The role and responsibilities of parents

 

Parents are informed when registering with the school about the types of activities their child has access to or is expected to participate in. The school is encouraged to clarify activities in particular with an increased risk.

It must be clearly stated what permission is given for the general registration for the school or for a specific line, and what permission must be given on an ongoing basis during the school year.

Insurance conditions are also explained when registering. Under accident insurance, the school can either

1. Encourage parents to make sure the student is covered by a privately taken out accident insurance

2. the school may choose to require it and have the parents confirm to the school that they have such insurance

3. or the school may choose to take out a student accident insurance

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Ethics and contract for students and parents

 

A boarding school stay is legally an agreement between

the school and the parents that the school makes a boarding school stay available to the pupil and the parents ‘deliver’ the student for the stay as well as the agreed payment.

The agreement between the boarding school and the parents about the boarding school's stay is regulated by the general contract law in Denmark. This means, among other things, that there is freedom to agree on the terms that the parties may agree on and that agreements entered into are binding. Likewise, the law regulates the possibility to change or override concluded agreements.

 

The fact that the boarding school is a free school implies that  in order to become a student you must apply to the school about this, and that one is only admitted as a student when the school has given notice thereof. This notice should be available in writing.

 

In other words, an agreement must be entered into between the student /

parents and the individual school about the boarding school stay. This agreement will typically consist of i.a. an application and an actual subsequent written agreement and regulates together with the legal requirements for teaching and the relationship between the school and the parents about what expectations and requirements they may have

each other. The agreement will i.a. deal with terms of payment for the stay, conditions and conditions for interruption of the stay, etc.

 

The school must be expected to be ready in communication, if there are significant changes in the school's offerings, eg significant changes in lines or profile subjects in relation

to what the student has previously been faced with. Conversely, the school must be able to expect the parents to be informed prior to the conclusion of the agreement relevant matters concerning the student, including whether any significant disabilities, diseases, behavioral or learning difficulties or other conditions; and issues that will be of significant importance

for the student's daily life at school so that the school can take this into account.

 

For something to be an agreement, it must be accepted by both parties. This is usually done by agreement signed. As the school has prepared and handed out the material, it will usually be sufficient for the contracting party - the parents - to sign.

 

 

However, it follows from the Parental Responsibility Act that parents who have joint custody must agree on the choice of school. To avoid doubt about the agreement, it is recommended that both parents have signed both the application and the agreement. The boarding school should therefore seek an explanation if both parents have not signed. Likewise, the signature of both parents ensures that they are both willing to pay for the stay. Demands for payment can only be pursued against the person who has entered into the agreement. In some cases, only one parent is responsible for the payment. In such cases, the agreement should state that the other parent, with his / her signature, declares that he or she agrees with the school choice, but does not guarantee

payments

 

A student attending the boarding school is enrolled in one of the school courses. The boarding school law requires that school courses be open to all who meet the age requirements (14-17 years at beginning of the course) or have completed 8 years of schooling or 7th grade. Students who have reached the age of 18 before the course

begins, can only be admitted to the school if it is recommended by UU or PPR.

Participation in a course may not be made conditional on certain knowledge, education, skills, experience, race, religion or the like or on membership of certain associations or organizations. The school can therefore not reject or sort applicants on the basis of e.g. membership of sports clubs or religious observance or on the basis of their musical or sporting abilities.

 

A school can, of course, be fully occupied and therefore say no to more students. A school must admit both girls and boys, but may have filled up of one sex and therefore only have vacancies for the opposite sex.

 

If the school does not have more vacancies for the school year, the confirmation of receipt of the application must either contain a rejection or a rejection combined with offers on admission to the waiting list.

 

If a student before school starts regrets and do not want to start the course, there is talk

about breach of contract on the part of the parents. In principle, the school can claim compensation in these cases for the loss that can be documented. This is modified

However, in practice, as it is firstly difficult to document the size of the loss and secondly would could result in unreasonably high compensation, which would be overruled by the courts. In order to avoid doubt as to the consequences of deregistration, instead, the written agreement includes a provision that a cancellation payment must be made of a certain size.

If a deposit has been paid, the cancellation payment can be set off against this, as the deposit has just been provided as security for the student's / parents' obligations to the school.

Withdrawal can be due to various reasons, ranging from the student regretting going to the boarding school, choosing another boarding school, illness, accident, etc., which may give rise to considerations about not charging the withdrawal fee. If, for example, a student is still unable to take full advantage of the boarding school stay in question due to a long-term illness or sports injury, this may be relevant. Other times, the boarding school experiences that students who have said yes to the place jump out because they are offered a place at another boarding school. This latter case can complicate the planning of the school year and will not normally give rise to waiving the collection of the cancellation fee.

