Sacramento Waldorf School

Review: We paid the tuition including tuition insurance protection plan to Sacramento Waldorf School on July 13, 2015 with the intention that our niece would start school in September 2015. However, things didn't work out as we planned. The student did not at any time attend even one hour of school at Waldorf.

The Tuition Protection Insurance that Waldorf provides is created to protect families in the event of early withdrawal. In such an instance, 60% of the remaining balance of tuition is refunded if a student withdraws from the School for any reason.

We have been trying to resolve this matter in a very reasonable manner but the School decides to ignore.Desired Settlement: Wardorf School should remit the refund immediately along with an explanation for the fee.

Business

Response:

Sacramento Waldorf School (SWS) received the above-referenced complaint and appreciates the opportunity to respond. We understand the prospective student’s family member complains they did not timely receive a partial refund of tuition after their niece failed to appear for classes in 2015. The student/family applied and was accepted to SWS as an international student and SWS issued an I-20 visa for the complainant’s high school aged niece. SWS was advised the student entered the country using the I-20 issued by SWS, however, the student failed to appear at SWS and never attended classes as required under her I-20. The complainant, a relative of the student who was not a party to the school admission agreement, requested a refund four months after the student entered the United States. Neither the complainant nor the family have responded to our requests for explanation of their non-compliance with ICE regulations. It is our understanding the student remains in the country and is required to leave the USA. In accordance with the school’s obligations to ICE we are referring this matter to the Field Representative, Northern California, and Territory 5 for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) - US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The request for a refund came from the person filing the complaint but they are not the person financially responsible per the admission agreement signed with SWS. The parents in China are to receive the refund per their agreement with SWS. As we informed the complainant - in December 2015 – the school needed additional time to determine to whom, and how, to refund the portion of tuition due per the terms of the tuition protection insurance. Once we determined to who and how the refund was to be completed we requested the third party provider of the tuition insurance plan issue the refund. It was our understanding (after many conversations) that the refund was issued. Upon receipt of this complaint to Revdex.com we investigated and were told the refund was not yet issued by the tuition insurance group to the responsible party. We have confirmed the refund is now being issued. The failure of the student/family to comply with I-20 requirement and attend classes as an admitted international student, along with the refund request coming from a family member who was not a party to the admission agreements, caused some delay beyond what would normally be expected in effectuating a tuition refund under our tuition protection insurance plan. SWS regrets any inconvenience this issue may have caused but we believe the response time was reasonable given the complicating factors in this instance. Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions or concerns regarding this matter. [redacted]Business Manager[redacted]