Cancelling enrollment contract
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Anonymous
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We are considering not returning to our school in the fall. We signed the re-enrollment contract--and paid a deposit--as of April 1. However, since then, there have been some incidents and issues that cause us to have strong reservations about sending our child back. These incidents essentially confirmed perceptions and concerns we had before that, but we didn't have full-blown confirmation that we were indeed right to worry. (I don't want to get too specific, as I know there are mothers from our school who post here.)
My question is perhaps for the lawyer moms and dads on the board but also for anyone who has gone through wanting to cancel/get out of your enrollment contract: should we be concerned that our school will go after us for the full tuition? We are of course feeling like we know we would not get our deposit back--which is very upsetting--but my larger worry is that they would come after us for the balance. (The enrollment contract, like others I assume, says we will pay the full amount for the school year in X number of installments.) I know it probably would depend on the specific school and circumstances (we are a smaller school), but does anyone know how fiercely a school will go after you for the balance of tuition if you inform them you are not coming back? Thanks in advance. We are really struggling with this and are extremely sad that it has come to this. |
Anonymous
| Typically, you have until June 1 (or a similar date) to withdraw from the contract with just the loss of your initial deposit. You've probably checked the fine print already, but I thought I'd just note this in case you misplaced the contract, etc. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| Please withdraw quickly and before June 1. Save yourself the worry. GL. |
Anonymous
| I think it is school-specific. Barrie School seems particularly aggressive; they have dozen of lawsuits listed online where the school sued parents for tuition. But most other schools have very few such lawsuits. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Thanks, posters. There is nothing on the contract about June 1. Is this something that is just understood? There isn't any fine print. It's a one-page contract that basically says the tuition "charge" is to confirm the child's place at the school, and that since withdrawl does not materially change their expenses, we are responsible for payment in full for the school year. By signing we agree to pay the tuition charge of XXX for the school year. They also say a "non-refundable" deposit of XXX is due with the contract, so I wonder why they would need to specify that the *deposit* is non-refundable, when presumably nothing is. Sigh. I know there is a limit to how much help you can provide, but please know that I do appreciate the input very much. |
Anonymous
| Is this a school that is in demand with a wait list? If they can easily fill your spot you have a much stronger argument to get your money back. |
Anonymous
I don't think there is a wait list for our (upcoming) grade, no. My thought was that we'd have a stronger argument if there was less interest in a spot, because they could less easily claim they turned someone away as a result of our re-enrollment. Someone who then went elsewhere. I have no idea what I'm talking about, clearly--this is all new for us. |
Anonymous
| Ouch. You may need a lawyer to look this over. or go there another year. |
Anonymous
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Never heard of one that didn't have a "performance deadline". As a PP says it's usually June 1 but some are May 1 (and some are July 1). You are positive there is no language on this? It would be VERY unusual for any of the k-8 or k-12 schools to not have this language.
You definitely don't get your deposit back. But typically if you withdraw before June 1 you are not required to pay tuition. I don't know how that impacts people who are on a 10 month plan and may have already made a couple of payments before June 1. |
Anonymous
| I don't have any advice for you but wanted to tell you I'm sorry, OP. it sounds like this has been really difficult for you. Good luck to you and your family. |
Anonymous
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OP again. Thanks everyone, for the information/advice and the sympathy. It has indeed been hard. There are many things we like but some incidents have been too difficult to ignore (one involves DC being injured while off-campus with his class and neither teachers not parent chaperones assisting DC or calling to let me know).
There is no language on the contract for "performance" deadline (I wish there were). Just the deadline of April 1 for us to sign the tuition agreement/re-enrollment form, with which we enclosed the deposit and signed, agreeing to pay the tuition over X number of payments. There is a discount if we pay the tuition in lump sum by July 1, which we opted not to do, instead opting for monthly payments starting September 1. |
Anonymous
| This happened to us. After we had already paid the next year's tuition in full, our former school basically sent us email after email making clear their desire that we withdraw. So we withdrew. School declined to refund a penny unless we executed a confidentiality agreement that was so burdensome we couldn't even have been assured that a full transcript would be made available (and it never was). OP, please be careful. If you are suspicious, go get a lawyer ASAP. Many, many schools do sue parents over tuition. |
Anonymous
OP here. This is awful--they kicked you out and then did not refund your money??? I did not want to make a whole big thing about my child's injury to the school, but I do believe--based on this and also on firsthand observation since--that safety practices are lax; ie, I am not that surprised it happened and went unaddressed, based on what I saw. I suppose I could cite this as my primary concern--it is--and approach the situation that way. We are really not trying to "get out of" anything--we are just so disappointed in the place. If I thought that our feedback would change anything I would give it to them in detail, but I am 100% sure nothing would change. When I questioned something significant that I thought was unsafe, I was greeted with a "that's the way we've always done it and never had a problem" response. I'm just so sad and frustrated. |
Anonymous
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I suggest writing a letter withdrawing from the school (submit before June 1 as other posters suggest) and see how they respond. In the meantime you can start looking for a lawyer, but in the end it may not be necessary to hire one. It's possible that they won't make a big deal out of this, but if they do then you can raise all of the issues you've had with them. They may decide that it would be easier to let things go in light of the problems the school could potentially face later.
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Anonymous
Definitely not a school with policies in line with most of the area private schools, which is a little peculiar as they all tend to follow very similar policies. I've never heard of one starting monthly tuition in September. My kids were at schools that required the 10 month plan to start in April or May so that it wasn't too far out of line with people paying in lump sum or in 2 payments. I think you probably want to inform the school, in writing as quickly as possible, of your intent to withdraw from the school, provide the detailed reasons for the withdrawal if they relate to the school not meeting safety policies - are those in violation of the rules in the Parent Handbook for example?. See where it goes from there. |