APEEE Solidarity Fund

Background

In October 2021, the APEEE Board decided support a proposal from the Treasurer to provide funding for parents in case of financial hardship. In December 2021, the APEEE General Assembly supported this proposal and decided to set aside EUR 1000/year for the Solidarity Fund and adopted internal rules for managing this fund. Overall, the  APEEE Solidarity Fund aims to give the necessary budgetary cover to any eventuality which jeopardises a student’s academic progress in EEB1.

Beneficiaries

Parents who have applied for a reduced minerval or school trip fee are typically single parents, or single earners, on low salaries, and with more than one child in the European School. They may be on parental leave, working part-time in an institution, or be past employees (end of contract) who have the right to maintain their child in the European School.

Some 5% of parents applied for a reduced cost of ski trips. Certain criteria can be applied, such as a maximum monthly family income and number of children, but each case needs to be assessed individually.

Eligible costs

According to Art. 8 of the Solidarity Fund internal rules, eligible costs are:

• obligatory school equipment for the children, including books
• school trips without a budget for solidarity funding
• extracurricular activities
• other costs of schooling

Non-eligible costs

The APEEE Solidarity Fund excludes funding for:

• the cost of school transport, canteen, cafeteria or after-school activities. Requests for such assistance must be addressed to the APEEE Services Solidarity Fund
• school fees (minerval), as the school is legally required to reduce these fees in cases of financial hardship
• school trips such as those for P3, P4 and P5 and Secondary, so long as the school includes a solidarity fund in their budgets
• costs not directly linked to the school (bereavement…) or to a student (APEEE staff…)
• projects, as these are covered by separate arrangement

The Solidarity Fund Committee

In order to ensure the operation of the Solidarity Fund, Art. 2 of the Rules call for a Solidarity Fund Committee (SFC) composed of between three and seven members of the APEEE Board. Members of the SFC shall appoint a Chairperson and a Treasurer. The Committee is entitled to call upon the APEEE Secretariat to initiate the payments it authorises from the Solidarity Fund.

APEEE Solidarity Fund Internal Rules

Article 1.

The Solidarity Fund (SF) of the APEEE may provide financial assistance to its members who experience exceptional difficulties in meeting the costs associated with their childrens’ education in EEB1.

Article 2.

1. A Solidarity Fund Committee (hereafter called “the SFC”) is established. It will comprise a number of members between three (3) and seven (7).
2. All members must be on the Board of the APEEE, with the cessation of Board functions implying the immediate end of the SFC mandate.
3. The APEEE Board shall appoint one member of the SFC as the Chairperson and one as Treasurer. SFC members are appointed for a mandate of one year, an appointment made by the APEEE Board on its first meeting after having been elected by the APEEE General Assembly. Members of the SFC may be re-appointed.
4. All members will sign a confidentiality disclosure and data protection agreement (as will any members of staff of the APEEE who handle data concerning any applications and transfer of funds), and are prohibited from disclosing any personal data to non-SFC members.
5. Members of the SFC will declare any potential conflict of interest before or during the handling of a financial assistance request.
6. The SFC will report to the Board and provide minutes and accounts (with the exception of personal data or other identifying information on recipients of support).
7. The SFC will meet on the invitation of the Chairman, provided that applications have been made. Proxies are allowed. Written procedures may be launched to decide on an application.
8. The SFC will not issue guarantees or loans. Voluntary reimbursements may however take place.

Article 3.

1. The SF budget shall be submitted to the General Assembly within the APEEE's annual budget.
2. The funds available for the SF budget shall include those voted in the APEEE budget and income generated through other activities.

Article 4.

1. The SFC shall decide on applications for financial assistance for specific activities outlined in article 8 up to a maximum of 80%. The SFC takes into consideration the family situation, available income, the importance of the expenditure from a school perspective and any other relevant special circumstances. Only one assistance request per individual beneficiary may normally be granted per school year. In a family of siblings, each child counts as an individual beneficiary.
2. The SFC shall not award funding exceeding the total amount available in its budget. It shall establish objective criteria for the acceptance of applications, and for percentage of the admissible costs to be covered, taking account of the funds available.

Article 5. Majority decisions

Decisions within the SFC are taken by an absolute majority of its members, who may only vote in favour or against an application. In case of a split vote, where votes in favour and against granting an application are equal, the decision is referred to the APEEE Board for decision, after due anonymisation of personal data.

Article 6. Application procedure

1. Applications must be submitted to a dedicated electronic mailbox, using the form provided by the SFC. All applicants must provide the reasons for applying, including supporting documents, in order to receive financial assistance from the Social Fund.
2. Confidentiality regarding the applicant will be guaranteed by the SCF and the APEEE in relation to any parties outside the SFC and the APEEE staff in charge of payments. Applicants will be deemed to have waived their right to confidentiality with respect to SFC members and the afore-mentioned APEEE staff.
3. The SFC will take the final decision, taking into account all the information available to it. It may request further information and supporting documents.
4. Applications should normally be submitted at the beginning of the school year, and in any event in good time before funds are required.
5. Retroactive financing is not allowed (except in duly justified circumstances).
6. Applications shall be stored electronically and shall be accessible only by SFC members.

Article 7. Financial Assistance

1. Financial assistance may be provided in cases of clear and objective financial difficulty, having regard to the applicant’s family income and number of dependent children.
2. The SFC must be satisfied that there are no other possible and reasonable sources of financial assistance available.
3. APEEE Board members may not submit an application unless they resign from their position.

Article 8. Eligible costs

1. The assistance may cover the following costs up to the maximal amount mentioned in article 4.1:

• Obligatory equipment (e.g. BYOD, text-books)
• School trips without a budget for solidarity funding
• Extracurricular educational activities: (e.g.: Eurosport, MUN, MEC, Olympiade, etc)
• Other costs of schooling in EEB

1. The assistance shall not cover the cost of school transport, canteen, cafeteria or after-school activities. Requests for such assistance must be addressed to APEEE Service ASBL.

Article 9. False declarations

Wilfully false declarations or omissions will lead to a rejection of the application. If the false declaration or omission is discovered after disbursement of the financial assistance, the money may be claimed back from the beneficiary. Authors of such wilful false declarations or omissions will be barred from applying for financial assistance from the SFC for a period of five years.

Article 10. Reporting

1. Summary minutes of SFC meetings are sent to the APEEE Board for information. The summary minutes shall not include any personal data which could lead to identify those requesting financial support.
2. The progress on fund activities shall be reported to the APEEE Board on a quarterly basis.

Article 11. Revision

The internal rules of the Social Fund may be revised at any time upon decision by the APEEE Board. They shall be published on the APEEE website.