Inequitable prepaid tuition practices and unclear policies. We enrolled our pre-K and K children as new students in May 2020, not knowing what would happen given the pandemic, paying a $500 registration fee and $2,400 in mandatory prepaid tuition. Our child was starting kindergarten, so this was our first experience with formal school. Truthfully, the school's handbook stated that prepaid tuition would not be refunded upon withdrawal, but the handbook (last updated in mid 2019 as of this incident) had not been updated to account for the uncertainties of COVID-19. Prepaid tuition was required starting July 1, before PG County and just about every other school district in MD announced that it would start school virtually. The school did mail a letter (which I missed initially) stating at the very end with no emphasis that it expected to start school in person but would consider CDC and other guidelines when making its final decision.
After the PG County announcement, St. Matthew's doubled down on its intention to open in person. Classes would be limited to 16 kids, only one parent could come in to pick up, each class would go to the bathroom separately and they would work to spread the kids out during the day and encourage the kids to wear masks. Frankly, that wasn't enough for us. My kindergartener has reactive airway issues and was hospitalized for a week in the past as a result. We didn't want to risk it and withdrew our kids.
I requested a refund of the tuition asking the school to be fair. The school refused. We still had a month before school started, so no actual services had been provided. While a few supplies may have been purchased (their excuse for not refunding us), I don't see how they could have purchased $2,400 in supplies for two kids. Public education professionals were not opening in person. The school's written COVID policies were either non-existent or outdated at best. And at a very basic level, in these uncertain times, no institution, particularly not a religious one, should feel comfortable keeping $2,400 in exchange for no services. I am including the amounts to emphasize the magnitude of the impact of this practice. $2,400 is more than the median rent for a 2BR in this County. St. Matthew's should be operating in equity fairness, but that didn't happen for my family. read more