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In recent weeks, parents have garnering hundreds of signatures, written letters to board members, attended community meetings and delegated to trustees.

It’s all in the lead-up to an April 16 board meeting where trustees will vote on updating the fundraising policy to include a mandatory contribution to the System Priorities Fund, which provides backpacks, supplies and winter coats to schools in lower-income communities.

Parents who are opposed say they support equity, but are angry about a mandate. They say some school councils, made up of parent volunteers, already donate to schools in need. And they call it a tax on dollars they’ve raised through events such as fun fairs, movie nights and pizza lunches for enriching experiences at their kids’ schools, including yard improvements, field trips, art supplies, guest speakers, nutrition programs and in-class workshops.

Some worry this will place an administrative burden on parent volunteers, have minimal impact and cost the board up to $150,000 to hire an auditor who’d oversee about $15 million in annual fundraising revenues��— a salary that would come from the TDSB budget, which faces��. They’re especially frustrated the proposed change lacks key details such as the percentage that would be implemented and how it would be applied, which has created confusion.

Last month, staff suggested a one per cent deduction on net revenue, but recently told the Star it could range from one to five per cent, and they aren’t yet sure if it would apply to net or gross revenue��— details that will be��decided after trustees vote on whether contributions to the fund should be mandatory, or remain voluntary.��

”Why are the trustees so keen on battling with parents and hardworking volunteers?” asked father Robert Andropov at a recent committee meeting. “Parents will stop volunteering and schools will lose more funds, leading to a lower quality for our children.”

“You’re trying to improve things, but in the wrong way. You will hurt the community. This will lead to a net loss for a large portion of schools, while a few schools see marginal gain,” he said to trustees. “What is to be done when a school is not putting in any effort to fundraise and just collecting handouts? How is this fair?”

But mother Laura Auquilla says a mandate would “help reduce the stark inequalities across TDSB schools” and “equity is about removing the barriers for those burdened by systemic inequalities, it is not about charity.”

“It is indisputable that some schools fundraise more money simply because their communities have access to time and money in ways that other communities do not. This is not about hard-working parents versus non-hard-working parents.”��

She noted that at her daughter’s school last year, the council had a budget of $55,000, but voted against donating $500 to another school, or the central equity fund, as it had done in previous years. The money could have gone toward nutrition programs, warm clothing and boosting parent engagement elsewhere, she said. Instead there was pushback from some who said their own school didn’t have enough Kleenex boxes so they couldn’t part with any money.

“I get that parents want to ensure that their children have everything they can, but some of us can have a little less so others can have anything at all,” she said.

At the TDSB, sharing fundraised money among schools has been floated for decades, but never gained a foothold. In part, that’s because ��disadvantaged kids get extra money in their budgets��and grants that help minimize fundraising disparities — to ensure . Also, some councils already address inequities in their schools��— they’ll pay for field trips, warm clothing and food for kids who can’t afford it��— and some donate to others. (Some parents prefer partnering have and have-not schools, in lieu of mandatory contributions. Regardless of whether contributions remain voluntary or become mandatory, TDSB staff say they’ll do more to promote fundraising options.)

Fairbank Memorial Community School is one of those schools ranked as having higher needs. This year, it’s on track to fundraise $10,000; in past years, money went toward a free trip for all kids, including a day at the zoo. Although it would benefit from a central equity fund, the council’s co-chair Sarah Brager is against a mandate. If students need underwear, socks and basic necessities, it should be funded by the government or the board, not parents, she said.��

“The notion to change giving from voluntary to mandatory is in itself not equitable because it’s not coming from a place of fairness anymore,” she said. “You’re going to be forced to do something.”

But at Roselands Public School, also a high-needs school, council chair Ana Ledo noted that equity is a pillar of the TDSB. Her school raises far less than another a few kilometres away, which pays for things such as recess equipment, STEM programs and workshops taught by professional artists.��

“You can’t say it’s equitable when one school down the street has all this extra programming that isn’t funded by the government, and a school just up the street doesn’t. Our kids don’t have the same opportunities ... because we can’t afford to provide our students with them.”

According to the TDSB, there was $34.7 million (gross) in school-generated funds in 2022-23, and $38.9 million in 2023-24. This broad category includes fundraising for school purposes (pizza lunch, bake sales and donations); money collected by the school from parents to cover the costs of things like��field trips, agendas, yearbooks; and funds raised for external charities. Staff recently isolated total fundraising revenue (gross)��for school purposes during those years, which was $13 million and $15.1 million, respectively.

A breakdown by school reveals that some don’t crack $100, while others raise more than $100,000; a few raised nothing at all, while one raked in more than $300,000. (The TDSB says its data isn’t 100 per cent accurate for various reasons, including the way schools entered information into the accounting system. In future, modifications would be needed.)��

Staff are still figuring out how to implement a mandate that doesn’t hurt fundraising and is easy to administer. But they say fundraisers for school purposes would be subject to the partial redistribution, regardless of if they’re led by parents or students. Donations for fundraisers would also be affected, but if the donations are unsolicited they may not be. There would be no impact on non-fundraised money, fundraising for external charities (such as the Terry Fox Foundation) and in-kind donations to schools.

At about a dozen schools, parents have formed registered charities, foundations and home and school associations, which are separate legal entities that fundraise and report to the Canada Revenue Agency, not the TDSB. They, too, will be affected when they cut a cheque to the school.

If trustees approve mandatory contributions, the TDSB will be the first board in Ontario to do so.

Katrina Matheson, council chair at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts, believes “we would not be fighting over scraps in the name of equity if our boards were properly funded.”

Rosedale used to get $100,000 in annual funding for arts programming, but that was cut, so parents try to make up the shortfall with fundraising. But “reliance on fundraising is not a solution to chronic provincial underfunding.”

While a mandate is well-meaning, she said it’s not clear the money generated would meaningfully exceed the costs of administering this program. Plus, it’ll be a challenge for parents, councils and principals to navigate.��

Esther Blagdon, co-chair of the council at Brian Public School, said “Parents are just so frightened about the precedent that the TDSB is trying to set by having a say in parental funds ... The fear is that the hypothetical one per cent becomes five, becomes 10, and balloons to 25.”

At community meetings called “Stop Taxing School Donations”��— hosted by trustees who support voluntary donations��— one mother said��“It’s not up to parents to solve a social inequality issue in the country’s largest city,” while one father slammed the proposal as “This is politics.” Most parents agreed a mandate “will kill community engagement.”