Rethinking finances to cover private school

[cricketwife]

Apr 27, 2022 12:36:42 GMT -5 lessel said:

jinkies Thanks for sharing that. I am going to do the financial aid application, although from talking to the admissions director of the less expensive school, I don't think their scholarships are typically that large. That school specializes serving LD/ADHD students. Their reading curriculum is Wilson and they do extra intervention for the kids with dyslexia. The more expensive school exclusively focuses on dyslexia remediation (OG) and other language-learning disabilities.

I am looking at cutting back on some summer camps this year, but on the other hand, if we choose the less expensive school, the more expensive school offers a 3-week summer program that's worth considering to supplement.

tacokick I haven't gone in that direction yet. I'm working with another local parent who's been through the wringer with the school district as a bit of a guide. So that's not off the table as a next step.

Earlier upthread I say that I wouldn't consider the 34K school simply due to cost.  That was kind of knee-jerk (these are both a 'fuckton of money' as has been pointed out).  I'm a big fan of OG and would absolutely consider that school as well.  I hope you are able to figure out the finances for whatever placement will serve your child best. 

[niq]

I didn't see the PDQ issues, I know you've posted before but I'm not sure what the scale of the current problems are. Just in general, I would give the process at least a year to see if there's forward progress within the school system.

Is your kid summer school eligible this year?

I have done this exercise for our finances and it's not pretty. We would have to either defer retirement contributions (we're ahead of the Fidelity targets at least for now) or stop everything fun: very little travel, fewer summer camps, cut back on clothes and general shopping spending, no big ticket purchases or home maintenance. We do a lot of child enrichment outside of school, and we'd have to rely on the private school to provide those sorts of activities. 

If you go the private school route, I think a housing change to reduce costs and/or shorten commutes might be the best thing in your current situation. If your college savings goal is in-state vs out of state/private, you can maybe pause the contributions there and catch up later.

[lessel]

Apr 28, 2022 7:02:50 GMT -5 numbers said:

I think we're in the same area and familiar with those schools. (W and S? I can DD.)

My DD1 goes to a different private school but I know they're all big on financial assistance. The first thing I would do is reach out to the financial aid office at both schools and explain your situation- that you weren't planning on going the private school route but it's best for your child, etc.

Just PMed you the schools.

[ohgillian]

lessel, upthread you asked about categorizing expenses and how at one store like costco it could be multiple types of things.

I have found it helpful to categorize in broad categories to help me see where money is going generally. Like I have one category called something like, "supplies and food" and it's groceries, target, costco, etc. Yes, sometimes I get DD clothes at Target, but I'm not going to knock myself out splitting it up to that level.

[sdlaura]

We considered private school for one or both of our older kids during the pandemic. My oldest son especially struggled with lack of in person school and would definitely benefit from smaller class sizes long-term. We spend quite a bit on vacations each year (because four kids) and on extras like date night/weekend babysitters. And things like aftercare and summer camps that we could have cut back on since we have some WFH flexibility. So those would have been the first to go.

One thing we were considering was religious schools, even though we’re not religious, because cost was lower than independent schools. I don’t know if there are any programs that might work for your son at religious less expensive schools. But I also wonder if there may be programs at other public schools that would be free, as a PP suggested, and preferable to your current public school. I would probably consider moving to a different district with better programs vs spending $300k over the next 10 years (or whatever) for private school. For us, we felt like we’d have to give up a lot of things that bring our family joy in order to swing it.

[waverly]

Did you have a 504 at the public school?  If not, I would start working that system.  Is the public school so bad as to be unworkable?  

Also, I do know people whose public school pays for their child to go to a therapeutic day school, and that kid does have ADHD.  For that cost, if he truly needs to leave public school, I would do a lot to force them into paying for it because they can't meet his needs.  It is doable in some areas, but might be different based on the state and district that you are in.  

[lessel]

waverly - We had a 504 established in K into 1st grade and transitioned to IEP in January. We probably should have been on an IEP in K but his K teacher said he was on grade level in reading at the time of our 504 meeting (late April). Then in May he suddenly ended the school year below grade level with "N" scores in reading and writing. We've honestly kind of been getting the runaround since then.

[krystee]

Is there a public school district anywhere around you that is known for good support for ADHD? For example, ours is really good, but a neighboring one is not known to be great. I might consider a move to a district where I could keep school free but get significantly better resources, if I could find a place like that. Or maybe the district would pay for school in another district if they can’t meet the needs so you don’t have to move?