Would you pay for this?

[Lockerlocker]

Received a phone call from DS16s school last week to say him and another child had been involved in an incident where they had both kicked a locker, they have viewed the CCTV to confirm it was them. He explained DS would be excluded and we would be billed for the locker as they had damaged it. As there was two boys involved they bill would be halved. Fair enough. Makes sense we are billed for the locker.

Friday, I receive an email followed by the letter in the post yesterday to say that the single locker can’t be replaced so we have to pay for the column of lockers, adding that the lockers are on show in the corridor and it ruins the atheistic and the locker is now not functional. So I’m still sort of in agreement. The cost of the four lockers is £156.06 so our bill is £79.03.

Then I open the photo they have sent me (picture 1), the bottom locker is already clearly without a door (there is no suggestion that my DS was involved in this). I show my DS the photo, he states that it doesn’t look like the picture at all and that the girl is still using the locker. He said several of lockers have dents in and they have not been replaced. He has then sent me photos of the block showing the dinted lockers and the locker now.

I think I should only be charged for the broken locker and at a push 3 out of 4 lockers.

Not to drip feed, not sure it’s relevant, it’s an alternate provision. DS has an ASD & ADHD diagnosis. However I don’t believe he was having a melt down at the time of the incident.

You might have a point OP, though I would be so embarrassed about my son’s behaviour that I would just quietly pay up.

I think that this would be me also.

Was it just a random locker that he kicked?

Hopefully no element of bully towards the girl whose locker it is/was.

I thought that lockers in schools were a pretty rare thing now.

Shame that they're not appreciated when they do have them!

Your son needs to understand if he purposely damages the property of others the consequences are he ends up with a bill for damage. You should pay his half and take it out of his allowance or pocket money until he repays the debt. My adult son has ADHD and knows he is impetuous but also knows if he damages others property he pays to replace.

No they have confirmed it was a random locker and they are sure there is no link to the girl in either a bullying form or her upsetting my DS. I asked this straight away when they called to tell me what had happened.

Yes I completely agreed until I saw the photo of the already damaged one.

You can also see from photo 2 that they have bent the door back into place and the locked has continued to be used by the girl. This however isn’t the point, I get that.

@Lockerlocker what does the other parent think? Have you spoken to them?

I spoke to them today and she feels the same as me, she was totally expecting to pay for the lockers but after seeing the photos she feels we are being take advantage of.

Surely the compromise is the school pay 25% for the already broken locker, and you and the other parent split the other 75%, so 37.5% each. As there was nothing wrong with those 3 and they didn't need to be replaced until the boys vandalised the girl's locker. This would amount to £58.52 each rather than £79. Having said that, I'm not sure it's worth quibbling over £20. I'd be mortified if my DS had done this.

Well I guess that's the price you pay for having sons that deliberately damage property.

The whole unit needs replacing for the sake of the door that they decided to kick.

He’s not. They can only be replaced in a full bank. If they’d fixed the one at the bottom last week he’d still be paying for the full bank, because he’d have damaged it since. Schools have no cash; is it fair that yobbish behaviour means there’s less to spend on actual education?

And to the poster who said they wouldn’t pay and the school should be insured, can you imagine the excess, never mind the premium, for accidental (and this wasn’t an accident) damage to school premises?

I spoke to them today and she feels the same as me, she was totally expecting to pay for the lockers but after seeing the photos she feels we are being take advantage of.

Maybe it'll make your sons think twice about deliberately damaging property then. This isn't harsh treatment after an accident. They wilfully kicked in a girl's locker for Christ knows why what reason. Make the sons pay so they learn properly about consequences. They're 16 not 10.

They hadn’t fixed the one at the bottom last week, though. So he didn’t damage a four locker bank. If he had damaged a new, fully working locker bank then expecting him to replace it with a new fully working locker bank would be more reasonable (though probably not what a court would rule if it they were asked). He didn’t. So it really isn’t.

Agree with you re: the ridiculous insurance comments, though.

Surely the compromise is the school pay 25% for the already broken locker, and you and the other parent split the other 75%, so 37.5% each. As there was nothing wrong with those 3 and they didn't need to be replaced until the boys vandalised the girl's locker. This would amount to £58.52 each rather than £79. Having said that, I'm not sure it's worth quibbling over £20. I'd be mortified if my DS had done this.

Go with this if you want to look petty