Can My Kid Still Attend Private School After Divorce?

Divorcing parents can have an especially difficult time in the courtroom because of potential disagreements on how to raise the child after separation. Parenting will not be the same after you two split, and conflicts will arise on what changes are necessary for your kid’s future.

One of the most hotly debated topics for a parental divorce court is the child’s education. If you were sending them to a private school prior to the divorce, your spouse may not think it’s the best option to keep them there. They may think that it is better to send them to a less expensive public school or try to get them to a facility closer to them. This is not an easy debate for any Californian parent to win, so you need to know what factors will influence the court’s decision on this topic.

Divorce can take a heavy toll on you and your spouse’s financial assets. California’s expensive real estate will not help in the matter either. If you want to continue sending your child to a private school, you will need to consider how well you and your spouse will be financially after the separation. This will depend on who retains primary custody of the child and how much child support needs to be paid.

If your kid was already attending a private school prior to the divorce, you may already have an advantage in the argument. Most courts believe that the less drastic the changes that occur in the child’s life after the proceedings, the better. Changing schools means living in a different town and no longer having the same friends and teachers that they grew up with. Courts are aware on how rough the process is for the child, so they may be more inclined to side with you to make the post-divorce adjustment easier for them.

Your spouse may try to prove to the court that private schools are pointless because your kid can get the same level of education at a public school. The debate between whether private schools are better than public schools has been ongoing for years, but most studies agree that private schools have more classes, higher test scores, positive peer environments and better student-to-teacher ratios.

However, California courts are well aware of the typical benefits and drawbacks private schools have, so you need to prove how important it is to your kid specifically. Certain private schools place a higher emphasis on religion, so you may need to emphasize how crucial it is for your kid to continue in an educational environment that encourages the religious practices you raised them in. Single-sex private schools can also be a touchy subject as this Australian couple demonstrates, so you need to prepare yourself on why your school choice best suits your child’s best interests.