Other Debt Breaking Contract for Prvt Elementary School, On the hook for years tuition

mrerikmt

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Oregon
Oregon

My wife signed a contract for our daughter to attend a private elementary school this fall. The contract was signed in January.

In the meantime our daughter was lottery'd into a free charter school.

We want to our daughter to attend the free charter school, but the private school says we're on the hook for the entire years tuition at their school.

Do we have any way out of the contract?

A friend told me (I know, I know, not a good idea to take friend advice at face value) that in Oregon there is something to do with "Services Unfulfilled" that gets you out of a contract like this.

Does this sound right?

Any direction or advice is appreciated, and thanks in advance for any help.
 
Oregon

My wife signed a contract for our daughter to attend a private elementary school this fall. The contract was signed in January.

In the meantime our daughter was lottery'd into a free charter school.

We want to our daughter to attend the free charter school, but the private school says we're on the hook for the entire years tuition at their school.

Do we have any way out of the contract?

A friend told me (I know, I know, not a good idea to take friend advice at face value) that in Oregon there is something to do with "Services Unfulfilled" that gets you out of a contract like this.

Does this sound right?

Any direction or advice is appreciated, and thanks in advance for any help.

Take the "contract" to a local lawyer, ask the lawyer to review the contract and advise you how you can minimize your damages.
 
it might depend on who chose to have "services unfulfilled" -- in this case you and your wife changed your mind due to (better in your mind) circumstances. The private school held that spot for your daughter for 7+ months. They may or may not have a list of kids who want to go but didn't get a spot.

Let me ask you this...If you had paid full price in January for the next year, would you not have expected a refund if they cut class size and no longer had a spot for your child? That would be "services unfulfilled".

But I agree with taking the contract to a local attorney for review.
 
Do we have any way out of the contract?

Without actually reading your contract, not much we can tell you. You are free to post a copy here if you like, redacting any identifying information.

One question comes to mind for the moment.

When your wife signed the contract did she hand over any money? If so, how much then plus how much, if any, since then? Also say how much the tuition for the year is supposed to be.
 
If you have not actually paid them they would have to sue you for their loss. You do not have to pay them just because they send you a bill.
I would bet there is a way to minimize the loss. I'd also be very interested to find out if they had a loss at all. If they filled the spot your child vacated then there is no loss and they are just being greedy.
 
If they filled the spot your child vacated then there is no loss and they are just being greedy.

If they filled the spot they would have mitigated damages but could still be entitled to any additional costs that were incurred for filling the child's spot.

If they couldn't fill the spot for good reason (like no more students available this late in the year) the parents could very well be on the hook for the year's tuition.
 
Do we have any way out of the contract?

We have no way of knowing without at least reading the contract.

A friend told me (I know, I know, not a good idea to take friend advice at face value) that in Oregon there is something to do with "Services Unfulfilled" that gets you out of a contract like this.

Have some fun with your friend: Ask him/her to cite statute(s) or case authority on which his/her "advice" is based. When he/she is unable to cite anything, ask him/her what the basis is for his/her "advice." My guess is that you can ultimately paint your friend into a corner in which he/she admits that he/she just "made it up" or heard it on TV or from some other person who may or may not know what he/she is talking about.

Does this sound right?

Not even remotely close.

The private school held that spot for your daughter for 7+ months. They may or may not have a list of kids who want to go but didn't get a spot.

These are extremely important points. The private school presumably has room for X students in your grade, and those X students will generate $Y in revenue each for a total of $XY in revenue. If you withdraw your child, then the school will only generate a total of $X(Y-1) in revenue. However, presumably, your daughter's absence from the school will not result in any significant cost savings to the school. Therefore, withdrawing your child likely will result in a financial loss to the school unless the school can replace the revenue associated with your child. If there is a wait list, and if the school can get one of these wait listed children to take your child's place, then there would be no damage to the school.
 
Thanks everyone for the helpful replies.

I don't think we're in a very strong position with this but I am hoping I can work out something that keeps us from having to pay the entire years tuition.

We had a lawyer look at the contract and his response was similar to much of what was said on this thread. We need to let the school know that we would like to un-enroll, and see how they respond.

If the school decides to stick it to us we are going to see if we can enroll our youngest child in their pre-k program and pay the kindergarten fee that we agreed to. This might not work because it is easier to find kids for pre-k than it is for kindergarten. This is a French immersion school and kids can't enter kindergarten there without some French experience.

This is the portion of the contract that matters as far as our situation is concerned:

"I agree that I am obligated to pay the tuition and fees for the entire 2017-2018 school year and that no portion will be refunded or released from obligation for absence, suspension, voluntary or involuntary withdrawal, dismissal, or if attending part-time, a reduction in number of selected days. The fact that the tuition and fees may be paid in monthly installments does not constitute a fractional contract. "

Spells it out pretty clearly as far I am concerned.

We have paid a $1,000.00 deposit which I don't expect to get back and the tuition for the entire year is about $11,350.00.

If any of the above information sheds any additional light on the situation for anyone I would appreciate further advice.

Thanks,
 
Regardless of that language, it is important to know if they filled the spot you vacated.

Otherwise, if you are paying for it, you may as well have your kid attend, right?
 
This is the portion of the contract that matters as far as our situation is concerned:

"I agree that I am obligated to pay the tuition and fees for the entire 2017-2018 school year and that no portion will be refunded or released from obligation for absence, suspension, voluntary or involuntary withdrawal, dismissal, or if attending part-time, a reduction in number of selected days. The fact that the tuition and fees may be paid in monthly installments does not constitute a fractional contract. "

Spells it out pretty clearly as far I am concerned.

There is plenty of case law on contracts that could limit the schools recovery in spite of that.

Two doctrines come to mind (there may be others).

1 - An aggrieved party must mitigate damages.
2 - An aggrieved party cannot profit from the other party's breach.

Mitigation means that the school is required to make reasonable efforts to replace your child for the coming school year. If successful you are entitled to a refund less any costs incurred in replacing your child.

If you are going to breach the contract, you'd better advise the school in writing ASAP that your child won't attend. That starts the clock on mitigation. The longer you take to give that notice the less time the school has to replace your child which could make it impossible for the school to do so and then you would be on the hook for the whole year's tuition.
 
Thanks again for the replies.

We've let the school know that our daughter won't be attending, and my wife and I have a meeting scheduled with the schools director.

I will look into mitigation prior to the meeting. That's great information.

Thanks!
 
That is better than nothing, but notice in writing typically refers to words on paper and delivered by mail or in person. This is always the best option.
 
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