THE Jamaica Independent Schools Association (JISA) says it is unlikely that the private schools which have already discounted their fees for the summer term will make any further cuts as the term progresses.

The comment follows a swell of public discontent over the fact that some schools had only cut their fees by as little as five per cent for the term — which started Wednesday, April 22 and usually runs to the end of June or the first week of July.

Parents argued that the cuts do not adequately compensate for the physical closure of school plants in the marauding wake of the novel coronavirus, the associated discontinuation of certain programmes and activities, the reduced expenditure on utilities, or the fact that the responsibility of teaching has now fallen to them.

President of JISA Dr Faithlyn Wilson told the Jamaica Observer that while the association could not determine a percentage discount that would be considered reasonable for each of its member institutions, it was assured that cuts beyond those already offered would send schools into a tailspin.

“Higher discounts will undoubtedly result in some adjustments to human resources and therefore programmes. In addition, there is the risk of losing well-trained staff who would help to get regular schools up and running quickly post-COVID-19,” Dr Wilson said.

The JISA president, herself the principal of a private elementary school, explained that schools typically charge fees below the economic cost of running them because they are not profit-making institutions, but are instead focused on human development.

“Fees are supplemented with other income streams from sources such as the tuck shop and PTA [parent teachers association] fund-raisers, which have now dried up. Schools are already, therefore, operating at lowered incomes and need to maintain operations to be able to serve its students now and be around to continue to do so after COVID-19,” she argued.

On the matter of reduced utility costs, Dr Wilson explained that “utilities and overheads do not represent the higher costs of running a school. Human resource does”.

This is in tandem with the articulation by several schools in their letters to parents and guardians advising of the discounts.

For example, at Mona Preparatory, school board chairman, Joseph Taffe, wrote in an April 20 letter that, “Salaries account for approximately 85 per cent of our costs, with utilities, security, maintenance, etc, accounting for the balance.”

Mona has cut its fees by 27 per cent for kindergarten and 22 per cent for grades one to six.

Said Wilson: “JISA cannot determine one discount that will fit all schools as income and cost structures vary depending on the programmes offered, location, etc. Such arrangements are therefore best worked out between parents and school.

“[However], given the impact that private institutions have on the education sector and the need to have all hands on deck to help the sector recover post-COVID-19, schools, parents, and the Government should do all that is possible to keep private schools afloat. It’s a deepening of the partnership that is required at this time,” she added.

JISA represents some 150 private schools.

The organisation has, since schools were first mandated closed in March as a means of limiting the spread of the novel coronavirus, been petitioning the Ministry of Education to offer financial assistance to its members.

— Kimone Thompson