They Charged Me An Extra Month!

A

amp

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Oct 5, 2010
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Alright, I'm not in the best of moods at the moment so forgive me if I go off on tangents of anger.


I just came back from getting the end of the year report card for my daughter. I was assuming pay the last month (May) to pick it up. WRONG! They wanted me to pay May & June when she didn't even set foot in the school for the month of June. The last day of class was May 30th.

My wife is telling me this happened at her old school, and pretty much at every school. I was unaware since my wife usually handles the school payments. The school was explaining that they need to report a certain amount of months to the secretary of trabajo or education or somewhere, I don't remember since I was quite upset.

Is this normal?
 
AlterEgo

AlterEgo

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Jan 9, 2009
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It depends. Some schools have an annual tuition, say 20,000 pesos per year. To make it easier for parents, they break it into 10 equal payments of 2,000 pesos for 10 months. Could this be the case in your daughter's school?
 
A

amp

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Oct 5, 2010
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The tuition is RD$X,XXX per month, I've never seen anything about a yearly expense.
 
M

MJSantoDomingo

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Apr 13, 2011
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You are paying a monthly plan - which is RD$X,XXX per month for XX number of months. Yours might have been divided as 10 monthly payments (Sept - June), plus the inscription in August...

And, if you ask the school now, during the summer - they should be able to tell you about various payment plans, including paying full year in advance for a discounted price, paying a portion in advance then remainder monthly for a smaller discount versus paying monthly with no advance payment.
 
C

Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
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Basically, you end up paying for 12 months!!!!!!
When you include their payments to reserve a spot for the following year, Etc,Etc.Etc!
It sucks , but it's "Their Way"!!!!!!
They "Kill You" with additional "Fees" all year long.
And don't even think about paying for all new books every year, as they change them to force you to buy.
I have two girls, one a grade behind the other, can't use the books from the year before!
And to think, you pay a lot of money for an inferior education as well!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
 
A

amp

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Oct 5, 2010
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Sad but true. More and more I am understanding why people want to get a visa so they can get out of here.
 
M

Mauricio

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Nov 18, 2002
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It's nothing more than normal. You pay a yearly tuition divided by mostly 10 months. If your child went to school or not in June doesn't matter, teacher salaries are being paid year round, so a school always calculates a yearly tuition to cover the cost of a school YEAR, not a month. That's also why you pay inscription. So you won't take out your child half way to send him to a cheaper school if that becomes convenient. They have fixed yearly costs.

And besides, you won't pay 'August', so you'll have 'free' classes from 19th till 31st of that month!
 
A

amp

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Oct 5, 2010
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Inscription + August + September + October + November + December + January + February + March + April + May + June

Is how it went here in Santiago.
 
Z

zoomzx11

Gold
Jan 21, 2006
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Its a business. The idea is to make money off you. What do you expect, fair and equitable treatment. Consider the alternative, then relax.
 
bob saunders

bob saunders

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Criss Colon said:
Basically, you end up paying for 12 months!!!!!!
When you include their payments to reserve a spot for the following year, Etc,Etc.Etc!
It sucks , but it's "Their Way"!!!!!!
They "Kill You" with additional "Fees" all year long.
And don't even think about paying for all new books every year, as they change them to force you to buy.
I have two girls, one a grade behind the other, can't use the books from the year before!
And to think, you pay a lot of money for an inferior education as well!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
Click to expand...

We use the government textbooks and don't charge anything for books. There are supply charges( for paper, pencils, glue,...etc), inscription charges, exams charges (for paper and printing) and 10 or 11 monthly charges depending on which payment rate the clients want. If they pay for the whole year at the beginning they get a free month.
 
T

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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Criss Colon said:
Basically, you end up paying for 12 months!!!!!!
When you include their payments to reserve a spot for the following year, Etc,Etc.Etc!
It sucks , but it's "Their Way"!!!!!!
They "Kill You" with additional "Fees" all year long.
And don't even think about paying for all new books every year, as they change them to force you to buy.
I have two girls, one a grade behind the other, can't use the books from the year before!
And to think, you pay a lot of money for an inferior education as well!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
Click to expand...

CC, are you telling us they change the textbooks every year?
 
T

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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Mauricio said:
If they don't change the content, at least the order of it or the page numbering (and that's no joke)
Click to expand...

do you mean to tell me that in a country that boasts some of the poorest people in the hemisphere, the powers that be have arranged things so that people cannot use hand me down books?
 
E

expatsooner

Bronze
Aug 7, 2004
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Mauricio said:
If your child went to school or not in June doesn't matter, teacher salaries are being paid year round, so a school always calculates a yearly tuition to cover the cost of a school YEAR, not a month.
Click to expand...

That will depend on the school. All of the schools I have been employed by give teachers the option of having their salary divided by 10 or by 12 months. That is why it is inaccurate to say that teachers get paid for doing nothing during the summer. Actually they have selected to have their salary divided by more months in order to make budgeting, tax deductions etc easier to figure. This is also why teachers get a big lump salary at the end of the school year and many are in dire need of that August check. :)
 
C

Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
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The 2 or 3 big textbook publishers have government supporters who "OK" the new books every year idea.
AND, they are not really "Books" they are soft cover work books.
Some cost over $25 US each!
My son, highs school,and two daughters grade school, spend about $400 a year ,EACH,on "Books" alone.
The "Official List" of "Supplies they must have adds 100,s MORE!!!!
Anything to do with "School" is VERY HIGH Priced", not High Value, just PRICE!!!!
School Uniforms" cost 3 times what a regular shirt & pants would cost.
I guess those "School Emblems" are made with "Gold Thread"??????
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
I DREAD August every year!
 
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