After about two weeks after I paid the tuition in full I went to a few dinners and events and realized we had made a mistake and that this was NOT the school we thought it was. We had also been told about some serious issues they had with bullying which terrified us as that is exactly what we were trying to stay away from. We decided to keep our daughter at the same school she was at. I was devastated when they told me they would not give me one penny back. Not one. I had paid for the computer deposit...field trips..bus fees. We all know her spot was filled as there was a waiting list. Not one dime back. $33,000 dollars...gone. I am sick. I asked them to at least send me a charitable donation receipt so I could write the cost off. No response. I asked if they could use the money to scholarship another student that did not have the funds. Nothing. My attorney has written three letters now requesting a charitable donation receipt. Nothing. This situation has consumed me and I honestly don't know what to do. THEY ARE NOT KEEPING THE MONEY BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO. THEY ARE KEEPING IT BECAUSE THEY CAN. The blessing here is that my daughter will not be going to this school. But how can they get away with this? Let me write it off!!!!
THEN:
FACEBOOK: Those who have been following our situation with WILLOWS SCHOOL you know we had asked them to take the $33,000 and use it as a a charitable donation and to provide a child in need with the expense of an education beyond their means. We also asked for a charitable donation receipt. They said no. No on both ends. They also claimed that our 12 emails had been lost in the shuffle:
Dear Ms. Pollack,
My apologies for the delayed response to your email below. Kim Feldman forwarded your email to me last month and I thought I had sent you a reply but cannot locate it. I understand your desire to at least be able to take the tuition payment and apply it as a charitable contribution, however, we are unable to accommodate your request. As a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation, we cannot move funds from a revenue account to a donations account. If we were to get audited by the IRS and it was discovered that we were doing so, we would lose or 501(c)3 status.
Denise Gutches
Our response:
Dear Ms. Gutches:
As I believe you know from our previous correspondence with your colleagues, we are the attorneys for Ms. Rachel Pollack who has forwarded us a copy of your email of September 2 declining to provide her with written confirmation of a charitable contribution in the amount of her $33,000 payment to Willows, which was her effort to try to at least reduce (not entirely as she would still absorb the after-tax cost) her substantial damage from this fiasco. Hopefully you will understand that this result is unacceptable.
Regardless of the internal characterization by your organization, it is undisputed that 100% of the funds paid by Ms. Pollack are now available without restriction for use by the school. Your website does not make any distinction between what you describe as your "Revenue Account" and your "Donation Account", but instead solicits what are highlighted as "tax deductible" contributions to support "the portion of the budget not covered by tuition dollars"; one account apparently merely rolls over into the other to support the general purposes of your institution. The website specifically promises that "a tax receipt will follow by mail" so no doubt the process is routine and simple.
If somehow the precise form of the transaction is critical to the tax-deductible treatment, this "form over structure" approach could be simply achieved by your organization paying $33,000 to Ms. Pollack in settlement of the pending dispute and Ms. Pollack would agree concurrently to pay back to your entity as you direct an equivalent amount, to be supported by the requisite tax document from you.
If you have other suggestions as to how to achieve the same result we are obviously open to considering alternate approaches provided Ms. Pollack is not unduly and unnecessarily penalized by your policies which to our understanding have no connection whatsoever to the practicalities of funding of your organization's activities and to this juncture have resulted in a substantial forfeiture of our client's precious funds.
All rights, positions and remedies reserved.
Very truly yours,
This letter was sent four times now and the school will not respond.
"The thing that concerns me the most about this is if YOU can't get them to reverse their decisions, and all of your lawyers can't get them to even respond, what hope does a person who has few means or connections have of ever getting proper treatment from a school like this." - Heather Davis
"They should at least have refunded part of it. What a crock of crap, I consider it stealing myself" - Niki Wiele
"I work at a pre school so j will def let my parents know where to not to send there kids for elementary school" - Rachel Phillips read more