Off dance due to medical reason - studio payment policy?

[Medora]

Hi,

My daughter is faced with being signed off dance for a while for medical reasons. We would miss the rest of the term at the very least, hopefully she will have recovered in time for September.

We have already paid deposits for summer intensives, which she won’t be able to attend either. That’s not ideal but we can live with that as the deposits have not been too extortionate.
 

We have however not paid our dance school for the rest of the term yet, as we pay on a half termly basis. Under normal circumstances we have to give half a terms notice, which I think is standard, but in this case obviously that won’t be possible.
 

We stand to lose a lot of money if the studio insists we pay for the remainder of the term so I wanted to ask for your input with this. Do we just have to pay up, or how would your schools handle this? 

[Pixiewoo]

We had similar, but paid for classes as DD went to the majority and just watched or took part in the bits she could do. It ensured she didn't miss anything being taught.

 

We did lose money for competitions, intensives and exams. (Although we got a partial refund for exams)

[Swanwings]

I think it probably depends on the school, some will be more flexible than others. 

[taxi4ballet]

I'd be disappointed in a dance school that insisted on payment for a half-term when the student was unable to dance for medical reasons.

[Pups_mum]

I can see both sides. As a parent, I wouldn't want to pay for a lot of lessons which my child could not attend through no fault of her own, so I can understand that. However, my DD is now a teacher, and I can understand the problem something like this would cause for her. Her running costs (studio hire, fuel bills etc) have increased by about 30% over the last year and she has tried to avoid passing any more of that on to her pupils than she absolutelyhas to, so losing half a terms fees would be significant. If it was a class that was at capacity then the options would really need to be for the parent to pay to hold the place, or for the child to leave so that the place could be taken by someone else. Obviously you can't take on a new pupil to fill the gap and then tell them that they can't return in September because the original pupil is now better. 

A big, long established school might be able to absorb the loss more easily I guess, but if my DD and many of her friends are anything to go by, currently soaring costs are putting a lot of teachers under significant pressure financially and walking the tightrope between being sensitive to parents' situations and keeping fees down so you don't lose pupils, whilst still getting enough income to pay the bills can be very difficult. I used to grumble about costs on occasion, just like any ballet mum I guess, but now DD is on the other side of the fence I understand a lot more about the costs of running a school and how things like non payers and late payments impact.

I know that my DD would be very sympathetic to a situation like this and she probably would waive the charges, but right now it would make things even more difficult for her than the cost of living crisis already is. Not every teacher is making a lot of money currently, that's for sure.

[glowlight]

@Medora - so sorry to hear about your dd's medical problems and I hope she recovers quickly.

 

My suggestion would be to talk to the school and explain your position and ask if they are prepared to waive the charges for this half term, or maybe take a reduced payment in order to hold her place.

 

If they won't budge, then if you refuse to pay that would probably sour your relationship with the school making it difficult for your dd to go back in September.

 

Depending on your dd's age and the nature of her condition it may be appropriate for her to watch classes.  Certainly my dd has done that in the past when injured, but it may not be appropriate in your dd's case.

 

I hope that the school will be sympathetic and that your daughter recovers quickly.

[Peony]

If its your contract with them you need to pay up. It’s unfortunate but most activities you pay the fees regardless of illness as the cost to the business doesn’t decrease with her not being there.

[Medora]

I see the studio’s side, they are counting on us financially. It’s a tricky one as we are definitely hoping that she can return to dance sooner rather than later, she just really needs a break. I don’t want to say exactly what is going on as I think some people on this forum know who I am… 

[LinMM]

Is there not any kind of Insurance Dance teachers /schools can take out to help them in situations like this? 
Perhaps it would be too expensive to take out? Even if half the costs were covered this would mean perhaps Parents would only be asked for half of the terms payment for non attendance. 
However my experience of most Dance schools …but non vocational ones so smaller Business concerns… is that you pay in advance for either a term or half a term’s tuition and it’s non refundable if you get injured or are ill etc.

[hfbrew]

Communication is key. The worst thing is people just suddenly not coming with out explanation. If fees are not paid either then I have to chase them up. I feel that it's only fair that I do so out of respect to those who give proper notice. 

 

I have often carried fees forward to the next term if I have been informed about illness etc, especially if its long standing loyal students. Pretty certain many teachers on here have done the same. But we can't help if we have not been informed. 

[glowlight]

16 hours ago, Medora said:

I see the studio’s side, they are counting on us financially. It’s a tricky one as we are definitely hoping that she can return to dance sooner rather than later, she just really needs a break. I don’t want to say exactly what is going on as I think some people on this forum know who I am… 

 

I really think you need to talk to the studio and explain the situation.  I would hope that in the circumstances they would be sympathetic and do what they can to ease the situation for your dd from a health point of view and from your family's point of view financially.  However I suggest you go into the conversation from the stand point of knowing that you are asking them for a favour.  If their terms and conditions say you have to give half a term's notice and you don't, then you are in breach of contract if you don't pay.  They could (if you are in the UK) take you to the small claims court to recover what is due.  They could charge statutory interest. But I would be very surprised if a studio would want to take this step for the sake of half a terms fees for a loyal student who is having difficulties.

