Spot on Mummo

The schools have high fixed costs in terms of teacher's salaries and the teachers are still employed and teaching remotely (plus they spent most of their Easter holiday learning how to teach online). Other than lunch, what else are the school's saving by being physically closed?

This is a short term issue, which no one could have foreseen so please do not expect big discounts or withhold fees. Its unrealistic.  If you are having a problem with paying, contact the school directly.

 

@lawyer78 - you're stating that the school is categorically in breach of contract - have you even read the contract with the relevant school? Most (including both of ours) have an incredibly light touch obligation to provide "reasonable education" which as I'm sure you're well aware is not a particularly onerous target to meet. The reduction in fees is not an acknowledgement of breach of contract, unless the school you're talking about has been moronic in its communications. Most are very clearly specifying that they are offering ex gratia reductions to acknowledge the reduction in expenses through mothballing facilities / lunch provision etc. I may be confusing you with Lawyer1 in some of these posts but I do laugh at lawyers being quite so bombastic without any of the relevant facts.

I am so impressed by the volume and preparation of work the teachers have done.  I know many have been working massive days to prepare for the term ahead.  It's up to us to support them as best we can.  Lets see where we are at half term rather than make knee jerk reactions now.

@nannyquestion
Well said

Runningmummy I don’t think the schools are being “run to ground” because they are asked to offer a discount on one term’s fees. Many of these schools are profitable enterprises owned by wealthy individuals and companies - struggling to understand why their profits must be protected at all costs at the “usual” levels - we are all taking a hit! I suspect they will make up the difference in the coming years anyway

Cleaners and small enterprises are in a completely different category

Gingerfizz
I am a solicitor with 20 years experience and I specialise in commercial contracts. What you think and what the law actually says are two different things. You can check with a lawyer that's not "anonymous" but I guess you don't want to pay for the advice. Enough said.

Everyone on here is anonymous "Gingerfizz" lol.

 Accepting a reduced fee for this term doesn’t mean that there has been a breach of contract at all.....it’s obviously mutually beneficial (to parents and the school) that the school continues to provide an education to its students and it has taken the view that it will accept a reduced fee for a reduced or changed service. It may well be the case that under the terms of its contract it can offer a reduced service.....it could also be the case that current circumstances relieve it of its obligation to provide any service either by force majeure or frustration or by express provision in the contract. If the school took the view that the contract was frustrated then they would be under no obligation to provide any service whatsoever. Most schools have a provision which would allow them where, for example, a building burns down, to suspend teaching for a period and that doesn’t necessarily imply  a breach of contract.  The fact is, different schools have different terms and provisions in their contracts.  Anyone who is concerned about the level of fees being charged or the level of service being provided by their school would need to read the entire contract and take appropriate legal advice from someone who is actually suitably qualified (not someone who says that they are a lawyer anonymously on social media) in order to definitively say that there was a breach of contract. 

If you have managed to negotiate a reduction in fees that you and other parents are happy with, then that’s great...but that’s not an acceptance by the school that the contract has been breached....and now I am going to socially distance myself from this thread as I have said all that I need to and have made my point...bye.

Gingerfizz
When a school offers a reduction in fees then it has accepted that it's in breach of contract. What remains is whether the school is offering a fair and reasonable discount. As parents we are well within our rights to ask schools for a breakdown of services and a justification of the fees they're charging.

@runningmummy
You've completely missed the point. When a private school is owned by a large corporation, who is only bothered about profits why on earth should I pay for a service that is not what I signed up for? This school in particular has no chance of going under at all so please get your facts right before telling people to pay their bills. If you read my post properly you might've realised this point.

If it was a small independent, I wouldn't take this stance but when the school has been do rude and aggressive in its responses to parents and refuses to justify the pathetic discount it has offered to parents, we are well within our rights to pursue this further.

If you don't know the facts, keep your opinions to yourself.

My daughter still has to pay a full terms university fees (as well as rent for accommodation that she isn’t living in) even though all of her lectures will now take place online and the number of contact hours with her lecturers has been greatly reduced.  We hope that the government will address this, particularly as some of her lecturers were on strike twice in 2019 and again earlier this year so the education “service” provided has been patchy, at best. 

It’s good to hear that so many local private schools have agreed to reduce their fees and that parents have been able to negotiate a reduction in fees because the schools are now required to change the way their teaching service is delivered.  Despite what some others have said above, it’s not possible to definitively say that there has been a breach of contract because a school’s services have been reduced or there has been a change in the way the teaching service is being provided. School's have different and varying contract terms (none of which have been posted on this thread) and I doubt that any school’s contract defines its service scope or performance standards in such a way that anyone could successfully make a claim for breach of contract in the current circumstances.

Yes but I suspect you might be underestimating the number of parents that have had income drops. Anyway, it would appear the schools agree anyway as they are now all passing on discounts as yes their costs have been reduced from normal....

No. I am not missing g the point t . It's all quite clear. If parents have been made redundant/substantial income drop then perhaps there is a case for bursaries but for most parents who are still working they should pay the fees. I concede that perhaps there could be a small discount if the school genuinely is making a profit that is more than they usually would.

Running mummy I think you might be missing the point that it’s not just the odd person but an enormous amount of people have gone from being comfortably able to afford school fees to seeing their income completely disappear overnight. No-one could have foreseen that and a huge majority at private can only just afford it and sacrifice a huge amount in order to afford it. All businesses are having to make sacrifices and if everyone just dropped out of private school because they suddenly are unable to afford it then the school goes bust anyway.....so it’s in everyone’s interest to cut costs....

You don't need to be a lawyer to realise they are in breach of contract. That is not the point. I'm am saddened and also disgusted that people would want to drive businesses such as schools into the ground when they are in such a difficult situation that they have not caused. We are all in this together. Just pay the bloody fees and pay your cleaner unless you absolutely financially cannot and if that is the case then yes you should review whether to take up these services. This virus clearly highlights that there are two sorts of people in this world. Unbelievable.

I'm a lawyer and I can tell you that the school is in breach of contract. It's services have been reduced considerably and completely different to what you signed up for. The fact that it's charging you full fees is pretty awful.

We are currently fighting against school fees too. As parents, we collectively came together and wrote to the school. We managed to go from 15% to 50% for kindergarten, 35% for reception and 25% for the next two years. We are still lobbying for the rest of the years.

As far as I'm concerned, our school is owned by a big corporate who couldn't care less about parents and pupils. If it was a small independent, you could be sympathetic but a school that's part of a huge corporation with wealthy investors, there's no excuse.