Boarding schools, fees, notice periods and coronavirus.

[Effzeh]

Does anyone have any insight into how this is likely to work?

Assuming the school is closed for the whole of the summer term, can they still demand fees? Or if I want to keep my y11 child living at home and just bring them into school for exams (assuming exams go ahead), can they insist on us paying the boarding fee anyway?

I know nobody knows how this is all going to pan out, but wondered if anyone had any idea what might happen in these very exceptional circumstances.

@CamillaBeauchamp
My son's school has millions of reserves and lots of expensive facilities. it's not going bust.

Following!! My son is at a day prep and have been wondering about fees. It seems unfair to make us pay full fees for summer term if they are only doing distance learning. There won’t be any food/heating costs etc but agree that staff wages need to be paid.

My son's school has millions of reserves and lots of expensive facilities. it's not going bust.

Ours definitely doesn’t have big reserves, but regardless, parents are not going to want to pay for a service they’re not receiving, particularly since lots of parents’ incomes are going to take a hit too. Schools are service providers, not charities (well obviously technically some are charities, but ykwim).

Will be interesting to see how the small print gets interpreted in these unprecedented circumstances.

@shootsandleaves your school is in a minority - I work in finance and have looked at a lot of balance sheets of prospective schools. A lot are not in a great position

I work in a private school, the business interruption insurance cover is small, if parents don't pay summer term fees most private school won't be running by Sept as all the staff will have lost their jobs.

@ShootsFruitAndLeaves, technically, full fees are due at the start of the academic year, but schools allow parents to spread the cost over three terms. I will be reluctantly paying (cos, it's a rubbish school), even though DC1's exams have been cancelled.

I've just checked and our prep school has a fair amount of reserves however I don't know how that equates in terms of how much they'd actually need to keep going if large swathes drop out as it has large grounds to upkeep.

We are most likely going to have to attempt to hand in rolling notice and ride out the summer term to see how things go as I've just been told I'll most likely lose my job and no idea re dh and don't want to commit to Septembers fees as well really be in a pit by then if it all goes wrong. Just paid a few hundred for some bloody summer uniform probably won't end up using as well!

Our school aren't even really set up for remote learning despite being a big school So I have no idea what will happen now.
I feel awful for the school though. It's a long standing one and would be very sad if it does shut.
In the meantime it looks like I'll be home Ed from now for the foreseeable future after the summer term of whatever the school gives us until everything settles down and maybe I'll get a state school space but we're not even sure if we can continue living in our high rent area either so I have no certainty about anything.

Both DS and DD schools are going online from Monday and asking kids to work to their timetable.
Details of IT side are emerging.
Am expecting usual bill next term albeit without bus fees, though my concern then is whether the bus companies will be able to survive to a time when they restart.

So many of us aren't working due to this crisis or have had work cancelled because we're freelance and we're without any protection whatsoever. There's no salary for us to fall back on. We don't have pensions worth a dime either!
I actually think if students are being taught remotely and marked; getting feedback etc then some fees should be payable as the teachers will be working. I'm not sure about a discount for loss of things like PE and the extras but that should happen if they're doing reduced hours. But I strongly believe that the boarding element of any fees should be refunded.
We are now paying for food, laundry and accommodation and not the school so the starting point has to be the day pupil rate for boarders. That part of the refund has to happen.
On top of that, mine eat like trojans and I can't find the basics on the shelves. All the things the school did while I worked I now have to do. It should be refunded with no quibbling and I will certainly make the case for this.

Yes - I was thinking the same about boarding fees. It may sound trivial, but the cost of feeding two teenage children, whilst having lost both of our incomes is not insignificant. And one child is y13 so really is likely to have nothing to do next term now. He's effectively left school now. I'd like my boarding fee's back!

As a teacher in a boarding school I have been wondering the same!

I think it’s an incredibly hard decision for schools to make. Yes it’s true the children aren’t being fed or playing sports or living in the boarding house, but at the same time the schools do not want to lay off their chefs, grounds staff, matrons or house cleaners, which, along with the teacher salaries, make up the vast majority of the costs associated with these activities. I can completely understand why parents would want a refund though as they are gaining no direct benefit from these people being employed.

