R400k school fees debt case: Parents claim public school ‘unsuitable’ as it’s not predominantly white

Parents of a schoolgirl formerly enrolled at St Cyprian’s School in the Western Cape have been ordered by the Western Cape High Court to find an alternative school for their daughter after losing a court bid last week over school fees.

The parents challenged the school’s decision not to re-enrol their daughter for the next academic year, despite owing R407,902.15 in unpaid fees.

St Cyprian’s is an independent school that does not receive government funding and relies solely on school fees and donations to operate.

The payment of school fees and the quantum thereof year on year was (and continues to be) regulated by an enrolment contract.

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This contract stipulated that the child’s enrolment at the school was dependent on the parents timeously paying for school and related fees.

“Undoubtedly, the contract of enrolment records that a failure to pay the school fees following the agreed contractual terms constitutes a breach of the contract, which, if unremedied (and if these fees remained unpaid), would inevitably result in the exclusion of the respondent’s daughter from the applicant school,” reads the court papers.

School fees not paid

The parents did acknowledge their debt, but never paid.

Over several years, the school tried to accommodate the parents and from time to time, engaged with the first respondent, the father, to restructure the payment of the debt.

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During the court hearing, he conceded that affordability was the issue and that he could not pay the outstanding debt.

“It is common cause on the papers that the first respondent has not adhered to these agreements and has failed to comply with the payment terms he agreed to concerning the payment of the arrears due regarding his daughter’s school fees,” reads court papers.

He had been in arrears over four years and a payment plan was negotiated by agreement about four years ago.

“After that, a plethora of correspondence followed concerning the payment of arrear school fees, and the first respondent did not comply with the undertakings given by him.

“The modus operandi of non-payment and broken undertakings continued during this school year.”

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The father also refused to sign the most recent restructuring agreement, which had been drafted in a last-ditch effort to record in writing the terms of the most recent agreement between the school and the father to ensure his daughter is enrolled for next year.

Alternative school ‘unsuitable’

The school then took steps to procure the enrolment of the daughter in an alternative school for the upcoming school year.

This alternative school is a government-subsidised school and is in the same suburb where their son attends school.

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This reserved place at the alternative school remains open for acceptance by the daughter.

“Surprisingly and unashamedly, the first respondent says that this alternative school is ‘unsuitable’ because this school is not predominantly white, and this does not align with his daughter’s cultural values,” said Judge J Wille.

In his last effort to win the case, the father submitted that he was “coerced” into signing the acknowledgement of debt and the other supporting documents in which he undertook to pay the outstanding amounts due to the school.

“The arguments made by the respondents to the relief sought by the applicant were challenging to understand,” said the judge.

“The applicant had a good case. The first respondent’s case was not good. Thus, I granted the interdict sought by the applicant, preventing the respondents from enrolling their minor child at the applicant’s school for the next school year. I also granted an order for the first respondent to repay the arrear school fees with interest.”

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The judge, however, dismissed the school’s request for a costs order saying the father was in a difficult financial position.