St Joseph's School
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The board carefully monitors any sensitive expenditure at St Joseph's School, ensuring that school funds are not spent inappropriately. Sensitive expenditure is considered a type of expenditure that may give (or could appear to give) unreasonable personal benefit to an individual or group. Areas of potentially sensitive expenditure include gifts, koha, hospitality, and travel. See information about hospitality expenditure below. For information about travel expenditure, see Travel Expenditure.
The board authorises and carefully manages any expenditure that could appear to provide benefits to an individual or a small group of individuals. The board aims to be impartial and transparent when making decisions about sensitive expenditure.
The board follows principles set out by the Office of the Auditor-General and considers:
See Controlling sensitive expenditure: Guide for public organisations 
(Office of the Auditor-General).
If funds are raised for sensitive expenditure, we ensure that anyone contributing to those funds is aware of the purpose and recipient(s) of the fundraising. The board fully accounts for any funds raised or income put towards sensitive expenditure, and the actual expenditure incurred.
Benefits relating to school expenditure (e.g. loyalty scheme points) may only be used on behalf of the school and should not provide unreasonable personal benefit to individuals.
Hospitality expenditure
Hospitality expenditure (e.g. providing food and drinks or hiring a venue for an event) is usually considered sensitive expenditure due to the potential for it to be considered an unjustified expense. This may be because it does not benefit all staff equally or has minimal benefit on educational outcomes. The board may approve hospitality expenditure if it they can demonstrate that it is:
The board is transparent with expenditure amounts. Alcohol should only be purchased for approved events.
Entertainment expenditure must be under $500 unless approval is gained from the board
Concurrence
If the board wants to provide additional pay, allowances, or benefits to the principal (outside the terms of their employment agreement), the board must apply for concurrence (approval) from the Ministry of Education. The additional payment or benefit cannot be worth more than 20% of the U-grade base salary of the principal. The Ministry considers applications and may approve or deny individual applications based on merit.
See Special terms or conditions for principals 
(Ministry of Education).
For information about when applications for concurrence may be required, see the Financial Information for Schools Handbook .
Release history: Term 3 2025, Term 2 2021
