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Q: What other options do I have other than FACTS?A: The only other option is to pay the entire school year tuition in advance prior to July 5 and indicate this on the FACTS AGREEMENT.Q: Since I am very uncomfortable giving my primary checking account information to third parties, how can I avoid doing this?A: You can set up a separate custodial account at your bank or financial institution and transfer into this account only the funds necessary for the withdrawals by FACTS in the amount and timing of your choice.Q: I've always paid by check and always on time. Why is Valley Christian Schools requiring me to do this against my will?A: We were confronted with the reality of having to initiate action in order to better manage our tuition collection process. Although the majority of parents pay in full and on time, the margin between what we charge for tuitions and what we pay out in salaries, text books, insurance and all of our associated costs is very narrow. If we have a bad month of collections, we get into financial difficulty very quickly and our teachers and suppliers rightly expect to be paid on time and with no exceptions. A few parents will not openly discuss this, but they will look to us to carry them if they are not able to make a payment on time, and we simply have no way of recouping those expenses once the school year is underway other than tuitions.Q: What is the biblical basis upon which this decision was based?A: There is an abundance of scripture that would instruct us to be faithful in stewardship and in the way in which we handle our finances, but it is self evident that we cannot provide an educational experience if the resources that support it do not match the resources that it costs to provide the service. We must pay our teachers and cover our expenses.
“ For the worker deserves his wages”. Luke 10:7.Q: What happens if I am transferred out of the area before the end of the school year, or my financial circumstances deteriorate and I am forced to withdraw my student from the school?
A: Just contact the school office or the accounting office. We can make changes in your account with as little as five days notice. We and you have the ability to communicate with FACTS and we will continue to be reasonable and responsive as circumstances change in the lives of our school families.Q: Why did we go to FACTS? It appears that you are saying that Valley Christian Center doesn’t trust parents to pay tuitions in a timely manner.
A: The fact is that the majority of parents pay their tuition in a very timely manner. Any problems that we have maintaining our cash flow is created by a very small percentage of parents. The additional problem is that we are not able to anticipate which parents will not be able to meet their obligation, because it can change at a moments notice and we are not allowed the liberty of not paying our suppliers and teachers when we have the funds. The teachers in particular have built their lives around the expectation that we will pay them on time, all of the time, and this we must do.Q: Why FACTS and not some other method?
A: FACTS is one of three entities that work collaboratively with us to insure that we provide a quality Christian Educational experience for your child. ACSI (our accrediting organization), ECCU (our banking organization) and FACTS (our collection organization) work jointly together to maintain the very highest quality educational experience at the lowest cost possible and consistent with maintaining prudent reserves in our financial structure. In 1997, ACSI recommended that we needed to look very hard at our cash flow and in 2004; we were very much behind the curve in implementing what had been recommended to us. Furthermore, we had a severe cash flow problem in 2002 that dramatically illustrated to us that we had to take steps to insure the viability of our ministries.Q: What would be the outcome if we did not implement FACTS?A: If we had not initiated the FACTS program, we would have had to continue involving the school administrators in the collection process. This is a very poor use of our valuable educators, and we belief that their time would be better spent improving the quality of our school educational programs. Furthermore, we have arrived at the point in our enrollment where we would have to add to our accounting staff in order to effectively process and manage close to 1400 individual accounts during the school year and multiple summer day camp accounts during the summer. There is no way we could do this as efficiently as FACTS.Q: What will happen if FACTS makes a mistake and withdraws more than they should? A: FACTS has a website www.factsmgt.com where you can log onto your account and review your history and payment status. Additionally, you can speak to one of the well trained FACTS representatives at 800-624-7092 Monday through Thursday, 7:30am-7:00pm (CT) and Friday, 7:30 am-5:00pm. Please have your FACTS access Code when you log on or call.
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