From a selfish point of view, I wonder if they will cut teacher salaries, as frankly without games, boarding duties and the rest of the boarding experience the workload will significantly reduce (even though we are planning on following the exact same lesson timetable online during shutdown), though I can’t think of anything more dull than teaching content online without all the usual class dynamics or afternoon sports coaching..

Luckily I am at a school that could probably just about take the financial hit of, say, half fees for the summer term, but if it does go into the next academic year I guess I’d be very worried about redundancies.

@1805 I feel your pain!
@newdad. I'm sure there are rich parents for whom a term's difference between boarding and day fees won't be reclaimed. It's small pennies for some.
For those of us who struggle to pay fees we mustn't be asked to subsidise people's salaries when we are struggling ourselves. It's just not right.The difference between day fees and boarding fees aren't that much for schools worth millions (I've looked and they are) but it will make all the difference to us.
I can't see how they can justify making us pay for work that's not only not being done by staff but is being done by us.And food that's being bought by us etc.
That said, I can see the problem for them. It's just the business's problem not the customers'!
Perhaps they have insurance to cover them.
Perhaps the Government will help out.
I just want my money back.
I already paid when they sent them home after GCSEs but this is something different.

My ds2 prep school just sent the bill for the summer term today!! No reduction or anything, I'm not very impressed by the timing tbh but I guess they are trying to rush everything out before closing!

Maybe a compromise would be to ask parents to donate the difference to the school. There are indeed parents for whom the boarding to day fees difference is pennies so would gladly donate it to the school. For families struggling is a double whammy and the risk is all those struggling parents will hand their notice in.

Schools should have business interruption insurance. There are not many companies offering this so those that there are will go bankrupt unless these costs are underwritten by the government. Which they probably will be.

Most UK boarding schools sell themselves on the value added through community living and extra curricular. The academics are often no better than good comprehensives or grammars. So I think that pupil numbers will plummet. Even the mega rich are not going to fork out £££ for distance learning GCSE and A levels. Particularly as these schools will be scrabbling to produce their own courses which will not be as slick as those already offered by eg Khan Academy.

Overseas parents may well question the wisdom of sending their children to board in another country/continent - at least for the next 2 to 3 years. We are seriously reconsidering - particulrly in the light of trying to get them on flights home this weekend. And we are lucky because they can come home. Chinese students are having to stay with guardians again - and that is putting a big strain on guardianship arrangements which were supposed to cover a few days at the beginning and end of each term.

The big old schools have weathered storms like plague and war before and will do so again but many of the smaller less wealthy foundations will go bankrupt.

Those schools that do survive will be different. Maybe not a bad thing. I think the race to offer the most luxurious facilities to attract uber wealthy overseas children has got completely out of hand in the last decade. Teens do not need ensuite facilities, royal ballet standard dance studios, stables and olympic level sports facilities. Maybe these schools will be more accessible in future to UK families.

be that pupil numbers will plummet as companiesimagine that a substantial proportion of the cost

@tegucigalpa13 , completely agree, many many private schools will go under by end of the year due to overseas pupils stopping & non payment of summer term fees / notice given for Autumn term. Yes business interruption is in place but legal advice is the the Govt may have to force insurance companies to pay out & then the amount isn't substantial. The Chancellor's announcement today will help keep staff on the payroll until the long term view is more clear.

It’s a difficult situation for schools and parents with a high degree of uncertainty. If private schools expect to charge full fees for the summer term its a win-lose situation. Schools win by getting 100% of the fees and parents lose because their children do not receive the same quality of education. Online learning platforms will be essential for the summer term but they can’t replace the experience of school life. Yet, if parents don’t pay their school fees for the summer term some private schools may go out of business or have to make teachers redundant and this would be a lose-lose situation for everyone. Private schools will need to be proactive by proposing a reduction in fees for the summer term due to learning being delivered remotely. Parents are likely to be sympathetic towards helping their school get through this difficult time if the school is being reasonable. Most households are suffering and private schools need to be thinking win-win or else there may be a serious backlash from parents not willing to pay fees.

