How Do I Change Ownership Of My School?

 in School Certification / School Ownership / School Ownership by

A change of ownership of a Moo Duk Kwan® certified school warrants due diligence by all parties to the ownership change and the Federation's procedures are intended to help assure clear understanding of changes and preserve harmony among all involved or impacted by the ownership change of a Certified Teaching Program or Certified School.

There are many different scenarios that can occur, but the following procedures apply to the majority of circumstances.

SCENARIO 1

tomball-soo-bahk-do-buildingThe "owner" of a teaching program or school is the party responsible for payment of the bills and dues associated with the entity and for assuring delivery of services to Federation members at the location in accordance with Federation guidelines.

The "owner" and Chief Certified Instructor of a school need not be the same party.  In some cases a School Owner is a corporation and thus independent of any individual person and thus cannot hold Instructor Certification.

The Certified Instructor of a school or the "Supervising Sa Bom" is the party responsible for overseeing technical training, administering students testings, assuring submission of student rank promotion requests to TAC via HQ.

A Supervising Sa Bom may or may not be responsible for receiving student rank certificates from HQ and/or for assuring students are awarded their rank certificates as expected by TAC depending on the arrangement between a School Owner and a Supervising Sa Bom.

In many cases the School Owner retains these responsibilities and the Supervising Sa Bom essentially only signs rank promotion recommendations submitted to TAC via HQ on behalf of the School Owner who is generally not a Certified Instructor.

A new owner of an existing Certified Teaching Program or Certified School needs to file the Application For Studio Certification forms upon which they can indicate who the affiliated instructors at the location will be. (if any)

HQ will establish a new studio ID and studio account for the new owner who becomes responsible for all financial aspects of the school. The school account owner is allowed to place orders at studio prices, is responsible for school certification renewals, etc., earns affiliate commissions from students subscribing at the Soo Bahk Do Institute, etc.

Existing Soo Bahk Do Institute earnings streams from existing students will NOT be transferred to a new owner. However, a new owner can effect such a transfer by advising students to renew their subscriptions and select the new school name~owner from the drop down during checkout when they do so.  This action by the student will transfer affiliate earnings from the existing school owner to the new school owner for that student going forward.

The new Application For Studio Certification will also indicate the billing and mailing address to be used for shipment of statements, certificates, orders, correspondence, etc.

The existing Teaching Program or School Certification was based on circumstances and ownership at the time that certification was issued and when those circumstances change substantially, then a new application process documents those changes and documents that all appropriate parties are notified of the changes and no unforeseen issues exist.

A new studio ID and Certificate will be issued to assure all students and student activity and school activity is properly associated with the new owner and instructors as well as the responsible school account.

The Regional Examiners who receive a copy of the filed Application For Studio Certification will decide whether or not a school inspection visit is required.

Upon receipt of the Regional Examiner's completed visit form or a written statement from the REX that no visit is needed, then a new school certificate will be issued and shipped to the new owner.

In some cases the current owner may have already communicated with all parties involved, so the paperwork and application fee are merely formalities to assure everything discussed with all parties about changes at the school is documented at Headquarters.

 

SCENARIO 2

If the school "owner" is not actually changing, then the process may differ from that described in Scenario 1.

In some cases a school owner may be temporarily absent from their school for a short while (six months or less) for military deployment, work relocation, life change, etc.  and will make arrangements for other parties to oversee school operations during the owner's temporary absence.  Should the owner's absence exceed six months, then Scenario 1 may apply. 

The Federation does not concern itself with how a school owner collects school revenue during their absence, rather the Federation's relationship with the school "owner" relates to the party directly responsible for payments to the Federation for school dues and fees, orders, certification renewals, etc. and for assuring delivery of services to Federation members at the school.

If the current owner intends to remain personally responsible and liable for the school account, school fees, renewals, etc. and is planning to authorize other parties to incur charges on the existing school account on the owner's behalf, then the owner is financially responsible for all charges on the account just as when allowing a 3rd party to use your credit card.

In Scenario 2 the owner can file an updated Application For Studio Certification (new names, who is responsible for what, addresses, etc.)  and indicate the new instructors and who shall be directly responsible at your school for the duties of the Certified Instructor as described above including the address where student certificates shall be shipped. Your updated Application for School Certification should clearly indicate your intent for all readers. Attach an additional letter of explanation if appropriate.

It is not a best practice to name multiple parties to be responsible for the same duties at the school, rather a single party should be named for each key school function thus identifying them as the party who is ultimately responsible. For example, who will serve in the "owner" role and who will serve in the "Chief Instructor" or "Supervising Sa Bom" role.

The Regional Examiners who receive a copy of the updated Application For Studio Certification will decide whether or not a school inspection visit is required.

Upon receipt of the Regional Examiner's completed visit form or a statement from the REX that no visit is needed, then all parties identified on the updated application may proceed under the existing owner and existing school certification.

No new school ID or certificate will be issued.

Be aware that in the "supervising Sa Bom" scenario should student Gup Tests fail to be submitted, should student certificates not be awarded, etc., the school "owner" remains responsible in the event of administrative lapses and any related financial liabilities.

It is prudent to discuss the terms of your "owner" oversight of such matters in advance with a Supervising Sa Bom when an owner will be absent or relinquishes those responsibilities, just as a landlord reserves the right to inspect a rented premises and notifies a tenant of that in the rental agreement.

All the necessary forms and other valuable information that may be helpful to a new school owner or whoever will be responsible for continuing to attract new students to the school in the owner's absence can be found on www.soobahkdo.biz

Please email headquarters@soobahkdo.com should you require additional information.

Last Updated: Monday, March 20, 2017