Fee fret for private schools as parents struggle to find cash due to virus
Private schools are at risk of becoming “unsustainable” if they don’t offer reprieve to parents who’ve lost their jobs due to coronavirus.
Education
Don't miss out on the headlines from Education. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Private schools are being urged to halt fees as parents lose jobs amid COVID-19, with some elite campuses deferring invoices and others demanding payments.
As the pandemic hits the employment of many Victorians, some parents are already planning to pull their children from private schools and enrol them in the public system.
But the independent schools’ body said campuses could become “unsustainable” under sudden or severe declines in enrolment.
Independent Schools Victoria (ISV) chief executive Michelle Green said it was already clear that many schools have extremely limited capacity to withstand sudden shocks to their finances if economic factors mean parents can’t afford to pay fees and withdraw their children, since fees usually cover the bulk of school operating costs.
Nick Evans, principal of Wesley College, wrote to parents again on Friday, telling them “no child will need to leave Wesley this year as a result of financial circumstance.”
“The College is committed to helping each and every Wesley family who needs help through what is a very difficult and challenging time” the letter said.
“If your circumstances are such that paying fees is difficult or impossible, please send us an email and we will arrange a discussion. We do understand how difficult it is currently for many families.”
But he went on to say the school has “no choice but to issue an invoice” and restated the need for those who can to pay fees as invoiced.
Geelong Grammar issued a notice to parents that it had deferred the issuing of invoices for Term 3 fees earlier this week.
“The school understands the challenging and uncertain times that parents are currently facing,” principal Rebecca Cody wrote.
She said the school was “reviewing our business continuity” and “all matters of our business operations are under review”.
Independent Education Union general secretary Deb James urged private schools to give parents leeway on fees.
“Many parents will be financially suffering through this and I’m calling on schools to be understanding of parents who have been hit by this disaster,” she said.
“I’m confident they will want to be considerate of parents.”
Firbank Grammar wrote to parents that the ““school’s cost base is largely unchanged as a result of the introduction of remote learning” after campuses were closed to fight the virus.
“Any monies saved from delivering classes on campus are being redirected to pay for IT resourcing of the Virtual Classroom,” the statement read.
“Like any business, Firbank is dependent on your ongoing support to keep it financially sound and for this reason we will be sending the Term 2 invoice next week in line with the normal billing cycle.”
A Firbank parent said “many of the school community are sole traders, people who sacrifice to send their children to school and who are now facing financial ruin due to closures and COVID-19”.
“We are facing the real prospect that our Year 12 daughter will have to go to a public school as the economy has tanked and we have both lost our incomes.”
Other parents have questioned why they would pay a private school thousands of dollars for an online education, with campuses unlikely to re-open when Term 2 resumes on April 15.
Ms Green said some schools may be able to defer fees for a limited time, but others wouldn’t as they needed to pay staff and costs, including for more technology.
She said if parents pulled their kids from private schools and enrolled them in public campuses, it would cause a “massive disruption” to kids and their families.
It would also “place an unmanageable burden on government schools when they are struggling to cope with the impact of the crisis and implement online education, potentially for months”.
Ms Green said the Federal Government could assist by bringing school funding forward.
One in 10 Victorian students at independent schools come from families with means-tested low income health care cards, according to ISV.
About 150,000 Victorian students attend an independent school.
MORE NEWS:
PARENTS PULL KIDS FROM CHILDCARE