 

Withdrawal during the school year  will most often be justified in the student's / family's personal circumstances. For example, homesickness, lack of well-being at school, illness, or the family having to move abroad. Most often, the withdrawal will be with short or immediate

effect. Here, the parents basically have to pay the interruption fee agreed in the contract. There can, however, be cases, e.g. in connection with the student's illness, where the after-school center should consider whether the collection of interruption fees should be omitted.

 

If a student does not show up at the start of the course, there is a breach of contract on the part of the student / parents, and the school can demand compensation for the loss it can document. At the same time, however, the school is obliged to seek to limit its losses - typically by filling the vacant space as soon as possible to another party. If it is not possible to fill the place with another student, the school suffers a fairly large loss, as the boarding school course is then completed with a vacant place, which means both lack of school fees and lack of state subsidies. Such a loss cannot be fully claimed against the parents. To avoid discussion of calculating the amount of this loss, the school should include in the agreement a provision on what amount the parents must pay in this situation. If a deposit has been paid and school fees paid in advance, the absence payment can be set off against this, as the deposit has just been provided as security for the pupil's / parents' obligations to the school.

 

 

According to the Boarding School Act, the school fees, also called the student payment, must at least be the amount stated in the annual finance laws (in 2021 DKK 2,420 per week). On the other hand, according to the law, the weekly price of the individual school must not be significantly above the average for the type of school.

 

It follows from the principles of contract law that all compulsory expenses for the boarding school stay incl. expenses for materials, especially sportswear, excursions, trips abroad, etc. must be stated in the school contract. The student must therefore be able to complete the boarding school stay for the stated payment, and the school will not be entitled to charge additional payment without agreement with the parents.

 

In addition to paying for the boarding school stay, there may of course be voluntary extra expenses for the student such as especially boarding school clothes for that year at

the boarding school or pocket money on travel.

 

The boarding school applies on behalf of the student / parents for state student support. Student support is calculated on the basis of the parents' income (if they are married or cohabiting) or the income of the parent and his or her potential cohabitants (household income) in the household where the student has a population register address. Both must sign an application form. The support is calculated on the basis of the income in the calendar year 2 years prior to the start of the course. Thus, a potential cohabitant's income is included in the calendar year 2 years prior to the start of the course. This also applies even if the person who is living with the parent at the beginning of the course was not living with the parent in the calendar year on which the calculation is based. The decisive factor for whether the cohabitant's income is included in the calculation is thus that the cohabitant is cohabiting with the parent at the beginning of the course, and not whether this was in the calculation year 2 years earlier. In all cases, it is a requirement that the student completes at least 2 weeks of post-secondary education in order for state student support to be provided. If the income basis is in the highest interval (i.e. where the lowest student support is provided), it is a prerequisite that the student has completed at least 5 weeks of the course in order for state student support to be provided.

 

For students who do not receive state student support (e.g. foreign students), however, the deductible must be at least half of that stipulated in the Finance Act minimum student payment. In the school year 2021/2022, half of the minimum student payment is DKK 1,210 per year. week. The boarding school law does not set specific conditions for when a school can reduce student fees. The school's decision in this regard cannot be appealed to a second instance. If parents wish to appeal the school's decision, this can only be done to the school's board and thus not to, for example, the Ministry of Education or other agencies.

A student must be willing to follow the rules

the school at which the student is admitted. At the same time, sanctions for a student's impulsive or ill-considered actions should be proportionate to the nature, cause and extent of the offense. An expulsion is a violent consequence for the student, and the experience can leave long-lasting negative traces. This ultimate sanction should therefore be done with caution and consideration on the part of the school and only after the boarding school has had to give up resolving the situation by pedagogical means.

 

Expulsion will usually be due to the student having violated the school's written rules.

Such rules should in part be contained in the written agreement and, on the one hand, they should provide for what consequences violation - or repeated violations - can / will lead to. Otherwise, the school will subsequently have difficulty in justifying the expulsion.

 

Repatriation of a thinker

• An opportunity for the student to consider his situation in continuation of a violation of school rules.

• The period should not exceed 1 week - preferably shorter. and Should not prevent the student from attending camp schools etc.

 

Expulsion

• Expulsion can only take place after consulting the student and in close contact with the parents.

• The school retains the supervisory obligation until the student is picked up by the parents, or another agreement has been made with the parents.

• In expulsion situations, only after concrete assessment in in each case, an interruption fee is charged.

 

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