Back to school, back to school fees

PARENTS gearing up to send their kids to Jewish schools this year will be forced to dig deep, with fees at Melbourne’s Jewish day schools among the highest in the state.

Mount Scopus Memorial College’s $30,990 Year 12 tuition fee – excluding the $2456 optional transport levy – is just shy of the state’s most expensive Year 12 fees of $34,020 for day boarders at Geelong Grammar.

In a letter sent to parents, the school’s principal Rabbi James Kennard and president Lisa Kennett advised that the school’s fees (up by 4.9 per cent) were “the conclusion of a prudent and thorough analysis

of the College expenditure”, that would not compromise on recruiting teachers of the “highest calibre”.

“At all times we remain mindful of the great sacrifice that parents make to give their children the benefit of a Scopus education,” the executives wrote.

Year 12 tuition fees are $28,180 at Bialik College, just $60 more than Year 12 full year tuition fees at The King David School (KDS), which has emerged with the highest fee rise across P-12 at 5.5 per cent, but still below the education CPI at 5.6.

The three schools mentioned are all charging more than Sydney’s most expensive Jewish school Moriah College, which is asking for $26,360 for the final year. Where Sydney’s JCA injects $3.4 million into NSW’s Jewish schools, Melbourne lacks a fund-raising equivalent for its schools – just one factor explaining the disparity.

The disparity can also be accounted for by the different levels of funding by the respective state governments. It should also be noted that all costs – excluding transport – are included in the Scopus fees, while most other schools impose additional compulsory levies over and above fees.

Both Leibler Yavneh College and Yeshivah–Beth Rivkah Colleges are on the cheaper end of the scale, at $26,140 and $22,000 for Year 12, respectively.

Where primary schools are concerned, Sholem Aleichem College is the best bang for a parent’s buck, offering the lowest fees for Years 5 and 6, at $9,990.

In NSW, Moriah remains Sydney’s most expensive Jewish school, with fees rising 2.5 per cent from last year.

Year 12 tuition fees have hit $26,360, up 2.8 per cent from $24,878.

“A major proportion of the fee increase is directed towards the increases relating to our staff salaries, governed by a multi-enterprise agreement,” Moriah honorary treasurer Stephen Jankelowitz said.

Emanuel School fees rose 3.8 per cent, with year 12 costing parents $22,050, up from $21,240.

Kesser Torah College has seen fees rise almost three per cent, with year 12 costing $22,875, up from $21,786.

The North Shore community’s Jewish school, Masada College, has seen an average fee increase of four  per cent, with year 12 tuition rising from $22,623 in 2013 to $23,736.

Interestingly, the largest fee increase has come from Yeshiva College, with a five per cent rise from 2013 fees.

A year 12 student’s tuition will now cost $9,240, up from $8,800 last year. The school doesn’t offer the HSC.

Mount Sinai College (MSC) has increased its fees by 3.9 per cent, despite the school seeing an increase of five per cent in its costs.

Tuition fees for years K-6 in 2014 are $13,248, up from $12,752.

“In spite of challenging economic conditions, we’ve continued our focus on ensuring our fees remain lowest of all the Jewish day schools in Sydney,” MSC company secretary Laura Wren told The AJN.

“First and foremost, we are dedicated to achieving the best possible educational outcomes for our students.

“All the money is spent in the classroom, on the students and their education.”

Most of Melbourne’s Jewish schools offer roughly a quarter of their student body fee subsidies, yet 30 per cent of Melbourne and Sydney parents with children under 21 responding to the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation’s Gen08 report indicated that the cost of school fees has prevented them from sending one or more children to a Jewish day school.

Speaking to The AJN this week, the report’s author Professor Andrew Markus, said Jewish school fees pose a “major challenge” to the Jewish community, adding that the ageing population – a demographic that in many cases is subsidising their grandchildren’s school fees – could put added strain on parents.

“The high school fees is just one challenge facing the community. It’s not something that has changed from last year to this year. The issue has been with us for a long time and continues to be a major challenge.”

Leonard Hain, the executive director of the Australian Council of Jewish Schools agreed that surging Jewish school fees is an ongoing problem.

“It’s an increasing problem and one that parents are continually facing; it is an expense amongst other increasing expenses that they must manage.”