School taking drastic measures

amother

Jasmine

Today at 6:12 am

giftedmom wrote:

Then everyone hates on the schools who get millions in govt funding through not the most honest ways but then the parents have cheaper tuition and don’t get kicked out for not paying.
You can’t have it all ways. You don’t expect your grocery to give you food for free even though you’re hungry and you don’t have money. A school, like any other business or institution, cannot function without money. It has to come from somewhere.

You can get government funding through honest ways as well.
I honestly don't care how they get their funding. The issue is lying about a kid having issues just to get funding because that affects the kid.
And before you say it doesn't let me tell you my school made a ton of money off of me by giving me false diagnoses and till today I can't shake them off my name.
Not to mention the lack of self confidence to stick up for myself in certain situations.

amother

↑ Tulip ↓

Today at 6:15 am

amother Green wrote:

I agree.
And salaries are definitely not what "everyone" is saying. Especially lately.
Even with some tuition break.

1 Mesivta boy- full tuition 11k, paying 8k.
1 high school girl- paying 6k
2 elementary school girls- paying 6k each
2 elementary school boys- paying 6.5k each
That includes tuition breaks everywhere
39k.
Plus bussing, registration, go, trips, building, dinners, book, mandatory summer - another 2.5 k a year.

Average family. Husband makes 130, wife make 60.
190k.
Taxes- 25k. Now 160k
Insurance (not eligible for jerseycare) $1500 per month. 18k. Now 142k

Tuition and fees 42k. Now 100k

Mortgage/rent 3000 per month 36k. Now 64k

Utilities, phone, gas, 12k a year
Now 52k

Car payments, car insurance - another 6k

We're now at 48k.

Daycamp (both parents work) 6k.

We now have 42k - or $3500 a month for Yom Tov, food, clothing, savings, Yom Tov.

That hasn't touched sleep away camp or any vacations.
And such a family would probably not get such great tuition breaks.

You missed day care for the working mother. And before school child care, after school child care... also not every husband is making 130k, and it can take quite a few years to get there. Also you missed bais medrash boy, paying 10k (after serious deductions). And bais medrash is five years. (Not even touching seminary, which the schools themselves are pushing for).

amother

Tanzanite

Today at 6:17 am

Daycamp is a necessity not a luxury if both parents are working. My parents couldn’t afford it, but they also couldn’t leave an 8&10 year old home all day alone all summer, so they sent us.

But also, yes, tuition is unmanageable for average middle class family.
We have an annual salary of 110k- husband works full time, I work part time aka school hours. That puts us in middle class, no programs land. So after taxes, health insurance etc, we bring home 7k a month. Sounds great, except: 2.7k on house (happens to be mortgage plus taxes because we bought a good time, but rental would be more), 1.2k on baby’s daycare, 600 for one kids tuition (that school gave us a discount) , 1.2k on the other kids tuition (they refused A discount) which brings us to 3k for kids tuition. Plus my husband is working on a graduate degree so one day he can make more money, costing 1k a month. So if you’re keeping up with the math, housing and tuition alone leaves us no money for food and clothes, forget luxuries. So we put groceries and clothes on the credit cards and spiral more and more into debt and every year we beg again for a discount and hope this year they’ll consider our debt enough to give us one.

amother

↑ Razzmatazz ↓

Today at 6:22 am

amother Brunette wrote:

Don't you think tuition should come before paying day camp, for example, like another mother said? Happens to be that she made it sound like her school was okay with her being late but what if they weren't?
I have family that did not send their kids to day camp in the summer, or sent very cheap etc, mothers helpers for free, because they couldn't afford it.

Why should school not get tuition because for some reason they can't comes first? Your answer will probably be that the day camp would not allow you to come for free unlike the schools that are way too nice.

Honestly, such comments are out of touch with the average family. Majority of families today need day camp as their childcare so they can work and pay said tuition for their kids.

It either comes down to paying for day camp and keep their jobs so they can continue to chip away at tuition. Or, one parent stops working and they lose significant income and now can't pay tuition at all.

amother

↑ Brunette ↓

Today at 6:23 am

amother Tulip wrote:

I didn't send my kids to day camp, I couldn't afford it. Do I now get a free pass? There will always be people who can't afford everything and I don't know why people don't see it.

They're always a few but it shouldn't be enough that a school is about to close down.
I guarantee that not every single parent that is behind on their tuition literally is making a decision between utilities, food, basic clothing and tuition.

If you need to you put it on a credit card. I used to cash in my points to help pay tuition.

amother

↑ Razzmatazz ↓

Today at 6:25 am

amother Garnet wrote:

Both sides are right, there are no answers. Life became unnafordable with many people being putting tuition last either out of necessity or priority.

Let’s exclude the overspenders and assume we are tying about Ehrlich people who can’t make ends meet.

The school needs to fundraise or press the wealthy families for more donations so they can set up a reserve for situations like this. Get grandparents on board. Or parents should need to fundraise the difference.

Fundraising will only have a limited impact if everyone needs to resort to it.

All the suggestions here can work if there is only a small number of families who can't afford tuition. When it's the majority who can't afford it, major changes are needed. The band-aids will only stem the flow temporarily and merely just pushes the ball down the road.

