Preschool disenrollment tuition obligation - question for all you lawyers out there !

[Anonymous]

So I enrolled my daughter in a preschool this spring. We are moving out of state so it's not in this area. The director at the time told me the class had 2 spots left and I needed to enroll to ensure my spot. I paid $500 deposit - tuition is around $7000 for year. Since then I've had a change if heart after hearing some negative feedback about the school. The contract says I'm responsible for full tuition if I dont attend and the preschool director reiterated that. She also said that the class is 10kids and has a max of 16 which irked me b/c when I enrolled she said there were only 2 spots. If I walk away without paying the tuition - how likely is it they would win a lawsuit. And if anybody has been in a similar situation how likely is it a school will pursue litigation ?

Thanks !

[Anonymous]

Well, you could try to argue that they have a duty to mitigate their losses by trying to fill the spot with another student. In that case, you might be on the hook for whatever losses they actually incurred (advertising costs, staff costs spent on dealing with admission for that spot). Not sure you have the moral high ground here, though.

[Anonymous]

Wow! Never heard of this before... I never would have signed that OP. I'd just roll the dice. I'd be really expensive for the to litigate.

[Anonymous]

So you signed the contract when you gave the deposit and enrolled her? Why are you asking this here? You will owe them the money, isn't that what you agreed?

[Anonymous]

Op here - Thanks for the input so far - I wish I hadn't signed it but all the other preschools at the time were full and I had a false impression that this school was in high demand with only 2 spots left. It looked nice when I toured but I'm learning there's nothing like hearing first hand experiences. I'd also agreed to an afternoon slot and we're now expecting another baby so afternoon not ideal ! Can't wait for dc to just go to kindergarten !

[Anonymous]

You pretty much just have to pay, OP, or face a costly legal process. I was in a similar situation two summers ago, only the reason we backed out of the preschool was that my daughter was diagnosed with autism 3 months before school started so she went into the school system instead. We still had to pay the $9000 we had promised the private preschool. Believe me, that one hurt!

[Anonymous]

Aren't most schools 30 days notice? Mine is, and there is a huge waiting list if I give up DDs spot. This would have been a big red flag for me.

[Anonymous]

Agree with 13:52. Unless they have some deal w/ someone who handles small claims, they would be crazy to litigate $7000. I'd be more worried about some sort of collections agent that they may send the debt to.

[Anonymous]

Did you actually sign a contract? If so, you're on the hook for the money.

I know someone who is in a similar situation. Husband and wife split up, the husband couldn't afford to send the child to the school without the wife's financial help. The wife did not want the child to go to the school in the first place and refused to help pay. Since the deposit for the year had been paid and a contract was signed, the husband (his name was on everything) was on the hook for the money...to the tune of $11,000.

[Anonymous]

Have you signed a contract? Or just paid a deposit?

[Anonymous]

Op here - 13:53, do you have kids ? It's not that black and white - we're not talking about ordering furniture here. This is a school and while I felt comfortable sending dc there before - I have new information that suggests it would not be a good fit.

[Anonymous]

I am amazed how many of you have signed something like this! Crazy!

[Anonymous]

OMG, I cannot fathom paying $7,000 for something I am not going to use. I would talk to them. I had a similar situation in a church-based preschool except that the director had told me they would be MAT certified and capable of administering epipens, benadryl and inhalers. They changed their policy and could only do epipens. I had to argue for like at least 30 minutes, and she finally said that since they were Christian, she would charitably refund my deposit. Although, either way, I was not liable for the whole year of tuition because that was not in our contract. We had a 30 day notice period like others, and even then would not have to pay full tuition if they could fill our spot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You pretty much just have to pay, OP, or face a costly legal process. I was in a similar situation two summers ago, only the reason we backed out of the preschool was that my daughter was diagnosed with autism 3 months before school started so she went into the school system instead. We still had to pay the $9000 we had promised the private preschool. Believe me, that one hurt!

If you didn't fight it, how do you know it would be costly. If the school pursues it, I'd represent myself and make them fight it before I'd just hand the money over.

[Anonymous]

Op here - unfortunately signed contract. Does anybody find it misrepresenting the school that the director told me there were only 2spots left when in actuality there were 6spots ?