Shrewsbury School Committee votes to refund partial fees and tuition

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An estimated $500,000 to be refunded

Shrewsbury School Committee votes to refund partial fees and tuitionBy Melanie Petrucci, Senior Community Reporter

Shrewsbury – Families who have children in the public school district will soon be refunded a portion of the fees and tuition they had paid for prior to the pandemic.

Dr. Joseph Sawyer, superintendent of schools and Patrick Collins, assistant superintendent for finance and operations, presented to the School Committee at their May 13 meeting, a recommendation of approval of refunds of tuition and fees paid for optional  programming and services that were not  provided after the closure of schools due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The School Committee voted unanimously in favor of the proposal.

“There are many legal regulations that the district must abide by that make issuing refunds more complicated and labor intensive than we would like.  However, while this inconvenience may slow down our ability to provide refunds, I do not believe that it should be a factor in determining what is ‘fair,’” Sawyer explained. “I think it is important that all families who are owed a refund benefit from refunds that are issued in proportion to what they paid.”

There was the suggestion of parents being required to apply for a refund. This could have allowed families who feel that they don’t need the refund (and would like the district to benefit) to choose not to apply for a refund. However, in consideration of a significant number of families having difficulties for a variety of reasons, creating situations and barriers in administering a program would not be the most equitable solution.

Sawyer explained where refunds can be expected:

  1. Food service: ​Money on account is carried forward to the next school year although graduating seniors with more than $10 on account may receive a refund or have their balance transferred to a sibling in a lower grade. ​
  2. Transportation fee: ​Recommendation ​that each family receive a refund of $100 per fee (one-third of the total fee of $310 allowing for costs.)
  3. Extended school care: ​Recommendation that families receive a refund for days families had paid for in March when schools were closed when their child otherwise would have been provided with care. ​ Families who already receive an income-based discount for tuition would receive a prorated refund amount.
  4. Preschool and full-day kindergarten: ​Recommendation that families receive a refund representing 12 percent of the cost of the yearly tuition they had already paid when school closure began​. 0.2 percent will cover costs associated with the refund. Families who already receive an income-based discount for tuition would receive a prorated refund amount.
  5. After school activities program: Recommendation is to refund fees proportionally according to how many sessions were provided, either in person or remotely.

“The sources of the refunds will be the revolving funds themselves…. It will likely have some impact on calculating all the refunds and will cause me to take another look at available resources for FY2021 and make some adjustments there,” Collins said.

He said that the total amounts to an estimated $500,000 in refunds and cautioned that the refunds will take time to process.

The Committee was in support of the recommendations.

“I agree with this resolution. It makes sense and it is the right thing to do…From my perspective it is now a $500,000 gap that we will have to mitigate but we just have to manage through it,” remarked Committee member Jon Wensky.

 

 

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