School says it did not 'bully' parents over fund-raising

A prominent private school in Dublin has denied that its current fund-raising campaign has involved "financial bullying" of parents.

The King's Hospital secondary school in Palmerstown yesterday released a brief statement in which it insisted that its fund-raising drive was taking place on a completely voluntary basis.

The school took the unusual move of issuing the statement after a letter of complaint was circulated to the media claiming that undue pressure was being placed on parents to make significant donations. It was claimed that staff at the school had called parents in for one-to-one meetings to discuss donations. A circular to parents points out that €100,000 per week was raised in the first three weeks of the term. It goes on to state that the "average gift" has been €17,527. At the time the circular was sent out to parents, the school had raised more than €1.8 million. "Our target is €2 million by the end of the \ term. This would be a fantastic achievement," it noted.

There are currently just under 700 pupils at the co-educational school, where fees are €3,500 a year.

The school's development officer, Mr Niall O'Sullivan, yesterday released a brief statement in which he said that all of the money raised went directly to the school. He pointed out that parents were "within their rights to say no".

"There is complete confidentiality about who gives what. We have completed many projects in recent years which could not have happened without philanthropic contributions," the statement concluded.

Mr O'Sullivan told The Irish Times that such contributions had helped to fund a library, sports hall and boarding facilities. He was aware that the accusation of "financial bullying" had been made in a letter sent to some media organisations. However, the school would not agree that it was engaged in such tactics, he said.

The school principal, Mr Harald Meyer, said that the school had never sought to put undue pressure on parents. The current fund-raising drive was going "very well", but that was because a "phenomenal amount of goodwill" existed. It had been clearly stated in documentation given to parents relating to the fund-raising that if they were unable to donate money they should simply tick a box stating that, he said.

He had engaged in one-to-one meetings with parents on the issue of fund-raising only because it was a more suitable environment than group meetings. "If somebody had a problem, they should have come and spoken to me," he said.

The president of the National Parents' Council Post-Primary (NPCPP), Ms Eleanor Petrie, said that while the school was a fee-paying one, many parents would find it difficult to contribute funds. Many of the pupils came from low-income families who were being grant-aided by the Church of Ireland, she said.