Parents say they are being "hounded" by debt collectors acting on behalf of Kildare Catholic College, despite claiming their fees were waived years earlier due to financial hardship.
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The debt collectors were hired by the Catholic Education Diocese of Wagga, which said they were only used as a last resort for uncooperative parents.
"Those who are able to provide evidence of genuine financial hardship will be offered appropriate fee concessions and support," a diocese spokesman said.
"Debt collection is only ever undertaken by CEDWW as a last resort where a family refuses to engage in the processes ... or when the school has received no response from the fee payer."
Such measures were taken against mother-of-two Rebecca Jerrick, who said she has been "relentlessly" pursued by debt collectors since late last year.
Ms Jerrick said she'd had a verbal agreement with the previous school administration, assuring her that she would not have to continue paying beyond her means.
Ms Jerrick's son dropped out of school seven years ago to attend Tirkandi Inaburra school for Aboriginal students, and for several years Kildare made no attempt to collect unpaid fees.
However, late last year a private debt collector began sending dozens of emails and letters, and making phone calls to her, her family members, and her workplace.
The emails, which have been supplied to The Daily Advertiser, threaten legal action and warn that obtaining credit may prove difficult in the future.
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However, Ms Jerrick said she was adamant that she could not and would not pay the outstanding amount of $8437, saying she was in no financial position to do so.
"I'm a single parent, my son's father passed away a long time ago, I don't get anything from Centrelink, I work a casual job, I've got two kids and grandchildren," Ms Jerrick said.
"I'm not backing down, I'm not paying them, they are not garnishing my wages. I would rather quit my job or go bankrupt than give this school a damn cent."
Tracey Maher also claims that she too had been verbally promised financial clemency due to her financial hardship.
Ms Maher said she only sent her children to Kildare in the first place at the behest of a Catholic priest who assured her she would not have to pay beyond her means.
"We said we couldn't afford it, but they said 'no, no, no, you are active Catholic churchgoers, you pay what you can afford. We're not going to force you to pay exorbitant fees," Ms Maher said.
"He said, 'look, you're the sort of family we want in our Catholic school', hence why we ended up going and putting our children through Kildare."
She said they made good on that promise for the first few years, with Ms Maher paying at a reduced rate while her four children completed high school.
Then two years ago the Catholic Diocese asked her to send in financial hardship statements, which she obtained through the Salvation Army.
However, last September she started receiving calls from a private debt collector, who insisted there was no record of any financial hardship statement.
Ms Maher has supplied The Daily Advertiser with a copy of that financial hardship statement.
She said she was contacting the ombudsman to explore her remaining options.
"We paid what we could afford and it was never an issue when we were there, but now all of a sudden when we don't have kids in the school they're chasing us for money," Ms Maher said.
"To be now chased down for that $8000, you have no idea how much anxiety this has caused me. I keep thinking to myself; this is the Catholic Church here, these people are supposed to be good people and here they are relentlessly pursuing me with debt collectors to try to get more money out of me."
A Catholic Education Diocese of Wagga spokesman said they would not comment on individual cases, but said they always made concessions for families in genuine financial hardship.
"The majority of families enrolled in our schools (90%+) meet their school fee obligations in full each year. We appreciate that, in some cases, families make great sacrifices to provide their children with a Catholic education and for those facing genuine financial hardship, we have supports and processes in place," the spokesman said.
"There is a deeply held commitment at all levels (Diocese, system, parish and school) that no family should be denied a Catholic education due to a genuine incapacity to pay all, or part of, their children's school fees."