Independent school fees and Coronavirus

Our private school has buried its head in the sand and has shifted payment dates back 2 weeks- no idea how that fundamentally changes anything. They must be under immense pressure right now, and would be crazy to think parents will not struggle to pay now or in the future given that so many jobs are under pressure.
The longer term worry we have is that this situation Will continue on an off with lockdown happening, esp during the winter, and so the interruption to education will be huge, regardless of how much online learning is available, and it’s just seems like a massive waste of money to invest in private education.

We had a letter today to say that fees would be charged as usual (minus lunch charge)

We are continuing to teach all year groups, 9-13 online. The participation from students has been really positive because I think they are missing the day to day interaction with friends etc. I’m really impressed by how engaged they have all been. We have live lessons and some independent work. Prep is still being set and all worked marked. Senior staff are dropping in on lessons to check they are being delivered. Year 11 and 13 need to keep attending lessons because this is what would be happening if exams hadn’t been cancelled. We are not yet sure of how exams will be assessed so any data will be useful.
I really don’t know what will happen regarding fees, particularly boarders? I guess some parents will pay without hesitation, but some will genuinely really struggle. I don’t know what the answer is.
Uni students in a similar boat - my child thinks they should pay their accommodation etc. I just don’t know how things will pan out long term.
I’m doing my utmost to deliver really good lessons because it’s my job, I care about my students and it’s absolutely the right thing to do for our young people.

flourandeggs, when the PAYE relief was announced last week, it stayed ALL business, including charities.

Hi, does it make a difference to the financial support the schools will get if they are charities. Most (all?) do not pay business rates so therefore not really a business? Any legal peeps out there know if that makes a difference?

It’s under discussion in parliament and they are considering the impact as for a business

www.isc.co.uk/sector-info/coronavirus-information-for-schools/

I agree with the article, and like onsaid above, it has to be a two way thing. Parents are happy to support schools and viceversa, but gestures of goodwill have to be a two way thing otherwise they lead to resentment. Goodwill can be expressed in many ways.

Newspaper article attached

I am wondering if they might get support from the government to pay their staff actually, like other businesses whose revenue has been interrupted.

There was a small article in a newspaper, I will see if I can find it

If you can afford to pay then you should. The school will go bankrupt and fold otherwise so you won't have a school to go back to once this is all over.

Schools will be stretched to breaking point already by those who actually suddenly cannot pay due to loss of business etc without people deciding they just don't fancy it because they are not getting the full service.

Plus I would say we have been working about 3 times as hard over the last three weeks to set up very high standard remote schooling. I'm exhausted already!

I don't resent paying the fees at all, because like the others say, salaries still need to be paid. In the long run though, a gesture of good will is always remembered in both sides. A lot of parents will be struggling to keep their profession working from home, whilst looking after children who will get bored and need a lot of support all day... While paying for a service they are not really getting.

I would be aggrieved if the school did not make a gesture of goodwill by waving even a small part of the fees in recognition of the fact that it isn't providing a full service. Which it isn't!

And my cleaner didn't ask to be paid. I offered as I know she needs to money to live.

Did you read the last paragraph
Clearly if you don't have a job then this doesn't apply
If you do I think you should continue to pay the people you usually pay for stuff, it's just basic decency in a situation like this.

CountessDracula, I'm self-employed and unable.to do my job at the moment, but there's no way my clients are still paying me, not would I dream of asking them to.
Plus, there's a bit difference between a few quid a week to retain your cleaner, and several thousand pounds. Presumably, your cleaner hasn't tried to justify her pay by saying that she's still giving you the same service she was before the crisis?

@After8itsgrownuptime most insurers are refusing to pay out, a lot aren’t even answering phones at the moment.

I'm more concerned about what will happen once the dust has settled. Our school is very small and I don’t really like the others in our area. We could move closer to where I work but the schools around there aren’t as good either. State schools aren’t even an option. Pretty much all of the families at the school are either new money or professionals and I doubt they’d all be able to weather an economic crisis (I’m not sure that we could either for that matter). I’m not sure what we’d do if the school was forced to close.

I wouldn't dream of not paying the fees, our school have pulled out all the stops and are working day and night to ensure that education can continue. If I stop paying, then the staff don't get paid and ultimately there will be no school left to go back to. In the same way as I am still paying my cleaner even though she can't come. She has to live!

Clearly if you lose your job and circumstances changes dramatically then that's another matter, but my feeling is my life is continuing as normal from a financial perspective, so why would I not continue to pay others?

But does the insurance cover pandemic? We had annual travel insurance but pandemic was excluded so we can’t reclaim either our UK trip we were due to be on now or our holiday to the EU in May

I personally know that my child’s boarding school has insurance on this sort of thing so I guess we will be getting a refund

Our prep is thinking over what they are going to do regarding fees. I don’t expect to pay full day fees when my children are only doing 8.45-12pm every day and while I except that we are in a unique set of circumstances, I wouldn’t charge a client (I’m
Freelance) an on site full day rate if I was working remotely for a half day and I don’t expect the school to either. I expect them, as a business to have taken out the adequate insurance or business protection to cover this.
I have lots of friends who are teachers and yes, they are working very hard, but so are the parents that are working full time and trying to juggle looking after our kids/childcare

DDs school are doing live lessons online so I’m happy to keep paying
Not planning on paying for school dinners though, which are listed as a separate item on the invoice

Dog? Dp that was

My dog wants us to think about taking my dds out of private school after this - they will have had a big break anyway

I think there will be a lot of people suddenly looking for state school places, which won't be available in the most desirable schools, if fees remain unpaid. Also, there won't be any (good) independent schools who will touch families with unpaid fees from another school - they always check. I'm waiting for our last term's fees for DC1 and will be reluctantly paying.

Someone above made a very valid point that we are customers of a school, to whom we pay for the provision of services. Parents do not collectively employ a group of teachers and hire a school building bearing all costs for its operation and maintenance. I have paid for my child to attend the school out of house, to be educated, supported and looked after 8 till 4. That includes art, games, PE, DT, drama, lab work and other subjects which require physical presence of both the child and the tutor. So if all of this is not provided, then I should not be paying for it.

I am very happy to pay for the online learning which is provided instead. So let the schools cost that fairly and bill me for that.