religious ed. The parish is OBLIGATED to offer instruction. Simply ask for a hardship waiver. People do it all the time.
 
I cannot speak for faith formation or CCD, but I was helping with the financial management of our parish school when we changed our registration fee from $150/student to $250/family. It was simple math, the numbers worked out the same as regards to the revenue for the school, but we had many families with 3+ kids in school who were helped by the change. Yea, we had the discussions that we were penalizing the one child families to help others, but in the end we thought this just made more sense. Especially since the registration process and financial aid process costs hit the school on a per family basis. Our tuition has also has steep discount for multiple-child families (after three kids, they are actually free). Without that, we felt that large families would simply be excluded from our school. From the school perspective, it works out the best.
 
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