Our lifestyle/our community structure needs a major overhaul.

amother

↑ Tulip ↓

Today at 6:28 am

amother Brunette wrote:

In this economy? I would say about half the parent body (if not more) is really struggling. I think there have been some informal studies in our community that have born this out.

amother

↑ Razzmatazz ↓

Today at 6:28 am

amother Brunette wrote:

You guarantee? I can guarantee that you aren't up to speed how bad the financial situation is for many. Inflation has taken a bad situation and hyped it up on steroids. People who were just about making ends meet merely 2 years ago are much worse off now.

Are there select few who play the game - sure. But the schools seem to project that onto the majority so they can justify their actions. The large majority is NOT playing games. They're trying to keep food on their table, a roof over their heads and survive.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Today at 6:34 am

amother Razzmatazz wrote:

That was the situation a decade ago. Nowadays more and more families have two working parents. Expenses have gone up dramatically, bur wages haven't.

We have to admit that tuition is unaffordable for the average family. Something needs to be done and threatening parents isn't the way to go about it.

Curious though - if a dh is in kollel, would the school equally expect him to take a job to afford tuition? Imo, a woman who chooses to be a SAHM just so that she can better take care of her children is doing something equally valuable to learning. Both are prioritizing their primary tafkid.

This is a Heimishe school. A lot more SAHMs then in the litvish community.

amother

↑ Brunette ↓

Today at 6:38 am

amother Holly wrote:

Are there this many people out of touch with what struggling families are facing??

Yes, Sara shanirer sent people who didn’t pay home. However, Bais Yakov was for a major
Minority back then. You can’t compare.

For those telling us to cut back, borrow, or get another job, maybe we did all that already , and we’re still stretched thin??

When we beg the school for a discount before the school year starts because we KNOW we can’t commit to 50k in tuition annually, and we get a discount of $500 for the year, that’s being made fun of. We know kollel families get a bigger discount. They are one salary households on govt programs. Maybe instead of my family being told to add a 3rd job to our lives that we have no time for, the kollel family should be told that the husband should get a job so he can pay full tuition, with a $500 discount, just like us? They chose not to have one income. We didn’t choose not be rich, we’re trying our best. With degrees and all.
And yes, I’m owed roughly $20k in A/R between my business and my husband’s business at the moment. And clients complain they can’t pay. And I know they can’t.
And I’m happy they send partial payment as they can. We are also in a field that people use us because they have no choice, even if they can’t afford it. So I do understand the other side.

Bottom line, it’s not sustainable from both ends. There needs to be a better solution.

There are so many random organizations for every need. We need to also come up with a central tuition program that all schools in each community buy into (with incentives to join) to help balance out this issue.

How maby kids is the 50k for?

amother

Lawngreen

Today at 6:39 am

allthingsblue wrote:

Why is tuition unaffordable for the average family? Lakewood tuition is cheap comparatively.

Maybe other things should be toned down. Bar mitzvahs, clothing, day camp, sleep away camp.

You forgot seminary and sending boys to Israel.
Both not a must for the average person

amother

↑ OP ↓

Today at 6:39 am

allthingsblue wrote:

Why is tuition unaffordable for the average family? Lakewood tuition is cheap comparatively.

Maybe other things should be toned down. Bar mitzvahs, clothing, day camp, sleep away camp.

This. A friend told me they are looking into camp Kolos this summer and it’s somewhere around $4,000. The boys camps are between 3k-4k. “Everybody goes” so it’s a necessity. Their younger kids are going to Lakewood day camps at 1k each. They are paying close to 20k for camps but can’t come up with tuition. Maybe the camps should take IOUs and the schools should get paid?

amother

↑ Lotus ↓

Today at 6:40 am

amother Natural wrote:

I hate that because of a few people like this, the school suspects EVERYONE of not caring enough to pay tuition.

I care very much about tuition, but I just cannot pay it.

So you don't pay tuition? Or you don't pay full?
Do you show the school that you care about paying up & are trying to make it priority? Schools also need to see that parents care about tuition & communicate with the school & show the school that they're actually trying. Lack of communication from parents & parents simply ignoring the fact that there's tuition to pay, is also part of the reason why Schools are being drastic.

↑ giftedmom

Today at 6:40 am

amother Razzmatazz wrote:

So what’s the solution?

amother

↑ Tulip ↓

Today at 6:42 am

amother Lotus wrote:

This is wishful thinking. Not all schools care if you are "trying". I know many people who got nowhere with that approach.

amother

↑ Brunette ↓

Today at 6:42 am

amother Green wrote:

It sounds like it's very tight but if someone is in this financial situation they should not be sending their kids to sleepaway camp and they should not be going on vacation.
When I was in this situation I didn't do either of those and the only savings I was able to put away was the small tax refund that I got at the end of the year from my earned income and child tax credit.

amother

↑ Green ↓

Today at 6:43 am

amother OP wrote:

Day camp for 5-12 year olds at 1k per half is the average.
How do you expect parents to work to afford the tuition if they don't send to daycamp.
We need to stop lumping necessities (daycamp for kids of working parents, running car, simple house, food) with mild luxuries (clubs, therapies, sleep away camp for 1 half) with real luxuries (over 3500 sq foot houses, luxury cars, seminary, vacations).

amother

↑ Tulip ↓

Today at 6:44 am

amother Brunette wrote:

You don't get earned income credit if you have 190k in income. Something is wrong with your story...

amother

↑ Green ↓

Today at 6:46 am

amother Brunette wrote:

I know many many families in these scenarios.
If they send to camp, they go to BRC or mothers helper AND the daughter splits the costs
Vacation means going to Bubby.

Many many families are so tight and feeling squeezed even more, and being accused of living luxuriously when they're not.