Private school charging us full-year tuition after we transferred our son… is that allowed?

Hey all, I’m hoping for some advice on a tricky situation. Our two kids were in a private school that goes up to kindergarten. When our daughter moved to another school for first grade, we decided to also transfer our younger son after a few weeks.

Now, the private school is telling us we have to pay the full-year tuition for our son, even though he only attended for three weeks. We didn’t sign any contract agreeing to this, and the school didn’t send us any emails or paperwork about payment policies. They’re saying it’s just on their website under their policies. Does anyone know if they can legally charge us for the entire year without a signed contract?

That sounds a bit unfair if you weren’t given a contract or told directly. If it’s just on the website, I don’t think that counts as a formal agreement.

Afton said:
That sounds a bit unfair if you weren’t given a contract or told directly. If it’s just on the website, I don’t think that counts as a formal agreement.

Exactly what I was thinking! I was surprised they didn’t have us sign anything, and now they’re saying it’s our responsibility to know the policy.

@Ash
Yeah, unless they gave you paperwork or a contract, it’s kind of on them to make that clear.

I’d check any emails or written communication you have from them. If they never actually sent you the policy directly, you could make a strong case that you weren’t aware of it.

Keats said:
I’d check any emails or written communication you have from them. If they never actually sent you the policy directly, you could make a strong case that you weren’t aware of it.

Good idea! I’ll dig through my emails to see if they ever sent anything specific. So far, it seems like everything was only on their website.

@Ash
That’s a good move. If they didn’t notify you directly, it’s hard to see how they could expect you to know about it.

Generally, for something like this to hold up, there needs to be some form of contract. I doubt a website policy alone would be enough unless they made you sign something.

Clausecrafter said:
Generally, for something like this to hold up, there needs to be some form of contract. I doubt a website policy alone would be enough unless they made you sign something.

That’s what I was thinking too. I haven’t seen anything I signed that says we’re on the hook for the full year.

@Ash
In that case, I’d push back and tell them you didn’t agree to that policy!

If they’re going to make you pay for a full year, there really should have been something in writing. You might want to consult a lawyer if they keep pushing it.

Tristan said:
If they’re going to make you pay for a full year, there really should have been something in writing. You might want to consult a lawyer if they keep pushing it.

Good suggestion. If they insist, I may have to go that route just to get some backup.

@Ash
It might be worth it to get a clear answer on what they can actually enforce.

Definitely seems strange for them to expect you to pay a full year if there’s no signed contract. I’d think they’d have to be a lot clearer about those terms before assuming you agreed.

Oli said:
Definitely seems strange for them to expect you to pay a full year if there’s no signed contract. I’d think they’d have to be a lot clearer about those terms before assuming you agreed.

Right? We had no idea this would be an issue, so I’m definitely going to talk to them again.

@Ash
Good call. Hopefully, they’ll understand and be flexible about it.