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

[Anonymous]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/education/parents-owe-full-tuition-after-withdrawing-children-from-private-schools.html?pagewanted=all

[Anonymous]

"In three recent cases, the Connecticut Superior Court handed down rulings that defined the nature of private-independent school enrollment contracts and upheld the school’s right to collect unpaid tuition. (The three Connecticut Superior Court cases were Hope Academy v. Gerald Friel, 2004 WL 1888909; Hope Academy v. Walz, 2004 WL 944550; and Hope Academy of Milford, Inc. v. Fortier, 2004 WL 94480.)"

http://isminc.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=952:the-true-implications-of-a-breach-of-contract-lawsuit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:asshole lawyers strike again, your toddler is crying for hours a day and hates the school but you signed the contract.

Yes, I agree, we should just do away with the whole notion of contracts because really, only the lawyers benefit. That way, if another set of parents came along the day before school was set to start and offered the school double the tuition to take another family's slot, the preschool could tell the original parents, 'sorry, this is what is best for us so your kid is out and the new kid is in, unless of course you want to outbid them.' Yeah, contracts are soooo terrible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cases like this have been litigated before and the parents were ordered to pay the tuition even when the school filled the spot from a waitlist. You have a legal obligation to pay since you signed the contract- there is no way around it unless the school decided to negotiate with you.

Says you.

Says me and the courts of Maryland, Connecticut, New York and I'm sure most other states. BTW, if the school decides to sue, you'd probably spend more than $7000 defending yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not to go against the current with all the goody two-shoes lawyers on here, and sure you signed a contract, but my vote is f-'em, OP. The moral high ground is you give up your deposit, don't pay the tuition, if the school is really in such high demand and the other schools are full, somebody else will take the spot and they won't bother coming after you. You are going to need that money for the baby, they will find another student. Anybody who says otherwise is not being very humanistic about the whole thing and is probably making their money denying people health care or refusing to pay business insurance claims.
Make sure there's no way they can take it out of a credit card you gave them or anything.

The moral high ground is that you only honor valid contracts when it suits you? Who knew?

Does your husband feel that way about your marriage vows - which, at the end of the day, is just a civil contract?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

This is exactly right. I will add that before the loss is mitigated, all 16 spots must be filled, not just the one you vacate. However, if you personally find a replacement student, you might e able to argue that you have fulfilled your obligation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

There are tons of companies that buy bad debt. And, OP should read her contract because many require you to pay court costs and interest, which can add thousands to your original obligation.

[Anonymous]

Op here - I'm gonna miss DCUM in CT ! I think I will go ahead and pay the school and send dc there. It's only 3hrs 4days a week and i don't believe her well-being s in danger. I don't want bad credit and I don't want ths to cost more than the tuition. I don't believe the director was truthful with me but I'm hoping the teachers and at least the 9other 4yos will be forthright !
Even though I read the contract I honestly thought if I changed my mind months before school starts there would be another person on the wait list to take the slot and I would not be obligated for the full tuition.... Lesson learned !

[Anonymous]

OP, I would do a lot more research on the school. Are you able to visit and form your own opinions rather than go crazy over "some negative feedback". If I believed all the negative feedback on DCUM, I would never leave my house..probably would have never had kids! Form your own opinions and talk to the school about concerns. Leave after a year if it doesn't work out (barring safety concerns)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I would do a lot more research on the school. Are you able to visit and form your own opinions rather than go crazy over "some negative feedback". If I believed all the negative feedback on DCUM, I would never leave my house..probably would have never had kids! Form your own opinions and talk to the school about concerns. Leave after a year if it doesn't work out (barring safety concerns)

This is true. It might not be as bad as you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here - I'm gonna miss DCUM in CT ! I think I will go ahead and pay the school and send dc there. It's only 3hrs 4days a week and i don't believe her well-being s in danger. I don't want bad credit and I don't want ths to cost more than the tuition. I don't believe the director was truthful with me but I'm hoping the teachers and at least the 9other 4yos will be forthright !
Even though I read the contract I honestly thought if I changed my mind months before school starts there would be another person on the wait list to take the slot and I would not be obligated for the full tuition.... Lesson learned !

This is great! If they still have openings, maybe they'll change your slot to AM?

[Anonymous]

sorry to steal your thunder OP, but I'm in a similar scenario, I'm pulling my child out of her preschool due to excessive aggressive behavior at the school, and it's affecting her personality. She has been pushed, punched and pinched several times in the last few months, and it's too much. I'm pulling her and putting her into a different school, and very curious if they can hold us accountable for the annual tuition. UGH.

[Anonymous]

You are not likely to win this,as maybe they are part time and you have not seen the kids. That is secondary.
If you signed on the dotted line, you need to keep to it.If all parents do this , how can they run the school ?
that is the reason schools have CONTRACTS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: You are not likely to win this,as maybe they are part time and you have not seen the kids. That is secondary.
If you signed on the dotted line, you need to keep to it.If all parents do this , how can they run the school ?
that is the reason schools have CONTRACTS.

Plenty of well regarded schools run just fine without such a ridiculous contract! To me it says the school doesn't think it could fill the spot. I would never sign such a thing. Our school is 30 days, and the director told me she'd even waive that if my daughter was unhappy.

[Anonymous]

to me it sounds like a money-hungry school that isn't confident it can fill spots. a good school with a solid reputation doesn't need such a contract. if a child isn't a fit, how is this looking out for the child's best interests, which should be the school's MAIN goal. not to mention, this is one of the most transient areas in the country. any school with this type of contract has clear intentions to benefit from it. sorry OP, not that this helps, but just my two cents.