Gatineau School Defends $20K Student Fundraiser for Desks, Chairs

A Gatineau elementary school is defending its decision to ask students to sell chocolate bars to raise money for classroom furniture until its school board steps up with additional funds. Gatineau students asked to raise $20K for desks and chairs A "major reinvestment in education must be made to adequately answer to the needs of students," Karine D'Aoust, the head of École de l'Odyssée's governing body, said in a French-language memo issued Feb 9.Last week, students were asked to meet a$20,000 fundraising goal by selling Humeur products, including chocolates, sucreà la crème, bath products and greeting cards. The school said the money raised would help fund educational and cultural activities, as well as new desks and chairs for the classroom.The chair of Commission scolaire des Draveurs, theschool board that overseesÉcoledel'Odyssée, panned the money drive last week, emphasizing that students should not be responsible for funding essential school furniture.D'Aoust said in a memo on Wednesday that even though it's the school board's responsibility to maintain furniture, the school took initiative to replace dated desks and chairs.D'Aoust added that the school should have a right to spend part of the money raised by students on furniture, given the skim resources provided by the board.Read the full memo in French here.