Finance obligations, fee collection & payment information
Penola Catholic College endeavours to make a Catholic Education available to all Catholic students whose parents seek a Catholic Education for them.
Penola Catholic College has a responsibility to communicate the financial constraints under which they operate to parents enrolling their children in Catholic schools.
The School Advisory Council is to recommend the school fees each year and present to MACS for acceptance. The School shall ensure that school fees reflect the socio-economic status of the school community, in the context of the policy rationale. The school fees will be announced to the community by the website and or College newsletter in the prior year before the end of the previous school year. The collection of school fees shall be approached in the spirit of Christian charity and justice.
Parents are required to make a commitment to support Catholic Education financially by paying fees as a necessary contribution to the costs of delivering a Catholic education.
School fees
School Fees shall include the total cost of educating a child and this comprises all-inclusive tuition charges and the building levy.
Fee arrangement
Tuition Fees and the compulsory Building Levy are charged annually in February.Accounts are emailed in February with the annual charges shown.
Fee payment terms
A Fee Payment Terms form is given to families that are new to the College. On this form parents/guardians choose how they wish to pay their School Fees. This arrangement remains in place until the student/s exit the College. If a family wishes to change their arrangement, a new form can be collected from the College accounts office Broadmeadows or the Glenroy Campus Office.
Fee collection procedure
It is the obligation and responsibility of parents/guardians to contact the College if payments cannot be made as per their Fee Payment Terms form. If School Fees become substantially overdue parents will be required to meet with the Fee Collection Officer or Business Manager to discuss the matter.
School fee accounts are continued to be paid until a zero balance even when the students are no longer at the College.
Fees in advance
The Principal may request fees in advance if parents are in arrears.
Additional fees & costs
There are some additional costs incurred at the College that are not included in the school fees for example Co-curricular, Language Tours, Art Tours, Music, Outdoor Education, Vet Material Charges. Programs which occur additional costs are only available to your child if the school fee account is not in arrears. Additional items are charged at various times during the year.
Laptops are required for student coming into Year 7. The College will purchase these on behalf of all students in Year 7. Parents are required to pay for the laptop.
Digital resources are compulsory and are an additional fee along with the booklist which is required annually.
Confidentiality
The confidentiality of all information pertaining to parents and/or guardians and the payment of school fees shall be maintained
Application of enrolment form
Application for Enrolment form and the Financial Checklist must be signed by both parents and/or guardians for the enrolment form to be accepted at the College. In the case of sole custodial parent or guardian, one signature will suffice.
Application for Enrolment fee shall be $100. Of this payment, $50 will be credited to your Tuition Fees account and the other $50 is non-refundable. Should your child not be offered a place at the College, $50 will be refunded. If you decide to cancel your application or do not accept an Offer of Place at Penola Catholic College, the full Application Fee will not be refunded.
Acceptance of Enrolment fee shall be $120 and $100 will be deducted from the tuition fees in the year of enrolment. $20 is for the purchase of a College lock.
Health Care Card holders & CSEF
Families with a health care card can apply for the Camps Sports and Excursions Fund. Parents who are eligible for this payment on an annual basis will also receive a discount of 20% on their school fees. If you have a health care card you must fill a form in at the College for the CSEF. This may be required annually.
Centrelink Family Health Care Card
Eligible cards must be in the name of the parent/guardian and will list the children covered by the card. The name of a child over 16 years of age may not be shown on the family card, but those students may still be covered by the family card. Individual cards, in the name of an individual student, are not eligible as they are not means tested. Parents who are in receipt of Centrelink Payments may choose to have their fees paid through CentrePay. If using this method, every effort must be made to ensure that fees are paid in full by the end of the school year.
Sibling discounts
All students and families are eligible for sibling discounts including families who receive automatic fee discounts as holders of eligible means tested family concession cards. The level of sibling discounts set by the School Advisory Council are:
- First child enrolled 0%
- Second child enrolled 10% of that child’s tuition fee
- Third child enrolled 50% of that child’s tuition fee
- Fourth child enrolled and beyond 100% of that child’s tuition fee & Building levy fees only
- The College does have a Maximum Family Fee for current students.
Split debtor accounts
The Principals of a Catholic School enters into a contract with parents/guardians at the time of enrolment. The Principal agrees to deliver the described educational services and in return the party(ies) agree to pay an amount as described in the School Fee Schedule. The signed enrolment form is a contract between the parents/guardians and the Principal. This contract is enforceable by the Principal – usually to recover unpaid fees agreed to in its conditions – against any party who is a signatory
The parties are said to be ‘jointly and severally liable’, which means the Principal can enforce the contract against one or both. This right does not change if the relationship status between the parties changes (e.g. through a divorce or separation). Just as the Principal remains bound to deliver the education to the child, both parents remain jointly and severally liable to pay the full fee amount.
