Does your school tuition go up every year?

amother

Fri, Aug 02 2019, 12:46 pm

I am so upset, I just hung up from a conversation with the school owner of my kids school.
He said we must go up, teachers salaries increase ect. I said the way it is we were short paying 100 monthly and now trying to figure out how to pay up that balance and ontop of that they will be increasing again.
Our income doesnt go up but our expenses dont stop.
Im curious to hear if its normal for schools to go up yearly.
He said the way I look at it is if your kid is hungry will you not feed him? Then if his education isnt important then you can leave. I said it is and thats why we pay in the first of the month but I wasnt aware of a yearly increase.
He asked what if the price of milk goes up will you not feed your kids milk so I said I would need to figure out where else to cut.
He was quoting other schools, this school charges this amount ect. I feel the schools feed off eachother. If one school charges a lot the others follow.
Years ago tuition was a joke compared to now yet somehow the schools managed.
Today were made to feel like we should be grateful that at least we have a school and to shut our mouths and just pay, pay, pay and struggle.
I dont even have a huge family because we cant afford one, we get zero support and work our tush off.
I dont know how others do this. Ill just keep buying lottery tickets for now.

amother

Beige

Fri, Aug 02 2019, 12:56 pm

he sounds very rude. And not understanding of the typical parent in todays day and age with no support who works hard and is always struggling. I am just curious what is the range of tuition you are paying? if you pay say 13k a kid this would be terrible but if you pay say 5k then I hear him that the school needs money to keep running and this is like any other bill

unexpected

Fri, Aug 02 2019, 12:57 pm

No not really. I send to 4 different schools and I've never had a "raise" Also this guy sounds nasty. I would talk to other parents in your school and see what they are doing. I highly doubt he will kick you out if you don't agree to the raise

amother

Fri, Aug 02 2019, 1:03 pm

amother [ Sapphire ] wrote:

What do you mean by "owner".

In any case - this was a terrible conversation. I feel horrible just reading it.

The admin said I would need to speak to the owner of the school, the one who opened the school and supports his entire family off of it. All his married children are employed there as well and seem to be living comfortably.

amother

Tangerine

Fri, Aug 02 2019, 1:03 pm

OMG he reminds me of an administrator I once dealt with. He made me feel like a cockroach for what felt like an hour until I broke and cried out what do you want from me??? I can't make those raised payments!!! He was waiting until I broke to see if I really couldn't pay the increase. Then he agreed to keep the rate from the year before. Rishus! I cried my home and for the next 2 hours.

amother

Tangerine

Fri, Aug 02 2019, 1:05 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

OMG! That sounds horrible! The administrator I dealt was not an owner.

amother

Mistyrose

Fri, Aug 02 2019, 1:05 pm

As the conversation relays, he was definitely nasty and should speak with more dignity and compassion.

That being said,
Our tuition does go up almost yearly. Sometimes we get an unexpected freeze, and some years it jumps more than just a little.
That being said, my salary going up "cost of living" (but really less) like 2-3% each year, food costs go up and so does rent. I don't want to pay more, but it makes sense that the schools expenses do -salaries and utilities.....

It is an unfortunate necessary evil.
(But that doesn't excuse him from being evil).

amother

Fri, Aug 02 2019, 1:08 pm

amother [ Tangerine ] wrote:

Same, I hung up in tears. I said right now I cant pay the increase so he said it will remain a choiv (balance) which if not paid up bu summer the school packet doesnt get sent to us and my kids arent allowed back in. This school wont budge only with their increases.

amother

Sapphire

Fri, Aug 02 2019, 1:09 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Blech. This just *shouldn't be* even though I understand in reality it is.

I'm so sorry.

amother

Chocolate

Fri, Aug 02 2019, 1:18 pm

You seem to be surprised that a school is a business.

Yes, every school and yeshiva I have ever dealt with has raised me every year.
They don’t care if your salary has increased or not.
It’s a big expense.
You sign the contract, Daven, and hope you can fulfill your tuition obligations.

It does sound like the administrator was very rude and unprofessional though.
I’m sorry you had to deal with that.

amother

Saddlebrown

Fri, Aug 02 2019, 1:24 pm

I have kids preschool to teen.
First, the grades are split in categories. Nursery, kindergarten, younger elementary, upper elementary, middle school and high school. I found that each category up was a significant jump from the one below. Other than my son in yeshiva high school, my tuition increases minimally within a given category. It does go up every single year, but not a huge increase.

But the actual response did sound a bit rude. I find it's not what you say, but how you say it that can sound nasty.

amother

Mauve

Fri, Aug 02 2019, 1:37 pm

He wasn't nice.

Yes, tuition goes up most years.

I was on my school's board for a bit. Whenever we discussed tuition increase, there was a discussion about what percentage of the families would actually be able to pay the increase. We talked about which scholarship families were at their max and which non scholarship families would now need them. Based on that, we set the numbers and/or planned fundraising, either to offset a bigger increase or to go directly to scholarships.

It was very, very hard.

mha3484

Fri, Aug 02 2019, 1:41 pm

It does (about $250 a year or so since we started in 2015) but registration fees went down since our first year and the building fund has not been raised even though the yeshiva building is brand new and has plans for even more expansion. I think it all evens out in the end.

At the end of the day, the tuition management woman is the nicest human being ever which makes a huge difference. I would also be unhappy if I was spoken to the way you were.

thunderstorm

Fri, Aug 02 2019, 1:41 pm

He sounds nasty. But yes, our tuition goes up every year. Some schools are willing to compromise and have us pay the same as last year but want my DH to give a larger donation for the dinner or do voluntary work for the school etc. and you need to commit to it. It depends on the school. But in my experience most schools do go up .(I’ve had my kids in a few schools)