Our school have announced we are giving a substantial discount on the fees for next term. No word yet on teacher salaries

I hope our school do this. So far they have simply told us that they will be emailing sheets for us to home school with.
I lost my job yesterday and dh job is up in the air. I don't know how to go about telling the school.
In normal circumstances I'd walk into another job but not now & no idea when I'll have another one now. If the school reduced fees for this term I'd be able to keep my dc in the school. Right now I'm having to review the contract and see what on Earth we have to do. To pay full fees for what I can clearly print from twinkl myself is hard to stomach right now.
I paid for acres of grounds and sports, I even mentioned in the interview I didn't care for the academics so much so this is my worst nightmare.

That’s promising @newdadd

@fourleafs I’m so sorry. I’ve just been put on that 80% wage thing and am also feeling the same as you

DS is in a well known private boarding school doing A Levels next term(not!). The fees are £13k per term. He is not taking any exams, boarding, eating the food etc.

I cannot believe that the school will expect us to pay the full terms fees although they are indicating they will issue final, final predicted grades in May in order to apply for university. I hope this isnt their way of trying to get us to pay the last terms fees for effectively doing very little. The teachers have little to do and presumably will be covered by the 80% government cover for 7 months. Additionally they wont have to do anything like their normal workload and in fact could find a short term temporary role.

I am not keen to pay anything like the £13k. DH business has dried up completely. My DS is never going back to the school, his exams have been cancelled. Anyone any thoughts on this?

Independent schools will still have most of their costs. Food is a very small proportion of fees and heating is not a significant consideration in summer. However, they will also have to be mindful that everyone is having to tighten their belts right now and parents were also paying for things that they can't offer right now - like dropping the kids off and picking them up from one location that provides an extended day covering all their educational, extracurricular and fitness needs.

Most parents already make large sacrifices to be able to pay school fees so any loss of income pushes them into a position where carefully balanced finances no longer stretch to cover a full set of school fees. I suspect every school will manage the situation differently and most will hope to get as much as they can from parents by sending out a letter explaining that their costs are still high. I am not sure that is good enough to be honest, butI am not going to hold my breath for anything better.

@sunglasses123 trust me, we are not doing very little! Teachers are doing more hours than usual: online teaching generates the same amount of Prep, the same amount on online contact time and a lot more marking. Two days in and we are all working extra hours to get it done. On top of this, we also have some pupils in school.
The 'calculated grades' situation is also taking up more of teachers' time. We don't get to just pick a grade out of thin air you know, we have to analyse data and put together evidence.
Whatever reductions - although remember the buildings don't vanish whilst your children aren't there - we are certainly not doing 'less' work! So yes, you should pay for next term if your son/daughter is in year 11 or U6. I think you will also find that if you don't pay the fees the school is under no obligation to enter them for the award (ie do the hours of extra work this requires this year).

@sunglasses123 I actually agree that it Is unreasonable to expect parents to pay full fees when they are not getting the full experience, but I take strong issue with the question of teacher workload. As someone who is teaching my full timetable online, I can assure you that it is taking me much longer to get all resources etc available than it normally does, especially when dealing with pupils in different time zones who can’t log in to the live feed, much more so than time saved from the sports fields and in the boarding house. If you offered me the 50% or so pay cut to be on the government furlough salary to drop the online teaching I would probably say yes!

My school has set up a hardship fund for those struggling to pay the fees given current circumstances, I guess others will do similar if they can.

I am actually questioning what my son is getting in terms of teaching/boarding and an education this last term. He has done his mocks, he has had a number of assessments giving him his grades. He has applied for university with those grades. His Parents Evening confirmed those grades were possible for him. He can no longer prove his capabilities. I cannot think of anything more that the teachers need to do for him (fully accept that anyone other than doing A Levels this year is different)unless you are saying that they wont give out the final predicted unl;ess we pay the last terms fees!

They are talking about further assessments but these wont be under exam conditions. My DH business has taken a massive knock. I am open to pay some of the last terms fees with some evidence of what they are offering this last term. Private schools are a business. When I was in business if I didnt provide a service for what ever reason I wouldnt be able to charge for it regardless of the reason.

I know you dont pick a grade out of thin air. They are already there unless you are suggesting the grades he has been given were wrong.The same grades have been given to my son time and time again. I dont expect them to change. He had his report last week. Again no mention of anything changing.