How much would you pay for your child's art?
That's the question one Australian kindergarten posed to dozens of families this week when it asked them to stump up A$2,200 (£1,000; $1,400) for the pleasure of taking home a curated portfolio of their child's artwork.
The folders included many a random blob and splodge, alongside happy snaps of the would-be Picassos making creations only a parent could love.
Billed as a fundraiser, the debt-ridden centre said the money from the portfolios would go towards whittling down a long list of overdue bills, including unpaid wages for educators.
Craigslea Community Kindergarten and Preschool in Brisbane closed last month after funding was halted amid an investigation into claims about its governance.
The obscure request has sparked anger in Queensland, with the state's leader calling it emotional blackmail, regulators staging an intervention, and one parent allegedly going to extreme lengths to take back their child's collection of artworks in the middle of the night.
The controversy has been months in the making - tensions between management and parents at the kindergarten centre, about half an hour north of Brisbane, have been steadily brewing this year.
It's a community-run centre affiliated with one of the state's largest childcare providers, the Creche and Kindergarten Association (C&K). While the latter helps distribute government funding, the day-to-day operations of the centre were controlled by a volunteer committee, made up of parents and community members.
That committee was gutted last month when a dispute led to the mass resignation of its president, vice-president, and secretary, leaving its treasurer Thomas D'Souza to take over the helm, according to the Brisbane Times.
The new management fired existing staff and hired temporary workers, leading many parents to remove their kids from the centre, their report said.
Parents lodged complaints about Mr. D'Souza being the sole committee member, something he denied, prompting C&K to pause funding as authorities investigated how the centre was being run.
On Sunday night, the inboxes of families with children at the kindergarten pinged with an email from management wanting to address a tumultuous few weeks.
It is our turn to talk, the email said, according to A Current Affair on the Nine network.
The lengthy missive said the centre couldn't pay its debts and had entered voluntary administration.
Hours later, another message revealed a plan to sell the children's art portfolios for thousands a pop, and asking any parents opposed to that to email back.
The request left Brooke, one of the parents at the centre, speechless: It's ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. I don't even really have words for it, she told A Current Affair.
She also mentioned that when she decided to take the artwork without paying, the centre reported her to police.
Though it is unclear whether they are referencing the same incident, Queensland Police informed the BBC they had received reports of an alleged midnight break-and-enter at the kindergarten about a fortnight ago and were investigating.
The kindergarten management did not respond to the BBC's request for comment.
However, the saga has prompted public backlash, with thousands weighing in on social media and the state's premier blasting the request as un-Australian and wrong on so many levels.
I never saw any Picassos come home, that's for sure. But they mean something to you, said David Crisafulli concerning his own kids' early crafts on Nine's Today programme.
Let's give the kids their finger painting and let's get on with life.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education also assured parents on Wednesday that they had a legal right to their children's works.
Later on Wednesday, both the Department of Education and C&K confirmed that they had launched a successful recovery operation and retrieved the children's collections from the kindergarten.
C&K recognizes the importance of these portfolios and unequivocally condemns any practice that involves charging parents for their children's portfolios. These important records are now available for families to collect, a spokeswoman stated.
For these parents, their children's art is now both priceless and free.
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