[Dancing unicorn]

On 28/05/2023 at 12:47, hfbrew said:

Communication is key. The worst thing is people just suddenly not coming with out explanation. If fees are not paid either then I have to chase them up. I feel that it's only fair that I do so out of respect to those who give proper notice. 

 

I have often carried fees forward to the next term if I have been informed about illness etc, especially if its long standing loyal students. Pretty certain many teachers on here have done the same. But we can't help if we have not been informed. 

I agree! It depends on the student. If they’re a long standing student, never off, and suddenly because of an injury/longer illness then I would carry forward! But for the odd illness then no, class must be paid for 😁

[invisiblecircus]

I assume you are talking about a local, private dance studio.

It really depends what your agreement is with them and how often you usually pay. Some schools require a notice period, others don't. 

 

Here it is standard to sign up for and pay for either a whole year in advance or a half year. One year, we paid for the whole year up front because it cost less than two half years and after three classes our DD got sick with pneumonia for which she was off for 4 weeks, then she had some complications which caused pain in her legs so she went back for one more lesson then couldn't continue, so we basically paid a years worth of fees for 4 lessons. 

I hope your school would be supportive in your case and carry the fees over. I understand the perspective of their costs being the same but in many cases, classes are not full to capacity so one student less would not usually make the class financially unviable to run. 

[Dance*is*life]

Every school is different.  Where I teach parents pay by monthly banker's order.  A student broke her arm and was out for a couple of months or more.  As far as I know the mother was charged for the first month and then her fees were frozen until the girl came back.  

[balletbean]

@Pups_mum the last line of your post struck a cord. Gone are the days that dance teachers were able to sustain a living on just their teaching wages.
 

Now you will find that most dance teachers take on other  jobs to supplement their income just to cover everyday costs. 
 

Dare not even begin to calculate how many unpaid hours of work these dance teachers do in their own time 😔

[Pups_mum]

Indeed @balletbean My DD has her own school and freelances at a couple of others - she's currently doing maternity cover for a friend too. But she still needs a job in a cafe as well. After a degree and dance teaching qualifications it's tough to be working so hard for so little though as she says, she is at least still working in the field that she loves, unlike many of her peers. And yes, she does a lot of unpaid work like making costumes, and overlooks unpaid bills from families she knows are struggling. She's just done some free exam preparation classes because she knows that a substantial number of parents just can't afford extras now. She worked for nothing and a "mystery benefactor" 😉 covered the hall hire. 

I think it's easy to get a bit of a skewed view of the dance world on here. Virtually everyone on this forum has a child who is "serious" about dance in a variety of ways and most of us accept that that comes at a price. We are all used to paying for lots of lessons, Associate schemes, Summer Schools, shoes, costumes and so on, so it is easy to forget that that is not the case with the majority of pupils in most schools. Most teachers depend on the "once a weekers" for the majority of their income, and those parents compare the costs to their children's other hobbies, like Brownies or sports that are run by volunteers, not professional teachers who are trying to earn a living. Running costs are sky rocketing but a lot of parents simply can't afford to pay class fees that  truly reflect the increasing costs. It's  definitely a hard time to be earning your living providing something which for the majority is a luxury.

[balletbean]

9 hours ago, Pups_mum said:

Indeed @balletbean My DD has her own school and freelances at a couple of others - she's currently doing maternity cover for a friend too. But she still needs a job in a cafe as well. After a degree and dance teaching qualifications it's tough to be working so hard for so little though as she says, she is at least still working in the field that she loves, unlike many of her peers. And yes, she does a lot of unpaid work like making costumes, and overlooks unpaid bills from families she knows are struggling. She's just done some free exam preparation classes because she knows that a substantial number of parents just can't afford extras now. She worked for nothing and a "mystery benefactor" 😉 covered the hall hire. 

I think it's easy to get a bit of a skewed view of the dance world on here. Virtually everyone on this forum has a child who is "serious" about dance in a variety of ways and most of us accept that that comes at a price. We are all used to paying for lots of lessons, Associate schemes, Summer Schools, shoes, costumes and so on, so it is easy to forget that that is not the case with the majority of pupils in most schools. Most teachers depend on the "once a weekers" for the majority of their income, and those parents compare the costs to their children's other hobbies, like Brownies or sports that are run by volunteers, not professional teachers who are trying to earn a living. Running costs are sky rocketing but a lot of parents simply can't afford to pay class fees that  truly reflect the increasing costs. It's  definitely a hard time to be earning your living providing something which for the majority is a luxury.

Congratulations to your daughter on having her own dance school. My daughter and niece are both qualified dance teachers but have to supplement their income as a TA at a primary school & another in a dance shop. I dare not add up the hours they do by the end of the week. Probably like your daughter far exceeds the standard 37hrs.
But they love what they do and do what they love. Not many can say that 😊