Attendance Dues

St Mary's School is an integrated school under the Private Schools Conditional Intregration Act 1975, belonging to the Diocese of Palmerston North.  The attendance dues collected on behalf of the proprietors in the Diocese of Palmerston North is used to pay insurance on integrated school buildings, collection costs and some building related cost, and enabling funds for new school building work.

What are Attendance Dues?

Attendance dues are a charge made by the proprietors (owners) of Catholic schools as a condition of enrolment and attendance of students at the schools in our Diocese. Parents or other persons accepting responsibility for the education of your child/children, having signed attendance dues agreement forms, have a legal obligation to pay attendance dues.

Attendance dues are not donations (and therefore, are not tax deductible). Also, they should not be confused with school and activity fees which are charged by the Boards of Trustees of many schools and are payable to the school itself.

Collecting Attendance Dues

Your attendance dues are administered here in the Palmerston North Diocese.

What are Attendance Dues used for?

Our proprietors – the Bishop, some Religious Orders, and some Trust Boards – work collaboratively with other Dioceses of New Zealand to ensure we get the best possible loans to fund our new school building work.

The bulk of your Attendance Dues services and pays off these loans for new or upgraded buildings. The balance of your Attendance Dues is used to pay insurance, and to cover collection costs and some building-related costs. Projects go to tender and we have developed great relationships with various architects and builders etc

When do we pay Attendance Dues?

The Attendance Dues team, on behalf of the proprietor of your school, will send you an attendance dues invoice in March each year. The invoice will show the full amount of attendance dues payable by you including attendance dues owing from the previous year (if any).  

The Annual rate for 2020 (including GST) was:

        Primary Students        $447.00

        Secondary Students    $894.00

 The following are options for payment when the invoice is distributed:

1.   In full by 31 March, or

2.   Four payment installments due 31 March, 31 May, 31 July, and 30 September, or

3.   Make arrangements, prior to 31 March, with the Attendance Dues team to make payment by weekly, fortnightly or monthly installments.