Five Otago schools are to be investigated by the Office of the Auditor-general as part of a nationwide review of funding in New Zealand's integrated schools.
A spokeswoman for the office said auditors would collect information from integrated schools, in a bid to get a better understanding of the amount of financial contribution parents provided.
She said it was noted in a previous audit report (February 2010) that when a proprietor raised funds from parents or others, it was a transaction between two private-sector parties, even though the school office often provided administrative support.
However, this fundraising has been the subject of public interest in the past year, because of confusion about whether the contribution is voluntary or compulsory, or a lack of clarity about whether the donation is for the public sector (the board of trustees) or the private sector (the proprietor), she said.
"We intend to report to Parliament in December on the audit issues that have arisen on integrated schools over the last few years, as a follow-up to our 2010 report.
"The report will address the accountability arrangements for parental contributions."
She said five Otago schools would be among a sample of 100 integrated schools across the country, which would be asked to provide useful information to illustrate the accountability arrangements. The schools would remain anonymous until the report was presented to Parliament.
"They will be kept anonymous so that it doesn't interfere with the work of the auditors.
"We generally don't name schools involved in our work."
New Zealand Association of Proprietors of Integrated Schools deputy chief executive Susan Apathy said integrated school proprietors collected attendance dues from parents to help pay for the loans they had to take out to bring their schools up to state schooling standard.
Proprietors also often asked for donations from parents to fund special character projects at the school.
And school boards of trustees could also ask for donations from parents to fund school activities.
The sources of funding are supposed to be used for specific purposes, she said.
"In part, the auditors want to make sure the funding is not going somewhere it's not supposed to."
Mrs Apathy said she did not expect the auditors to find anything untoward.
