When/How to Intervene When School Policies Are Wrong?

Parents Forum
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<p>Hi there - I'm new here and this is my first post. I'm sure this sort of thing has been discussed before, but my situation is pretty school-specific so I think I need a specific answer.</p>

<p>My son is a junior at a college in Maryland (we live in Massachusetts). This school is extremely expensive, especially considering that course selection is barely adequate for my son to complete his major, dormitories are poorly maintained, and the food is worse than terrible. So we're suffering mightily to afford to keep him there, where he's getting (IMO) a sub-standard education and malnutrition. He considered transferring, but the opportunity to study next year at U. Oslo ended that. </p>

<p>The current problem (there have been others) is that the school is nickel and diming him/us left and right. During the school year every kid in his dorm was required to pay $20 because somebody vomited in the hallway. The dormitory doors are left unlocked all day, so there's not telling who it was that broke all the exit signs in my son's, but still he, and everybody else who lived in that dorm, had to pay $70 for that. Since he left school in May we had a bill for a library book he never checked out, which we paid, but today we received another bill for $225 because they apparently had to repaint three of the walls in his room. Mind you, the room needed repainting last September (imo) and all my son did to change it was to hang a single poster, which I personally removed when we brought him home.</p>

<p>According to my son this is all perfectly normal and that we should expect to pay the same sorts of charges when my daughter goes to college in the fall. To me it sounds as if they've chosen not to hire any janitorial staff.</p>

<p>As if that's not enough, the place is so clean and well "coiffed" outside that you could eat out of the flower pots. Is there anybody overseeing this? Since one wall of my son's room was a closet/chest of drawers/mirror unit, it seems clear to me that they simply want to paint the room and have us pay for it.</p>

<p>Thoughts?</p>

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<p>You can certainly appeal these bills, but at the end of the day, your son will need to pay them if your appeal is unsuccessful.</p>

<p>Did you document the need for painting with the residence life staff last fall? Does the school state that things cannot be hung on the walls?</p>

<p>The take home lesson for me…document any and all damage on move in day with pictures and in writing before your kiddo moves in. Keep a copy. On move out day, have this with you and note any damage that was there prior to you kids moving into the room.</p>

<p>Our kids both attended universities where there was a move on and move out form.</p>

<p>Re: general damage to the dorm…I would pay. There is no way to parse out which student is or isn’t responsible.</p>

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<p>As for the library book, if he didn’t check it out, how was his library ID number recorded for that book? Did he loan his card to someone, or is there an error in the university database? If he loaned his card well then this is an expensive lesson to learn, but if there is an error in the university database lots of people could be being billed for books that they’ve never touched and the library IT staff needs to know about this.</p>

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<p>This is tough. You may not know if the jaded staff isn’t bothering to figure out which student is responsible for messes – or if your own student is editing out a few important details (like a friend borrowed his student card for dinner and that’ s the same friend who checked out the library book). </p>

<p>Hopefully your daughter is going to a different college! </p>

<p>I think I would send along an email to housing questioning the painting bill. It can be polite and professional – but painting between tenants is a standard landlord responsibility. You can say that the room clearly needed painting last fall and ask why you should be billed for something that should be routine maintenance. </p>

<p>Ask for clarification. See where that gets you!</p>

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<p>The idea behind sharing unattributed damage costs is sometimes to encourage kids to exert some sort of positive peer pressure. Doesn’t always work, of course.<br>
Many schools have a policy that tells kids up front, how they may be charged. Where I work, it’s in the housing contract. Also, an explanation of how you can contest the extra charges. (And, btw, repainting 3 walls would cost more than your charge.)</p>

<p>If they check room conditions at closing, likely they have last year’s report that shows the room’s wall condition at that point. This is a case where a parent can call the housing office and nicely discuss, ask about how to contest and request they check prior records. </p>

<p>This isn’t much different than moving into an apt- if you don’t inform them of pre-existing conditions up front, you can be liable. (Ime, landlords are usually only responsible for painting costs when it’s “normal wear and tear” over a few years.) If this college is loosey goosey, you may have no option but to pay for the dorm issues. But, I’d run the book issue up the flagpole, as far as I could- if the book has no relation to his classes or he can show he already owned it or wasn’t available at the time it was suposedly checked out.</p>

