The
School Committee believes that tuition payments for preschool peer models
(non-IEP students) and full day kindergarten are an investment in our
children’s education. Therefore, the
School Committee has the responsibility for adopting certain policies
concerning the amount of tuition, the manner of payment, and in general, the
development of policy. Further, it is
the responsibility of the School Committee to insure that adequate financial
resources are available to provide these programs and yet make enrollment in
these programs as available and affordable as possible to the effected
families.
I.
Families
with children enrolled as preschool peer models or in the full-day kindergarten
program shall make tuition payments as established by the School Committee each
spring.
II.
All
families shall be expected to make tuition payments according to one of the
following payment plans. Each family’s
preferred manner of payment must be submitted each year following student
registration.
A.
Full Payment Plan. Under this plan, the entire amount of tuition is paid on or before
April 30. This payment is made directly
to the Superintendent’s office. Checks
shall be made payable to the City of Gardner.
Monthly Payment Plan. Under this plan, the entire amount (or the
remaining amount if a cash deposit is made) is paid over a six-month
period. Gardner public schools may
choose to utilize an outside service for collection of these payments
The outside collection service may require a service charge for processing.
I.
Families
registering after June 15 shall be expected to fulfill their tuition obligation
according to the tuition policy stated above.
II.
Tuition
for students registering on or after the first day of school shall be pro-rated
over the number of days remaining in the school calendar.
It shall be the responsibility of each family to keep the Business Administrator informed of their need to make any changes in their preferred tuition payment plan or adjustments in the amount of tuition expected to be paid. Without such information, the following procedure will apply when tuition payments are received late.
I.
Full Payment. If payment is not received on or before April 30, the family will be
contacted, in writing, within five (5) business days by the Business
Administrator concerning the missed payment date. Unless the family and the Business Administrator agree upon an
alternative payment plan, all tuition payments shall be made through the
outside collection service.
II.
Monthly Payments. Families who choose the monthly payment plan and miss a monthly
payment due to insufficient funds may be assessed a fee by the outside
collection service and may incur a fee from their own financial institution.
At this time, the School Committee is not able to offer any tuition assistance.
Families
who have missed two monthly payments and have not made suitable arrangements
within fourteen (14) calendar days of the second missed payment will be
informed that their child(ren) will not be allowed to remain in the program.
All
families must be current in their payment of tuition. By August 25th, if the family is not current, students
will not be admitted in the program on the first day of school.
Families withdrawing students prior to the first day of school shall be refunded the amount of tuition that has been paid for the current school year. After the first day of school, tuition refunds will be pro-rated over the number of school days each student was in attendance. From that amount, the School Committee will deduct a 5% handling fee to cover administration costs.
[Adopted:
March 2003]
[Revised:
June 2006]