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Curriculum>Curriculum Fee Non Refundable
Unregistered 08:05 PM 07-10-2018
Hey! I received a notification that we owe curriculum fees for the upcoming school year on July 3. The handbook says that they are due July 1, but the daycare is giving everyone until July 10 to pay before late fees are posted. I notified the daycare on July 3, when I was given the bill, that we would not be coming in the fall, therefore we did not need the curriculum. They are telling us that it is a “nonrefundable” fee and therefore we still owe it and will be charged late fees until it is paid. My husband says we just will not pay, but they are saying they will take us to small claims court. Please help! Can they force us to pay for curriculum we will not use?
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Blackcat31 06:16 AM 07-11-2018
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Hey! I received a notification that we owe curriculum fees for the upcoming school year on July 3. The handbook says that they are due July 1, but the daycare is giving everyone until July 10 to pay before late fees are posted. I notified the daycare on July 3, when I was given the bill, that we would not be coming in the fall, therefore we did not need the curriculum. They are telling us that it is a “nonrefundable” fee and therefore we still owe it and will be charged late fees until it is paid. My husband says we just will not pay, but they are saying they will take us to small claims court. Please help! Can they force us to pay for curriculum we will not use?
It more than likely all depends on the wording in the contract.
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Unregistered 08:12 AM 07-11-2018
It states that the fees are due at the time of registration (March 5) or by July 1. The daycare did not send out notices to parents until July 3 that they had fees due. It states the fees are non refundable. I am not asking for a refund, we have not paid. I interpreted this to be that as long as we didn’t pay it, we are clear, we just would not receive the curriculum at the time of the class starting in August. The withdrawal policy states a two week notice is due, and I gave them more than a 3 week notice.
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Blackcat31 09:03 AM 07-11-2018
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
It states that the fees are due at the time of registration (March 5) or by July 1. The daycare did not send out notices to parents until July 3 that they had fees due. It states the fees are non refundable. I am not asking for a refund, we have not paid. I interpreted this to be that as long as we didn’t pay it, we are clear, we just would not receive the curriculum at the time of the class starting in August. The withdrawal policy states a two week notice is due, and I gave them more than a 3 week notice.
If the contract does not specifically state that you have to pay for curriculum if enrolled on July 1st (for the upcoming school year ~ Sept 2018) then I would think you are safe to feel you do not owe any additional fees.

However, be prepared for the relationship between you and the child care/staff to change due to this. They apparently feel they have a right to charge. You feel differently. If your child is still attending things will more than likely change and/or the relationship be a bit "cooler" than it has been.

Personally, I have never heard of a program that charges for curriculum in this way so it's definitely interesting but it is legally dependent on what the specific wording is in the contract.

I'd ask the child care director to show you the contract where it states you owe for a "product and/or service" you won't be using. I suspect the center *might* just be feeling as though they have the ability to influence your actions (payment) by threatening court.

If they did take the issue to the courts, they would bear the burden of proving their case so asking them to show you (prior to the situation developing into a court case) the written policy would be ideal.
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Snowmom 12:36 PM 07-11-2018
When you said you gave them 3 weeks notice, does that mean you are leaving in 3 weeks or that you just said 3 weeks ago that you're not coming in the fall?

What kind of curriculum? Is it a Fall-Spring preschool and summers are daycare only? When does the Fall session start and will your child be attending ANY days when it starts?
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rosieteddy 12:44 PM 07-11-2018
Also did your child start March 5?If so were you charged a curriculum fee then?It could be that they charge once a year for the year and your child was included from March till now with activities and such.If it is not a huge amount why not just pay it and leave on good terms.
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CityGarden 03:46 PM 07-11-2018
Originally Posted by rosieteddy:
Also did your child start March 5?If so were you charged a curriculum fee then?It could be that they charge once a year for the year and your child was included from March till now with activities and such.If it is not a huge amount why not just pay it and leave on good terms.
Reading this I was thinking the same question.....
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Unregistered 09:12 PM 07-12-2018
The curriculum is for the upcoming year starting Aug 2018. We will be leaving at the end of July, which is 3 weeks. We just notified them that we will not be coming in the fall, which we only felt obligated to tell them prior to the 2 week notice bc of them pushing the curriculum fees on us.

The relationship has already shifted since bringing this up. They will not even speak to me, and any correspondence they have is now done through the secretary, not the director or program director, which is not how it has been the past 3 years I’ve been there.

We were not leaving on a great note anyway bc of several recent issues at the daycare, this issue feels very retaliatory bc I was open (very respectfully) to the program manager on our reasons and issues.
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