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<p>Here is my experience from my school.</p>

<p>The damage to the room. Every move in time we are required to go through the room and note down what is already damaged (paint missing, chipped furnature, etc) so we do not get charged at the end of the stay.</p>

<p>As for common areas, my dorm was vandilized when someone went around removing all of the peep holes in the doors (mine included -_-). I was not there when this incident occured (weekend) however I had to take a bit of the payment out of the downpayment we do when we ask for a room (ex: 100 down, such and such for the replacement).</p>

<p>As for the book issue, can he absolutely prove that he had not checked it out?</p>

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<p>If the school is so execrable and expensive why is he going there?</p>

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<p>I don’t know that it is normal for most schools. I have not had any of these extra charges for one child with 2.5 years in dorms, or another with 1 year in a dorm.</p>

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<p>With your experience, you should mention the name of the school. Atleast after your kid has left, to warn prospective students of the school. Your son/daughter should have left first semester after noticing these things, but too late now. Since they’re leaving now, atleast there’s that. Can’t change the past.</p>

10

<p>Parent of three kids with a combined 8 years in dorms - only a few lock-out fees (all from one kid) over 6 years.</p>

<p>Library fees - none, but the locked-out kid narrowly avoided a huge bill from her study abroad university when her flight was cancelled due to bad weather and she stopped at the library only to discover that her returned books had been reshelved without being checked in.</p>

<p>(Hmmm…same kid seems to generate the most fees. Is it the school policy being wrong or…horrors! my kid?) ;)</p>

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<p>We got, oh, maybe $40 one year and the rest were a pittance. Not counting the time D2’s id card and keys slipped into the toilet and before she realized, she flushed. (Or, so she says.) They had to replace the locks and keys for all four in her room.</p>

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<p>If it’s that miserable, WHY is your D going there in the fall? Or did I misunderstand?</p>

<p>Fwiw, I never got charged while I was in the dorm. Doesn’t seem normal to me.</p>

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<p>It’s true, most of what I know is what my son has told me and 20 year olds aren’t always the best reporters. On the other hand, he has no reason to lie about any of it. Maybe the library book, but it would be unlike him. He’s also wicked protective of what’s his, so I’m sure he wouldn’t have loaned out his id card - it’s the same card as the one he swipes to pay for things on campus. We’re not a wealthy family and he knows that he’d better stretch every penny.</p>

<p>As for transferring, my son’s freshman year, 1st semester was great. They had actual cooks working in the dining halls - if you wanted a cheeseburger they threw one on the grill and made it right in front of you. They had a salad bar, fresh fruit, and healthy choices. But something happened midway through the year - suddenly the cooks were gone and they had been replaced by what my son describes as “sketchy” people. Suddenly their choices were fatty fried foods, canned fruit & veggies, various “casseroles,” and overcooked meats - all sitting for hours under heat lamps. The staff went from friendly to surly overnight. The prices were not reduced.</p>

<p>The reason my son did not transfer originally was because transferring is complicated. You have to leave behind the friends you made, go through the research process again, apply again, face rejection again, and in the end you don’t know whether what you end up with will be any better. I pushed him to try, but it was his choice and he decided against it last year. This year he has been accepted to the University of Oslo to study for a semester and he’s really excited about that.</p>

<p>I know it’s been 30 years since I was in college, but I’m amazed that things have changed as much as they have. We weren’t considered “renters” in our dorms, we were “residents.” We had a full time janitor but we still got our butts kicked if somebody puked in the hallway and nobody cleaned it up. We did not get a bill. Not only were we encouraged to decorate our rooms, but the art museum on campus had a “loaner” program in case you didn’t have enough posters. Our dorms were never, ever unlocked. I’m not even sure it was possible to unlock a door. If you propped one it would deafen everybody in the building and summon the campus police. Dining hall food, on the other hand, was pretty much what Mikey’s eating now, and it was served by “sketchy” people, but we were never promised anything different.</p>

<p>Furthermore, though student/staff ratios were similar, my college had easily 3 or 4 times the course offerings, a larger campus, better dormitories, and all in all better facilities.</p>

<p>Tuition + Room + Board at Wellesley College in 1983: roughly $10,000
Tuition + Room + Board + Fees at this school: roughly $50,000</p>

