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AfterSchoolMom 05:58 AM 07-01-2011
Hi all,

Currently I'm taking the summer off, but for the fall I'm thinking of restructuring my rates. I do SA care, and next school year we'll be having a different schedule than we've ever had - there will be NINE half days and SIX teacher work days during the school year, with at least one if not two of each occuring every month.

In the past I've charged a flat weekly rate, but an additional fee for half days and teacher work days. I don't charge the additional fee if they don't come but still expect to be paid for the day since I'm open (they pay for the space). As some of you know, I've had some terrible times with families not wanting to pay, and this has always been a sticking point.

I'm thinking of raising my weekly rates and having that cover the half and full days off so that I don't charge them any more for those days. However, the raise would have to be significant (around ten dollars per week per child) to make it worthwhile.

What does everyone think?
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familyschoolcare 07:01 AM 07-01-2011
that is how my contract is worded.

It say that the weekly fee for school days is ****** and for school breaks is ******. As a curtsy I to you I do not charge extra for min. days or only one day of off school in a week (ie teacher in service).

A paragraph later it talks about a grauented rate and about how i get paid for my holidays ect.

something like that, by wording it that way you make parents think you are doing it because you want to be nice not because you think any other way would be hard to deal with.
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MyAngels 08:14 PM 07-01-2011
Based on all the problems you've had this year with receiving payment, I would not hesitate it raise your rate by that amount. I'd also require a minimum of two weeks deposit, to be applied to the last two weeks of care.
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Live and Learn 08:28 PM 07-01-2011
This sounds reasonable to me. I assume that you are already paid before you provide care.
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Rachel 05:48 AM 07-03-2011
Exactly how I did it when I did after school care. I wrote in the days that are included (teacher conference, some holiday closings, teacher workday), and specifically excluded extra days, but said I may be available, and if I was the extra fee was X. Examples of the extra days were teacher strikes, weather emergencies, building emergencies, etc. No way I wanted to be stuck providing "free" care if the teachers decided to strike or we had weather closings.
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AfterSchoolMom 02:31 PM 07-03-2011
Rachel, I didn't even think about weather - free snow days would NOT be fun. Thanks so much for saving me from that!
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Tags:rate increase, rates, rates - flat fee
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