Questions, concerns and objections from the survey and from schoolyard conversations. Short and honest.
No. This is an initiative of five parents from the school. We work closely with the school's leadership, but the foundation is legally independent of the school and of the OADA umbrella organisation. We have our own board, our own bank account and our own administration.
You're right. We also find it uncomfortable that this foundation is needed at all. Honestly, we don't really want this foundation to exist. We see it as an interim solution, not a new normal. Our ambition is that one day we can dissolve the foundation, because the government invests properly in primary education in Amsterdam again. Until then, we don't have time to wait: without action, visual arts and gym for kindergartners disappear next year. That's why we work in parallel on the political side, together with other Amsterdam schools.
That's a legitimate concern. It's true that schools with more affluent parents may raise more. That's exactly why we're also active in a network of Amsterdam schools, and why we're seeking contact with the city authorities to put this on the political agenda. Our foundation isn't the structural solution, but a temporary stopgap for our school.
Yes. We're in touch with the Boekmanschool, the 15th Montessori school and the Nicolaas Maesschool (same cuts, comparable parent community), and with De Burght (which already has a working parent fund). We share knowledge about legal structures, payment models and political lobbying.
You don't have to give anything. It's entirely voluntary. The target amount is €100 or €200 per child per year, but any contribution is welcome. More or less is fine, an amount of your own choosing is fine too.
No problem. Your child benefits from the programmes just as much as children whose parents do pay. There's no ranking, no honour roll, no difference in treatment.
Yes. The board and the school don't know who does or doesn't pay. We work via a payment platform that only passes totals on to us, not names.
That depends on whether we're granted ANBI status. Our application is currently pending with the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax authority). If the foundation receives that status: for a one-off donation, your gift is deductible if your total giving in the year exceeds the threshold (1% of your threshold income, with a minimum of €60). For a periodic donation over 5 years, the full amount is deductible, with no threshold or ceiling. A periodic donation of €200 a year then costs you around €115 net (in the 37% tax bracket). We'll announce it as soon as the status is confirmed.
You sign a simple agreement (with us or with a notary, both are fine) in which you commit to giving a fixed amount for five years. Once the foundation has ANBI status, your donation is fully tax-deductible from that point on. We send you a form, you sign it, done. We're happy to help with filling it in.
Yes, entirely. The parent association contribution (OR-bijdrage) you pay via the school (through Schoolkassa, the school's payment app) covers activities like Sinterklaas, school trips and Koek en Boek. Lunch supervision (TSO) and after-school care (BSO) are also arranged separately. The foundation covers what's under pressure from the cuts: visual arts, gym for kindergartners by a specialist teacher, and the cultural programme. That's a separate donation, into a separate bank account.
A one-off donation is by definition one-off. A periodic donation runs for five years, then stops by itself. Stopping in between is always possible in exceptional circumstances (such as unemployment or illness). Just send us an email — we'll sort it out without any fuss.
In the first phase: paying for a specialist teacher for visual arts and a specialist teacher for gym for kindergartners, plus cultural programmes the school can no longer fund itself. The school commissions the work, the teacher or organisation invoices us, we pay.
Not for now, because the amounts are small and earmarked donations create a lot of administration. We also think it's important that the school itself decides which programmes are important for all children, so this focus is set as neutrally as possible. We are considering working with themed campaigns in later years (such as a specific cultural project), as a number of parents also suggested in the survey.
Every year we publish an activity report and a financial overview on the ANBI page. It shows exactly what came in, what went out, and what donations were spent on. The site is also updated at least twice a year.
Three board members (chair, secretary, treasurer), all parents, all unpaid. Two operational team members. We meet formally a few times a year, and otherwise stay in touch via email and WhatsApp. Articles of association and policy plan are on the ANBI page.
No, not yet. We file the application as soon as the website is live. The processing time at the Belastingdienst is eight to twelve weeks, and approval isn't automatic. ANBI status can be granted retroactively, so donations you make now may still become deductible later if the status is granted. We can't, unfortunately, guarantee this.
Five parents at the TTSA. See the About us page for who we are and how to reach us.
Yes please. Email info@gelukkigeklas.nl. We need active help with communications, design, class-parent outreach, and a few specific skills. We'll match you with someone on the team.
Email info@gelukkigeklas.nl. We reply within a few days, and we add the question (anonymised) to the FAQ if it's relevant for others.
