Can School Charge for Lost Books

marleyboy

I would say its not your responsibility, unless you signed some sort of agreement with the school to pay for any losses occured from your Son.

In law he is over 18 and would be classed as responsible, certainly not his parents, else we all could blame our parents for our own mishaps in life.

Although responsible (assuming he has lost the books) his disability resolves him of the blame, one could argue the school should have known better, as the parents would have known better.

justontime

If I believed that he had lost the books I would pay for them, it would me a while but I would pay it. It is just getting a bill out of the blue months after the books should have been handed in which is irritating me. If the school thought I was responsible maybe they should have let me know in June when I would have had more chance of resolving the problem.

meritaten

I was told by a librarian once that it is better to pay the 'cost' of the books (and claim they were lost), than a rather large fine for being late.
Why? because they cannot charge the 'new' cost of the books. they are 'secondhand'.
justontime - I wouldn't pay anything right now, because your son took them back. but if worst came to worst, I would look up the 'secondhand value' of the books and offer to pay that.

Newly_retired

From the school's point of view, if books are not returned, then additional copies will probably need to be purchased for the next year group. This will be at new price, not secondhand. So it is understandable that they need to try to recoup their losses.

Ideally there should be an infallible system of checking returns, but there are always going to be errors and misunderstandings. It is normal to try to get payment, whether from pupil or parent, I wouldn't like to say. It is possible that, knowing the situation, a letter was written to the parent rather than the pupil in this case.

If some people do not pay up for missing books, there is not a lot the school is going to do about it, at the end of the day. They are hardly going to take you to court over it. But books are needed, and money spent replacing missing books cannot be used for something else.

In your circumstances, I would write a straightforward (not emotional) letter assuring them that your son did return his books. If you wanted to and can afford it, you could offer to pay as a goodwill gesture, but in your situation, I would not be offering. I would be very surprised if you hear any more.

Barny1979

I would ask how the school checks textbooks in and out, I would expect a receipt of some form if they were checked in, if they have a proper system. If there is no proof he has returned them and the school cannot prove that they weren't returned, I would say a 50/50 compromise in terms of payment as neither party can show they are correct.

Person_one

justontime wrote: »

Please people, I don't need to be told how to support or manage my son. Every person with autism is different so if you know one person with a similar diagnosis it does not mean that they have the same needs. That is not why I posted this question. I need to know if the school can force me to pay this.

As a fantastic LD nurse once said to me, if you've met one person with ASD then... you've met one person with ASD. Always worth remembering.

Spendless

justontime wrote: »

I need to know if the school can force me to pay this.

Possibly. Was anything signed re text books by you or him either at the start of his studies that the books were required for, or in the last academic year? I ask if your son signed anything like this as if he's 20 at the end of the year and left this summer, he must have been an adult at the start of the last academic year, so any such correspondence may have bypassed yourself.

I had to sign to say I would give a 'voluntary contribution' for the loan of 3 science text books for the 3 years my son will need them and either return them in a good condition (no chance, they're dog eared enough after 1 year as I suspected they would be!) or pay a 'fine' of so much per book at the end of yr11.


You need to dispute what they say, by telling them that they have been returned giving as much information about when/where/how etc.

FBaby

if only it was that simple! He feels unreasonably accused of something he hasn't done. He may calm down eventually but as soon as the subject is mentioned again we will be back to his present state of high anxiety.

I think this is a good opportunity to help him learn how to deal with this kind of -common unfortunately- frustration, rather than trying to sort it out for him.

I would tell him that I believe him and that it needs to be tackled, however, because they are putting his actions into doubts, not yours, it is something he needs to deal with himself, with your help. If he is at Uni, he must have a certain level of writing skills, so how about suggesting that HE writes an email to explain why he believes he has done what was expected of him.

I do agree that it is easy and natural to take over helping people with disabilities rather than trying to encourage them to learn to do things for themselves when they are capable of doing so, but the only way to cope with life as an adult is to actually become more confident at dealing with every day situation, and dealing with having to face being accused of not doing something you know you've done is bound to be something he will face more than once in his life.

duchy

FBaby wrote: »

I do agree that it is easy and natural to take over helping people with disabilities rather than trying to encourage them to learn to do things for themselves when they are capable of doing so, but the only way to cope with life as an adult is to actually become more confident at dealing with every day situation, and dealing with having to face being accused of not doing something you know you've done is bound to be something he will face more than once in his life.

This

Even if you are only partially successful this time -it's another small step towards more independence and a good life lesson.

I find myself saying more and more-I will help you all I can but now you are an adult you need to start not leaving it all to me to sort out but at least do it with me so you start to understand the process. Yes he finds it daunting and sometimes doesn't want to co-operate but he's gradually doing more of the admin type stuff for himself and the more he does the more confidence he has to do a little bit more next time.

justontime

FBaby if you read the thread you will understand that what you suggest is not an option! I do not need advice on how to support my son. He is now at uni 3 hours away, he was at home this weekend purely by chance. He is not stunted by too much care/support, he has thrived on appropriate support and he has done amazingly well to achieve as much as he has considering the starting point.

I have obtained as much info as I am able to get from my son and I need to deal with the letter because it is addressed to me and it is asking me (not him) for money. I have never signed any agreement re books or more general financial responsibility and as far as he can remember neither has my son.