Homeschool Co-op Refund Policy: What Happens When a Family Leaves Mid-Term

A homeschool co-op's refund policy should say which fees come back if a family leaves partway through a term. It should also say until what date, and who can make an exception. On co-ops' own public pages, some groups keep every fee once the term has started. One gives everything back if a family withdraws in its first two weeks. Most keep the registration fee, and most won't refund supplies that have already been bought. There's no right answer, only a clear one. Choose your rule, write it down, and put it in front of every family before anyone pays. A short policy to copy is further down.

What happens to the fee when a family leaves mid-term?

Picture November in a small Waldorf-inspired co-op. The lanterns are made, the Martinmas walk is next week, and one family tells the coordinator they're moving across the state. Their share of the hall rent is paid for the term. The wool for their children's finger knitting, the beeswax and the watercolor paper were bought in August. Somebody still has to take over their job of leading the painting on alternate Tuesdays.

Whether their fee comes back depends on one thing: what your group wrote down before September. If nothing was written, the coordinator has to decide on the spot, usually for a friend. That's the conversation a refund policy saves you.

What real co-ops' refund policies say

These come from co-ops' own public handbooks and fee pages. They're larger groups than most Waldorf-inspired co-ops, and none of them is Waldorf-inspired, but between them they show every shape a refund rule takes.

Co-op	What it says about refunds
A co-op in Washington	Full refund if a family withdraws before the semester starts or within its first 2 weeks. No refund after the second week.
An enrichment group in Minnesota	Membership fee refunded, minus a $5 processing fee, if a family cancels before a set date (September 1 for the fall). Refunded in full if the co-op cancels all of a family's courses. After a class's minimum date, each instructor sets their own rule, and most refund the classes left, minus supplies.
A co-op in South Carolina	Tuition refundable up to a date in July. After that, the whole year's tuition is owed. Enrolment and supply fees are never refunded. The board can make hardship exceptions, such as a job loss or a job move more than 50 miles away, on a written request.
A co-op in Missouri	Families may withdraw at any time but get no refund once the session has begun. The board can make exceptions case by case.
A co-op in Arizona	No refund for classes after the first day.
A co-op in Pennsylvania	"All fees paid are nonrefundable." Supply fee refunds are considered only before classes start, and only if materials haven't been bought.
A co-op in Ohio	A $70 registration fee and a $50 deposit per paid class, both non-refundable.

Sources: each co-op's own page, listed in the sources for this article.

Why so many co-ops say no refunds

The co-ops that don't refund tend to explain themselves, and the reason is nearly always the same. Two Arizona co-ops say they run on a tight budget. Money "comes in and goes out almost immediately." Teachers buy supplies based on how many children are enrolled, and contracted teachers are paid for the whole semester on the first day of classes. The Pennsylvania co-op says fees are paid "to have a spot in the organization and pay for expenses, like class materials."

A small parent-led co-op is in the same position, only more so. When 6 families split the cost of a hall and a box of beeswax, one family leaving in October means the other 5 pay more, or the co-op runs short before spring. A refund policy isn't only about the family who goes. It protects the families who stay.

Choose one of three shapes

Most refund policies are one of these. Choose the one that fits how your group spends its money.

1. No refund once the term starts. Simple, and common on the pages above. It suits a co-op that pays its hall and buys its supplies before the first day. Pair it with a hardship line, so the group can still be kind.
2. A grace window. A full or partial refund for the first 2 weeks, then nothing. The Washington co-op works this way. It gives a family time to see whether the group suits their child. That matters in a Waldorf-inspired co-op, where a young child may take a few weeks to settle into circle and story.
3. A refund for the weeks left. The family gets back the share of the term fee for the weeks they won't come, minus the supply fee and the registration fee. It's the most generous shape and the most work for whoever keeps the accounts.

Whichever you choose, treat the registration fee and the supply fee separately from the term fee. Almost every co-op above keeps the registration fee. For supplies, the fairest cut-off is the day you buy them. Carol Topp, a CPA who writes for homeschool groups, describes one co-op that keeps supply fees refundable until a set date in August, after which the teachers spend them.

A short refund policy to copy

Change the brackets to suit your group. Keep it short enough that a family reads all of it.

Our refund policy

• Registration fee ([$__] per family): not refunded. It holds your place and pays for [the hall booking and insurance].
• Supply fee ([$__] per child): refunded in full if you tell us before [date], the day we buy wool, beeswax, paper and paints. After that it isn't refunded, because your child's supplies are already bought.
• Term fee: if you leave in the first [2] weeks of term, we refund [all of it / all but the supply fee]. After that, [we don't refund it / we refund the weeks left].
• Joining late: families who join mid-term pay [the full term fee / for the weeks left] and the full supply fee.
• If the co-op cancels: we don't refund single days lost to weather or illness. If we cancel the rest of a term or close, we refund the weeks we don't hold.
• Hardship: if something hard happens, such as a job loss, illness or a move, talk to [the coordinator]. [The leaders / the whole group] can make an exception, and we'll keep it private.
• Leaving: tell [the coordinator] in writing, with [2] weeks' notice if you can, and help us find someone to take on your job.

Agreed by the families of [co-op name] on [date].

What the policy can't refund

Money is the easy part. A family who goes also takes a pair of hands with them. If that parent told the main lesson story, or set out the painting boards, the gap is felt the next week. That's why the last line of the policy above asks for notice and help handing over the job. Our guide to co-op parent jobs has a simple way to share the jobs out again.

It's also worth thinking about the children. A child who has sung the same morning verse with the same friends since September notices when a family stops coming. You might give the leaving family a last morning, with a song at closing circle, so the goodbye is part of the rhythm and not a gap in it.

Where to put it

The refund policy belongs in three places:

• Your handbook, under money, next to the fees. The co-op handbook outline has a place for it.
• The registration form, as a line each family ticks or signs to say they've read it. Our guide to co-op waivers and forms covers what else goes on that form.
• Your budget. If you refund, keep a little aside to do it. The co-op budget guide covers how much to keep in reserve.

Set the policy at the same time as the fee. Our co-op fees guide shows what co-ops charge and what the money covers. Read the policy aloud at your first meeting of the year, so nobody meets it for the first time in November.

A refund policy is an agreement between families, and for a small informal group that's usually all it needs to be. If your co-op is incorporated or large, have your state homeschool association or a lawyer read it over. For the wider picture of starting a group, see our co-ops and pods guide.