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Cancelled school trip
Comments
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If the head cancelled the trip because 1 teacher pulled out and no replacement found then technically it's not his fault as it's a voluntary activity and he cannot compel a member of staff to attend.
If head cancelled because a few parents had expressed concern and did not want their children to travel, again not his fault.
In both cases above you are 100% correct in saying that the cancellation wouldn't have been the fault of the head teacher but even if not his fault, it is still his responsibility to sort the matter out.
If I book an airline ticket and my flight is cancelled due to the pilot not turning up, the airline may well not be at fault but as they were the ones who took my money in exchange for providing a service, it is their responsibility to refund me if the paid for service can't be provided just as the school took money for a service that isn't now being provided.0 -
I'll say for the umpteenth time the school does not exist as an entity with money to reimburse parents for such breaches of contract.
School's funding comes from LEA and it can only legally spend it on educating pupils. It cannot legally spend it on compensating parents for any contracts it breaches. School have no other source of income unless it has private benefactors donating to it.
The school would have to ask the LEA to fund any compensation. Given cuts to LA funding it's doubtful they would be very helpful as they don't have the money.
If school's insurance doesn't cover then all parents of pupils of the school should be asking where they got the money from to refund parents.
And I'll say for the umpteenth time - I DON'T CARE.0 -
shaun_from_Africa wrote: »In both cases above you are 100% correct in saying that the cancellation wouldn't have been the fault of the head teacher but even if not his fault, it is still his responsibility to sort the matter out.
If I book an airline ticket and my flight is cancelled due to the pilot not turning up, the airline may well not be at fault but as they were the ones who took my money in exchange for providing a service, it is their responsibility to refund me if the paid for service can't be provided just as the school took money for a service that isn't now being provided.
But an airline is a private company and can spend it's monies as it wishes. A school is a public body, funded by public money. To ensure public monies are spent for the purposes they are intended then the school is restricted on how it can spend it's monies.
The school cannot use the money to subsidise school trips. It can use school funds which come from voluntary sources/donations etc. (and often does if a parent says they cannot afford to contribute to an activity). However they always run the risk of an outcry from parents who are the main (if not only) contributors to school funds if they spend the money inappropriately and risk jeopardising future fund raising.
~Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.~:)
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We should all care how PUBLIC money is spent.callum9999 wrote: »And I'll say for the umpteenth time - I DON'T CARE.
If this was a LA and staff the employer had organised a holiday for staff who had paid a deposit and then cancelled it for similar reasons would you be happy with your council tax refunding the staff?
It's the same with the school. If the council steps in and refunds (not sure if they legally can) then every council tax payer is refunding the parents. ~Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.~:)
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How are deposits in the hundreds of pounds paid by parents nowadays? I means does little Johnny take an envelope with cash or a cheque into school or is there some sort of online portal, either setup by the school or a 3rd party, where parents make a card payment?
If it is the latter, then couldn't parents seek a chargeback/Section 75 refund of their deposit from their card provider and bypass the school entirely?0 -
Some schools do now have online payments. I know the one in my LA is a council wide contract with a third party. Parents make online payment for various items from school meals, uniform to trips. The money is then passed from the third party to the appropriate funds. School meals monies go direct to LA or to the school -this depends how LA manage their school meals service, uniform would go to specific school uniform account (set up by school as it's an independent activity by a school so has to be kept separate from the actual school budget), school trips again would go to independent school fund.
I'm not sure if there is a maximum amount per transaction and you can only use debit card online in my LA. There is a %age transaction fee and this cost is picked up centrally by the LA for school meals but the non statutory function accounts i.e. uniform/trips etc have to pick up the charge for their transactions. ~Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.~:)
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I was kind of responding to all the stuff about cowardly teachers and arguments over what was safe etc . Sadly I don't think the OP has much chance of getting their money back as the contract is between the school and the company . It's just a shame that the school didn't take the time to think things through properly .
Ah, my mistake then - sorry.
I agree that the school didn't handle this situation at all well, in fact they still appear to be treating the parents/guardians as afterthoughts, going on how little the OP has been able to tell us so far. Then again, things might have changed since this thread was started.
Who knows, maybe given the circumstances the travel insurance might be able to cover some of the OP's deposit.0 -
As has been pointed out, the onus is on the school to repay the refunds. How they actually achieve that is not the parents problem.But an airline is a private company and can spend it's monies as it wishes. A school is a public body, funded by public money. To ensure public monies are spent for the purposes they are intended then the school is restricted on how it can spend it's monies.
The school cannot use the money to subsidise school trips. It can use school funds which come from voluntary sources/donations etc. (and often does if a parent says they cannot afford to contribute to an activity). However they always run the risk of an outcry from parents who are the main (if not only) contributors to school funds if they spend the money inappropriately and risk jeopardising future fund raising.
No matter which way you look at it they have a legal duty to refund. How this is achieved within the constraints of their financing model is their problem to sort out. There must be a method or even a contingency system within the LEA since I don't believe this is the first time that a school has pulled the plug after taking deposits.
Another point made has been that there is a minimum number needed to make a trip viable. If the numbers drop below this then the trip is cancelled. So if this happens then there MUST be a system in place to refund the parents.This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0 -
However aggrieved you might feel you have not made any reasonable suggestion as to how the refunds are funded.
Why would I have to? It's not my problem, it is the schools problem. They took the money, they decided to cancel, they refund the money. How is entirely their problem - no-one elses.
Where they get it from is also their problem and if they have to use money that is for something else that is their problem to explain to parents. Maybe the power of forethought isn't exactly up to standard with the teachers or head involved. Why is it that so often supposedly well educated people have little or no common sense?0 -
We should all care how PUBLIC money is spent.
If this was a LA and staff the employer had organised a holiday for staff who had paid a deposit and then cancelled it for similar reasons would you be happy with your council tax refunding the staff?
It's the same with the school. If the council steps in and refunds (not sure if they legally can) then every council tax payer is refunding the parents.
Obviously I care how public money is spent in general. This school has a moral, if not legal, obligation to repay this deposit. I don't care how it specifically does that action, not how any public money is ever spent...
Yes, yes I would - which is why I've been saying that's exactly what should happen. The council shortchanged it's staff so should make it right. My issue is with the fact the council shortchanged them in the first place (ditto with this school).
If Thomas Cook did this would you defend them saying it's unfair for other Thomas Cook customers to shoulder the financial burden?0
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