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Anonymous
| Does anyone have any experience with being sued by a private school for an entire year's tuition after signing an enrollment contract and then choosing not to send the child to the school? Thanks! |
Anonymous
|
No personal experience but I do know of a case. The school won the full amount, even though they (arguably) filled the seat with someone else. The decision was affirmed by the MD Court of Appeals (the highest court in MD). It's been discussed here before.
http://www.aisgw.org/data/files/News/HomepageNews/Opinion_Barrie_School_v._Patch_2007.pdf |
Anonymous
| If you signed a contract, you are obligated to fulfill the terms of the contract. |
Anonymous
| Our school enforces the contracts. Keep in mind that normally you have until June or July before you are obligated for the full tuition. |
Anonymous
| Not to digress, but this is why I would never stay on a waitlist past the deadline of the school in which I was enrolling. There is no school that, to me, is worth paying two tuitions for a year. |
Anonymous
| I think there are many legal defenses to contract formation. If you cannot pay because of impossibility ie you lost your job, that is one thing. If you simply found a better school, that is another matter. On that same line, everyone has a duty to mitigate damages. If they filled the slot with another kid, they just cannot reap a windfal with your cash. Now, if you contracted for this type of arrangement, then you are stuck. |
Anonymous
Granted I took my contacts class over 13 years ago, but loosing your job does not make it "impossibe" to perform on a contract. You correctly stated the "common law" duty to mitigate damages, but in practice this may vary state by state (based on court precedents) or contract by contract. Also, any private school with a half decent lawyer will know how to draft a contract to avoid the duty to mitigate. My guess is the payment of the full tuituion is drafted as "liquidated damages" or something similar. |
Anonymous
| If you think you might need to pull out of the contract, make sure you get the contract insurance. It's not very expensive, and it makes it miles easier to pull out! |
Anonymous
| Read the insurance terms carefully. I think some require that the student attend school for at least 2 weeks to qualify. I haven't looked at the details because we don't opt for the insurance anymore, but i recall a family at our school attending for the 1st 2 weeks of the year just to qualify. |
Anonymous
|
Yes, a family attended Capitol Hill Day for two weeks and then sent the child to a NW DCPS.
Families get back 60 percent, not the full amount. |