Dept. of Education > Administrative and Management services > Finance, Facilities and Business Strategy Branch > Levies and Charges, Pricing and Fees > 2003 School Levy Policy Review

2003 School Levy Policy Review

• Introduction

• Executive Summary

• The Report

• Summary of Submissions

  • 2003 School Levy Survey

  • Executive Summary

  • Report on School Levies Survey 2003

    • Part 1 - Individual Student Levies

    • Part 2 - Levies and Other charges as revenues sources for the school and number of levy payers

    • Part 3 - Classification Analysis

    • Part 4 - Treatment of STAS Students

    • Part 5 - Payment Flexibility

    • Part 6 - Data Quality Issues

    • Part 7 - Communication

  • Summary of Proposed Changes

• Amended Policy - School Levy Policy - October 2003 -   Word Version of Document 

• Recommendations

• Existing Policy - School Levy Policy - November 2002

Introduction

This page contains information regarding the 2003 review of the School Levy Policy for Government schools in Tasmania.  It is intended to help school representatives to understand the outcome of the review and the implications for schools.

Review of the School Levy Policy

Late in 2002 the Department released a new School Levy Policy which was implemented in all schools in 2003.  As part of the implementation process the Department undertook to do two things during the 2003 school year:

• To run a survey of school levy practices; and

• To conduct a formal review of the implementation of the Policy.

Both of these processes have now been completed and the outcomes can now be shared with all schools and colleges.

Successful Implementation of the Policy

The review has demonstrated that the implementation of the policy has delivered significant benefits to students from low-income families.  Feedback from schools and formal submissions to the Review has shown that schools and colleges have embraced the principles of the school levy policy.

Continuous Improvement of School Levy Practices

The Review Committee found that for issues causing concern in some schools, the same aspects of the policy were being handled positively in other schools.  On the basis of this pattern it was felt that there was significant scope for the formal sharing of good practices and experiences with a view to changing some practices in schools.

Schools are asked to look at the recommendations in the report about good practice approaches and to consider whether there are opportunities to make changes for 2004.  In the meantime work will commence on a strategy for the development, documentation and training for good levy practices with a view to making this available to schools during 2004.

Changes to the School Levy Policy

The third significant outcome of the Review has been some refinements to the policy.  Broadly, the changes reinforce that the Policy relates to all students in Government schools, and not only STAS students.  The changes have also targeted the clarification of issues that appear to have been ambiguous in the original policy document or that have been open to misinterpretation.  In particular, a paragraph as been removed from the Policy which appears to have been misinterpreted as allowing decisions of school councils to override the principles of the Levy Policy in relation to camps and excursions.

Increase to the Discretionary Levy Compensation Rates

Finally, although the Review ultimately made no recommendations regarding the level of funding to support the implementation of the new levy policy, it has been decided that, for 2004, the Discretionary Levy Compensation allocations will be increased by 2%.

The Report and Associated Documents

In total the Committee made fifteen recommendations which have now been endorsed by the Minister.  The Committee’s recommended changes to the Policy have also received the Minister’s endorsement.

The following are links to the documents that make up the Report:

• The Report of the Review Committee – Executive Summary

• A précis of the 19 formal submissions received by the Review;

• The Report of the School Levy Survey;

• The amended School Levy policy (with a simple explanation of the changes); and

• A document that lists each of the recommendations and summarises the implications of each recommendation for schools and colleges.  (This document provides a useful quick look at the results of the Committee’s review and identifies issues that schools may need to address in relation to school levy practices and principles)

Additionally, for reference purposes, the following is a link to the original School Levy Policy which has now been amended.

School Levy Policy – November 2002