Cleveland Cent. Catholic High Sch. v. Mills

• Decision Date: 06 December 2018
• Docket Number: No. 106816,106816
• Citation: 125 N.E.3d 328,2018 Ohio 4873
• Parties: CLEVELAND CENTRAL CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL, Plaintiff-Appellee v. Arvella MILLS, Defendant-Appellant
• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals

125 N.E.3d 328

2018 Ohio 4873

CLEVELAND CENTRAL CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL, Plaintiff-Appellee

v.Arvella MILLS, Defendant-Appellant

No. 106816

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga County.

RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: December 6, 2018

Andrew S. Pollis, Milton A. Kramer Law Clinic Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, 11075 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, ALSO LISTED, Wm. Taylor Frank, Legal Intern, Rachel Hazelet, Legal Intern, Robert Daniell, Legal Intern, Milton A. Kramer Law Clinic Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, 11075 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

Amanda Rasbach Yurechko, David Mullen, Weltman Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A., Lakeside Place, Suite 200, 323 West Lakeside Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44113, ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE

BEFORE: E.A. Gallagher, A.J., Laster Mays, J., and Jones, J.

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION

EILEEN A. GALLAGHER, A.J.:

{¶ 1} Defendant-appellant Arvella Mills appeals from the decision of the Cleveland Municipal Court granting summary judgment in favor of plaintiff-appellee Cleveland Central Catholic High School ("Cleveland Central Catholic" or the "school") on its claims for the provision of necessaries under R.C. 3103.03(D) and unjust enrichment based on Mills' alleged failure to pay the balance due for her daughter's tuition at Cleveland Central Catholic.

{¶ 2} For the reasons that follow, we reverse the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Cleveland Central Catholic on its necessaries claim and enter judgment in favor of Mills on that claim. Finding that genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether Mills was unjustly enriched and, if so, the extent to which she was unjustly enriched, we reverse the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Cleveland Central Catholic on its unjust enrichment claim and remand the case for further proceedings on that claim.

Factual Background and Procedural History

{¶ 3} Mills is the mother of Kayla Anderson. In August 2013, Mills enrolled Anderson at Cleveland Central Catholic for the 2013-2014 school year, Anderson's freshman year of high school. In connection with Anderson's enrollment at Cleveland Central Catholic, Mills paid a $150 registration fee and executed a registration deposit form for the 2013-2014 school year (the "registration deposit form") that stated: "I acknowledge that I am financially responsible for all costs incurred while my student is enrolled at Cleveland Central Catholic High School."

{¶ 4} In August 2013, Mills executed an "Educational Contract (Newly Enrolled Student)" (the "educational contract"), which provided, in relevant part:

Tuition for the 2013-2014 school year is $7,590 plus a non-refundable registration fee. I (We) acknowledge that my (our) financial obligation for the tuition of my (our) son/daughter during the 2013-2014 school year at Cleveland Central Catholic High School is payable as designated in the Parent-Student Handbook .

With respect to a parent's "financial obligations," the school's 2013-2014 parent-student handbook states, in relevant part:

In order for the school to be a good financial steward, tuition and fees must be paid on time. All payments will be made directly to Cleveland Central Catholic High School. Tuition payments are due by the 10th of each month, as stated in your Tuition Loan Contract. * * *

Holdout Policy

A student whose tuition account is in arrears will be excluded from the following: class attendance, participation in all sporting activities, participation in school sponsored events until the account becomes current or payment arrangements are made. An account is considered in arrears if a parent/guardian is negligent in fulfilling their tuition obligation as stated in their Tuition Loan Contract by more than one month from their last payment due date. Parent/guardians will be informed in advance when their account becomes delinquent.

Financial Awards

All assistance given from the school, Diocese of Cleveland, Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program, and other outside sources is based on the student's attendance for a full year. The school reserves the right to adjust or rescind completely any and all financial aid at any time. Grants and scholarships are non-refundable and non-transferable. Financial awards are based on need, academics, student behavior, and school involvement. Should your student withdraw or be dismissed during the school year, your financial assistance will be prorated. * * *

Cleveland Central Catholic Student/Parent Work Program

The Cleveland Central Catholic Student/Parent Work Program is available for students and their parents/guardians as a way to earn credit toward their tuition. Earned tuition credit is awarded on a monthly basis. Credits are non-refundable and non-transferable.

