Help, end of school year but still big school problems

[Lisa1970]

My 2 high schoolers are in a rotten charter school. I posted about it at the beginning of the year. Nothing has gotten better and it has been decided 100% that they will not be there next year. The academics are the main problem. Supposedly, the school actually did order textbooks, but here it is, end of March and those books are still not in. The academics are seriously behind. Everyone seems to be on a remedial track, even though none of the courses are listed this and not everyone needs a remedial track. For example, algebra 2 (which both my children are in) lasts two years. I don't think even the regular public schools do that. 

The teachers will still assign assignments, but they will be pages out of a textbook that they ran off, without running off the explanations on how to do them. So, the students are expected to google the problems to learn how to do them and solve the problems. No one we know is staying at the school next year. Everyone is pretty unhappy. At least, of the people we know.

My daughter is begging to switch back to the private school she went to last year for the remainder of the year. The learning there is individualized so they will just start the kids at where they need to be. Fine. There are 10.5 weeks left at the charter school (which is a public school) and really all public schools. But there are 8.5 weeks left at the private school. I stopped by and visited the school today and spoke with the principal who would be thrilled to have us back. My daughter is currently earning straight high A's. My son is flunking 2 classes and getting a 70 in one of them. Below a 70 is flunking. The classes he is flunking are the ones without textbooks. 

But the problem is, dh might be losing his job soon. We have plenty of money saved up to last several months before we run out of savings. I feel like we have always been broke and never do anything for ourselves. Literally, I wear yuckly ole looking clothes because I just do not spend money on myself. Both of the teens do fencing several times a week. My daughter has private viola lessons and is in an orchestra. Now she wants a new viola. 

I don't know if I am just being selfish, but I just do not want to pour thousands of dollars in to switching to a private school for the last 2 months of the school year. It will be $2000. My daughter is begging to. I cannot help but feel that just because we have the money in savings does not mean that money is meant to be spent. We are finally getting ahead financially. DH was told yesterday that his position at work is being dissolved and he is not sure if he can get in to a different position. So whether or not he will have a job in a month is at question. We have enough money saved to last 6 months if dh is laid off. If we really are tight with money and nothing happens over the next year, we could potentially stretch it a year. That is if no one gets a cavity or needs shoes and we are tight on the toilet paper kind of tight on money. What do you think? Would you just tell her it is 2 months of her life, stick it out? She is not being bullied so it is nothing like that. (she had been bullied and sexually harassed and stalked and threatened at the regular public school so we did have to pull her out then).

Thanks in advance for your help!

[LynnS6]

Can you homeschool her for the next two months? Compromise that wins all around? I wouldn't make her stay there in the awful charter school if homeschooling (even if you didn't do that much) was an option. But if she's a high schooler, I think she's old enough to know that those $2000 are better saved up until you know more about your dh's job.

[ElliesMomma]

cut the fencing and the viola lessons and no new viola -- would that help pay for the private school? ask your children for ideas on how to afford it. no, don't dip into your savings -- which keeps food on the plates and a roof over your head when your DH loses his job. 

[karne]

I don't think that you are being selfish, I think you're being very practical.  Your family will benefit more from the security of your savings, than your dd going to the private school for 2 months.  Can she be hs'd for the remainder of the year if it's that bad?

[meemee]

mama have a family meeting. lay your cards on the table honestly. and ask your children for their opinion. does ur dd have a clue what is going on in your lives? i would hate it if my family sacrificed so much to send me to school.

i can understand her reason to want the private and get out of the public school. you havent said anything about your son? does he want to change too. i mean i find it interesting that your dd is being vociferous about this when its your son that's failing. 

how about independent study? it seems like thats what they ARE doing right now.

[mattemma04]

I would not want to pay the 2k when dh might lose the job. I would tell the kids the issue and that unless they can pay for it then it would be best to wait and see how things go for next year. Home and food come first.

I would probalby pull the kids if they did not want to finish their time at the charter.

[ollyoxenfree]

I agree with the suggestion to have an honest discussion, but I'd do it privately with your dd before having a family meeting, if her other siblings are likely to gang up on her. Money for her private school means less money for them, so they may give her some grief. Once she understands your situation, she may agree to find a different solution other than private school. 

If there is no attendance requirement at the current charter school, I might keep them enrolled and have them turn in assignments and tests, but otherwise let them homeschool. They will finish out the school year and receive their completed grade report which could be useful, depending on their future plans (college applications, apprenticeship programs, etc.). If that isn't possible, then pulling them for homeschooling sounds reasonable. 10 weeks can seem like an eternity if you are miserable. When I was in my 20's, I did a very unhappy 10-week internship and I barely managed to hang in to complete it. If I was in my teens, I'm not sure how I would have handled it. I would really try to find some other solution, if at all possible, but the private school doesn't sound practical right now, given your situation. 

[Lisa1970]

The problem with just going to home schooling is no high school here would even consider taking home school credits if they tried to go someplace next year. It would mean just losing everything they worked for this semester and having to start as if they are half way through this school year..next school year. I would have to use at least some sort of distance learning classes, which would still mean backing up and starting at the beginning of the semester, and paying for the costs there too.

[One_Girl]

Originally Posted by Lisa1970 

The problem with just going to home schooling is no high school here would even consider taking home school credits if they tried to go someplace next year. It would mean just losing everything they worked for this semester and having to start as if they are half way through this school year..next school year. I would have to use at least some sort of distance learning classes, which would still mean backing up and starting at the beginning of the semester, and paying for the costs there too.

There are some accredited online high schools that your children could do from home.  Some states offer them as a public school option and some don't.  If you are in a state that doesn't offer it as a public school options some of the programs can be done as a private school option.

[Lisa1970]

That is what they are doing for next year. At least, that is the current plan. It is not 100% set in stone. But they are definitely not going back to this charter school next year. The online schools, you cannot start mid year like this. K12 is supposed to open their enrollment this week, so I was going to see if I could get them in to that. If not that, then we were going to do Keystone National High School, which is also an online program.
 

Originally Posted by One_Girl 

There are some accredited online high schools that your children could do from home.  Some states offer them as a public school option and some don't.  If you are in a state that doesn't offer it as a public school options some of the programs can be done as a private school option.