Therefore, the Principal may continue to send each parent a full account of the outstanding school fees. The Principal is not bound by any agreement between the parents or resulting from family law proceedings about how fees are apportioned following the end of their relationship. A parent is not excused from liability to the Principal because they pay child support to the other parent. Requests for Split Billing must be approved by the College and a split payment form must be completed and signed by both parties with the amended apportionment of fee liability equalling 100% of all fees. It is noted that changes to the enrolment agreement cannot modify the rights and responsibilities that both parents have under statute, and their status as partners with the Principal in the education of their child.
Fee collection
At the beginning of the school year, parents/guardians will be emailed an Annual Statement outlining their Child/children’s annual fees and associated levies and charges. Further statements are emailed each month. A range of options are available to parents/guardians to pay the annual fees and charges.
- Direct Debit Payment of account by weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments automatically to the College from a nominated bank account under agreement with the School. The College prefers thes chool account to be finalised by the 30 November in each year.
- Credit Card Payment of account by weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments automatically to the College from a nominated credit card under agreement with the School. The College prefers the school account to be finalised by the 30 November in each year
- Payment in full by end of week 1 Term 1 by Cheque / EFTPOS / BPAY
- Payment in four instalments (per Term) The first instalment is to be paid by the end of Week 1 of each term.
- A Fee Payment terms form, Direct Debit form, Credit card form and financial checklist sign off is forwarded with all new enrolments. These forms are also available on the College website.
Financial difficulties
Families with limited capacity to pay school fees have an entitlement to claim a school fee concession. The College may request financial information from families to support applications for fee concessions or any other concessions. Requests for fee concessions shall be treated with dignity, fairness, compassion and confidentiality.
Debt collection agencies
Every parent who enrols their child/children in the school has an obligation to pay their school fees as a matter of justice to the whole school community. Where parents have the capacity to pay fees and have not made any attempt to pay fees by the due date, or leave the school with unpaid fees, then the collection of school fees shall be actively pursued. The debt may be passed onto our Debt Collection Agency for recovery. The Debtor will then additionally be liable for all collection costs and any associated fees involved in the recovery of the debt. The School keeps a comprehensive documentation of each attempt to resolve the problems of outstanding fees.
Exit procedure
When a student leaves the College, it is the parents/guardian’s responsibility to complete an Exit Form. This allows the School Fees to be adjusted. Without this completed form the student will continue to be charged Tuition Fees. The College expects accounts to be finalised by the time the Student Exits.
Refund policy Years 7-12
| Exit Tme | Year 7-11 | Year 12 |
|---|
| Exit first 5 weeks of Term 1 | 12.5% of the fees are due | 16.5% of the fees are due |
| Exit second weeks of Term 1 | 25% of the fees are due | 33% of the fees are due |
| Exit first 5 weeks of Term 2 | 37.5% of the fees are due | 49.5% of the fees are due |
| Exit second weeks of Term 2 | 50% of the fees are due | 66% of the fees are due |
| Exit first 5 weeks of Term 3 | 62.5% of the fees are due | 82.5% of the fees are due |
| Exit second weeks of Term 3 | 75% of the fees are due | 100% of the fees are due |
| Exit first 5 weeks of Term 4 | 87.5% of the fees are due | |
| Exit second weeks of Term 4 | 100% of the fees are due | |
Deferment
Application for deferment must be made in writing to the Head of Campus. Provided that one terms notice is given, places will be held during an extended absence. A holding fee will be charged, as follows,
- Absent for one calendar year or more 6.25% of the annual fee for each year absent.
- Absent for one term of more, but less than one year 25% of the fee for the period of absence.
Student exchange
Students on exchange to overseas schools will not be charged fees during their period of absence.
Payment methods
- BPay (Biller Code and Ref. shown on statements)
- Automatic Creditcard Payments
- Automatic Direct Debit
- Centrepay Deduction (contact the Fee Collection Officer to arrange)
- Credit Card payment (by telephone during office hours 8am-4pm)
- Cheque (made payable to Penola Catholic College and mailed to PO Box 3233 Broadmeadows 3047)
- EFTPOS (during office hours 8am-4pm)
Fee Collection Officer
Parents may contact the Accounts Department on 03 9301 2777 to discuss their accounts.
