Retaliatory Preschool Policy

Location: New Jersey

In Feb 2025, a group of enrolled parents sent a professional letter to child's preschool director and administration. The letter raised a legitimate billing question: our enrollment contract requires full monthly tuition with "no prorations allowed" for school closures and holidays. However, during the school's scheduled February 16-20 closure, the academy offered "Break Camp" at an additional cost of $145 per day during regular school hours.

Our letter respectfully asked: If families already pay full tuition that accounts for closures, why are we being charged additional fees during those same closure periods? We proposed either tuition credits for families not attending camp, or allowing enrolled students to attend at no additional cost since tuition was already paid.

This was not a hostile communication. It was a group of parents seeking clarity on what appeared to be an inconsistent policy.

**The School's Response:**

Rather than address our billing concern, the school issued a "Parent Conduct & Communication Policy Addendum" that all families must now sign. This addendum:

1. Prohibits parents from "organizing, coordinating, or participating in group campaigns intended to challenge school policies"
   
2. States parents may not "represent themselves as speaking on behalf of other families" without written authorization
   
3. Prohibits "disseminating misinformation regarding school policies" (with the school having sole authority to define "misinformation")
   
4. Prohibits "involving staff or other parents in administrative disputes"
   
5. Requires all concerns be addressed "individually and respectfully" only through administration
   
6. Reserves the school's "sole right" to make all operational decisions
   

The letter our parent group sent would now be a policy violation under this addendum. The school has created a framework where the very act of organizing with other parents to raise shared concerns is grounds for your child's removal.

**Current Situation:**

I declined to sign the addendum because:
- It was not part of our original enrollment agreement
- It appears to be direct retaliation for protected consumer advocacy
- It contains provisions that likely violate NJ consumer protection law
- It silences legitimate parent concerns

As of Feb 20, 2026, the school has threatened my child's continued enrollment, despite being current on all payments and in full compliance with our original signed agreement.

What are my options as it doesn't seem legally something serious enough for a lawyer to take on. This has been a reoccuring issue with other parents in the past, but she has been able to successfully silence them as the administration is aware that parents want to prioritize their children and don't want to disrupt their education/childcare.