what is really owed? - Page 2

[Rani]

Did you get anything in writing? if not you may be screwed. But I don't think you owe anything else. You told them UPFRONT you could not pay the full tuition and contributed what you could.  I would let them sue IF you can get proof of the arrangement.

[ilovemygirl]

You mentioned they started bringing up having to pay about two months prior to end of term. What happened then? Did you continue to send your child for those last two months?

I don't mean to give you a hard time but I'm really confused by this situation. I truly don't understand how a school could allow a child to attend for a week without payment much less a year. Do you have friends there or was this through some type of grant program? Does everyone else pay full tuition or is it mostly a cooperative? Maybe I'm an awful person but I certainly wouldn't work for a day without pay regardless of the person's circumstances. 

I understand that you probably just wanted to give your child a chance at something you can't afford. I have been there way too many times myself. I'm sure you were well intentioned and they probably were too but I just don't see how this could have worked out well for either party in the end. It's pretty hard hard to give OR get something for nothing without someone feeling wronged. 

[lilyka]

Originally Posted by Rani 

Did you get anything in writing? if not you may be screwed. But I don't think you owe anything else. You told them UPFRONT you could not pay the full tuition and contributed what you could.  I would let them sue IF you can get proof of the arrangement.

I don;t mean to be harsh to Rani but this is terrible advice.  Going to court is risky.  If you win you win.  If you don't you will be responsible for the tuition you owe perhaps immediately, but also could be responsible for court cost and they may assign you interest.  All which is totally reasonable. I  would do everything you can to keep this out of court.

[Rani]

Its a life lesson for both the place and the OP.  If they didn't get it in writing that she would pay, and let her child stay, its their bad. sorry but without a contract I don't see how they have any recourse.

[freestylemama]

Originally Posted by Rani 

Its a life lesson for both the place and the OP.  If they didn't get it in writing that she would pay, and let her child stay, its their bad. sorry but without a contract I don't see how they have any recourse.

They might not have recourse, but the OP asked for advice and was interested in doing the right thing from an ethical and moral perspective.  The right thing is for her to contact the school and discuss openly how she can repay her debt.

[Imakcerka]

Ok, I'm inclined to see this a little differently. 

The work trade they stated you would be able to do in order to cover a portion of your childs tuition did not turn up.

You did have some involvement

You did contribute financially... even a little bit

There was no contract signed

Did they specify what each work trade opportunity would equate to in tuition?

If not and it was all verbal, they really cannot expect much more from you.  How can they prove what you did do was not enough if work trade or volunteering was not given a value?

Now thats only if there was no value involved. 

You can either call them and ask them to send you a dated copy of their work trade equivelencies and any and all paper work you may have signed and try to figure it out yourself or you can sit down with an administrator and have them explain what it is.

I've had a similiar situation but it got worked out before the middle of the year.  Our trade did not have a specific value.  One mom could come in and file for a few hours, and another could mop the whole building top to bottom and wash windows which took all day.  It was a weekly thing.  It was unfair obviously and they had equal values.  We certainly got that worked out right away. 

I would do the right thing and work it out with them.  We can tell you what we think all day but you've got figure this out with the school.

[JudiAU]

I think you owe the balance. You enrolled your daughter with a known expense and didn't do any work that would reduce that known expense. She attended and now they want to be paid. I think you should pay them.

If you needed to pay them in another way it was up to you to actively arrange that work. It sounds like you avoided the issue by not dealing with it  (i.e. actively soliciting work, removing your daughter from the program when the work didn't come through) for whatever reason