Private school parent can’t get refund despite disagreeing with its COVID-19 policy

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — A parent who reportedly pays $30,000 in yearly tuition to the Colorado Springs School says he’s stuck sending his child to a school he doesn’t trust.

"My primary concern is that the school administration is dismissive," Patrick Pelanne said.

Pelanne's son is a freshman at The Colorado Springs School. Unlike public schools, CSS does not offer remote learning plans. In an effort to keep himself and his son safe, Pelanne says he offered to donate money to CSS to pay for test kits at the school.

In emails provided to KRDO, the head of CSS told Pelanne the school would not be testing on-site because it provides a “false sense of security.”

"I come from pretty humble backgrounds," Pelanne said. "I -- at one point in my life was near homeless. So I'm trying to use the money I made to give him whatever advantage I can give him."

Despite being a private school, CSS says it is operating in correspondence with El Paso County Public Health guidelines. The Colorado Springs School sent students home Monday for two weeks of temporary e-learning after its first positive coronavirus case. In-person learning is scheduled to resume two weeks later.

“I’m stuck here,” Pelanne said. “I have asthma and I’ve gotta send this kid to a place where I don’t trust but I’ve already paid the 30K for it.“

Tambi Tyler, head of CSS, told KRDO there are options for parents to get out of their contracts. However, it does not involve a 100% refund. Tyler says it’s impossible to please all families right now.

“There are no refunds for parents who disagree with her policies,” Pelanne said. “I pre-paid the whole 30K in cash at the beginning of the year. But when she made her decision to go back to in-person learning, I asked what the refund policy is. She said there is none.”

According to its website, one year of tuition at CSS costs as much as $30,200 for an international student.

On Aug. 19, CSS updated its COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions page. It reads, in part:

“Per the annual terms of enrollment, a family is still obligated to pay the tuition and fees for the 2020-2021 school year. No refunds or discounts will be offered as the school’s expenses are fixed well in advance of the school year.”

The Colorado Springs School

The Colorado Springs School says its decision not to test at the school is in accordance with El Paso County Public Health guidelines. El Paso County Public Health provided KRDO this statement:

“While testing asymptomatic individuals can be useful in high-risk outbreak settings like nursing homes and other congregate living situations, it has limited utility in the general public. A test result can only provide a point-in-time indicator of disease status, but doesn’t provide information on if a person was exposed or if a person is incubating the virus and will be infectious in the immediate future. In addition to these limitations, the test is not as effective at detecting disease in asymptomatic people and can be more likely to produce a false negative result.”

El Paso County Public Health