* * *

Student Re-Enrollment

Tuition accounts must be paid in full at the end of the school year for a student to be considered eligible to continue attendance at Cleveland Central Catholic High School.¹

There is no "tuition loan contract" for Anderson's tuition in the record.

{¶ 5} Mills testified that at the time she decided to enroll Anderson at Cleveland Central Catholic, she believed her daughter would attend the school, because she had attended private schools in the past, on a "tuition voucher" from the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program (the "Cleveland Scholarship Program"). The Cleveland Scholarship Program is a program administered by the Ohio Department of Education, through which the state awards scholarships or "vouchers" to parents of low income students (who would otherwise attend a public school in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District) towards the cost of tuition to attend a private school.

{¶ 6} Mills testified that when Anderson was finishing her eighth grade year at St. Stanislaus, she began looking at private high schools. Mills stated that she wanted her daughter to attend a private high school rather than a public high school because "[s]he did pretty well in school" and Mills "thought it was more of a challenge for her." Mills testified that she could not have afforded the tuition at Cleveland Central Catholic without a voucher and would not have enrolled her daughter at the school had she known that she did not have a voucher that covered Anderson's tuition.

{¶ 7} According to Mills, no one at Cleveland Central Catholic spoke to her about paying Anderson's tuition before she enrolled Anderson at the school. She, therefore, believed the school had all of the information it needed to ensure that Anderson's tuition voucher would carry over from her eighth grade year at St. Stanislaus to her freshman year at Cleveland Central Catholic. Mills testified that she first learned that there was a problem with her voucher "at some point well into [Anderson's] freshman year" when one of the school's secretaries contacted Mills regarding Anderson's unpaid tuition.

{¶ 8} Richard Goodrich, the director of finance and facilities for Cleveland Central Catholic,² testified that "roughly 85 percent" of students attend the school on a voucher from the Cleveland Scholarship Program and that parents have to file an application to renew their vouchers every year.

{¶ 9} Goodrich stated that because Anderson had a voucher as an eighth grade student, Mills needed to renew the voucher for the 2013-2014 school year for it to apply to Anderson's freshman year at Cleveland Central Catholic. The deadline for requesting a voucher renewal for the 2013-2014 school year was in April 2013 — several months before Anderson applied to Cleveland Central Catholic. To renew her voucher, Mills needed to give her completed renewal application to a school (the school Anderson was then attending, Cleveland Central Catholic or another school that was willing to process the paperwork for her) that could submit the paperwork to the state on her behalf. Goodrich stated that because Mills did not timely submit the paperwork to renew her voucher for the 2013-2014 school year, she "lost" it.

{¶ 10} Goodrich could not state whether anyone at the school spoke with Mills about the status of her voucher prior to Anderson's enrollment; he could only say that all new students are given information regarding what needs to be done to obtain a voucher and that "[w]hether they follow through on that is up to them." He stated that if a parent forgets to turn in the necessary paperwork prior to the voucher deadline, the parent "will be chased down, plain and simple," but that if a parent comes in after the state's voucher deadline, there is nothing the school can do. Goodrich stated that "[t]he fact that [Mills] registered late caused her to miss the deadline."

{¶ 11} With respect to what the school told Mills about the payment of tuition for Anderson's freshman year, given that she had missed the voucher deadline, Goodrich testified:

Q. [A]s the rep for Cleveland Central Catholic High School, * * * you don't know whether anyone ever disclosed to Arvella Mills the fact that the deadline had passed and that she would owe full tuition to Cleveland Central Catholic; is that right?

A. No, she was informed of what the tuition was. She was also informed what the value of the voucher was. And so she was informed of that verbally. And she was also given a handbook that states that she is responsible for tuition. She is responsible for all of the tuition, whether she has a voucher or not. A voucher is just a means to help pay the tuition. She is still responsible because the voucher is given to her, it is not given to the school. So yes, she was told she would be responsible for the tuition.

Q. * * * You don't know whether anyone disclosed to Arvella these two facts: One, that the deadline had passed and as a consequence of that * * * she would owe full tuition?

A. She was given a handbook which states that she is responsible for tuition. So, yes, she was informed that she was responsible for tuition.

Q. Does the handbook say that the

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