<p>It’s the 21st century. Where are the security cameras? Where are those 1983 doors that don’t unlock no matter what you do? Where’s all that extra money going? To the landscapers? </p>

<p>We had worse problems with our oldest daughter’s college. The youngest didn’t have so many choices - she’s going to a school we’re familiar with. It has plenty of problems of its own, and it’s not the one I would have chosen for her, but at least it’s a devil we know. I just wanted to know that I wasn’t the only one pulling my hair out…</p>

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<p>Thoughts?</p>

<p>■■■■■.</p>

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<p>If the dorm contract you signed says all students must pay for community damage, and if it was known ahead of time the doors would be unlocked, you are stuck with your contract. Otherwise, you can sue the school in small claims court.
If he didn’t check the book out, they can’t charge him. Ask them for proof. Appeal upward if needed.
For the wall painting, again, refer to your contract.</p>

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<p>Drastic cutbacks in the food service happened at my college in 1974-75. The contractor even had to raise the costs to keep up the new minimal level. I don’t recall the details, but there was some horrible financial issue with the parent company that could not have been easily predicted by an outsider.</p>

<p>Did your son have the option of living off campus? What about when he gets back from his term abroad? That may be the best solution.</p>

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<p>I’ll weigh in on the book check out. The library could have made a mistake. If he checked out a book and then the next person’s card was NOT scanned, the book would have been checked out on his card. I work at a library and made this mistake once or twice by accident, but fortunately caught it myself before the person left the desk. Our system has an automatic erase feature where it goes back to the blank check out screen after a minute or two of not being used so it makes it harder to do, but if you are busy at the desk, it could easily happen. This is why we do not have volunteers checking out books at our library, it’s too easy to make this kind of mistake and unless one gets a receipt and looks at it, you would never know.</p>

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<p>Its good you paid the library fine.
[Mother</a> of 5 jailed for failing to return ‘Twilight’ book, movie to library - KCPQ](<a href=“http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-mother-of-5-jailed-for-failing-to-return-twilight-book-movie-to-library-20120628,0,1725824.story]Mother”>http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-mother-of-5-jailed-for-failing-to-return-twilight-book-movie-to-library-20120628,0,1725824.story)
But if the walls needed painting before he moved in, that should have been taken care of then.
I’m surprised that a private school is nickel & diming you. Our experience has been that the private school included visits to the school health clinic, learning support coach & counseling amongst other things in tuition & room/board.
It was the public school that had activity fees, and technology fees, fees for transportation & fees for clubs.
My youngest lives off campus and only takes lunch on campus at her public school, although there are several places to eat.
The cafeteria selection you mention when our son first began school, sounds like at the oldests school. Just one cafeteria, but several stations where they would make you want you wanted as well as some serve yourself soup, salad & pizza stations.
D said the food was better around parent visit days which I believe, but I also visited when it wasn’t family weekend.</p>

<p>Re study abroad, I would double & triple check that all the credits earned at U of O will be transferable to his degree, before he goes. I have known several of my friends kids who studied abroad, and then found they had to take those classes over again at their university.</p>

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<p>I’d be rather concerned about a dorm building being unlocked all day. I didn’t think any colleges anywhere did that. Every one I’ve seen requires a card swipe to enter the building.</p>

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<p>I was a college student myself once, and back in the 80s never once had a floor fine. Wet dorm, but never went out to find puke in the hallway. I don’t want to say kids are different, because they’re not, but what they’ve been allowed to get away has changed.</p>

<p>I’ve been in higher Ed 21 years now, and I do have to say the incidents of vandalism have increased. Incidents of hallway vomit, and, um, bad bathroom behavior have increased, necessitating the need for floor fines. My office was on the first floor of a dorm for a while. We had trash shoots avaiable until several (for lack of a better term) urine bombs were dropped down it. Now the trash shoots are locked. Bottom line, students room fees don’t give them license to behave like animals. D had a $10 floor fine for something digusting that happened in the bathroom. Yeah, I wish whoever did it had been raised better, BUT I also don’t think the housekeeper should just clean it up and let everybody go about their business.</p>

<p>I don’t see anything terribly unusual about a dorm being unlocked during the day. Many have meeting or other common areas used by campus groups that might require access by members of the campus community who are not residents. Being open 24 hours would concern me.</p>