By NATALIE GALLENTI
PARENTS with unpaid Mowbray College fees may be sued as the embattled school attempts to recoup some of its $18 million debt, according to the school’s administrator.
The news came as the school, which has campuses in Caroline Springs and Melton, closed its doors to Year 7 to 10 students on Wednesday.
Administrator Jim Downey said there was about $2 million in unpaid school fees that he would be chasing up.
“I have to,” he said.
Mr Downey did provide some hope though, adding the school could be reopened under
another name as early as 2013.
However, it would need to obtain an education licence and he ruled out a reopening this year.
Offers by a Truganina millionaire businessman, reported by Star last week, could not save the school from going under, with Mr Downey revealing a third party saviour was not feasible.
“Unfortunately the suggestion for a third party to come in and ‘save’ the college this year is deeply problematic and unrealistic for a wide range of reasons,” he said.
Meanwhile, a number of schools across the West have thrown their doors open to former Mowbray College students.
Star believes Catholic Regional College in Sydenham and Caroline Springs College, are willing to enrol students from the financially embattled private school.
A spokesperson from St Aloysius College in North Melbourne said the college was hosting tours specifically for Mowbray students.
“In light of the terrible news of the closure of Mowbray College, St Aloysius College North Melbourne are hosting talk and tours of their college for Mowbray families this week,” a spokesperson said.
“Senior academic scholarships are available and transport options can be arranged to assist Mowbray students in relocating as quickly as possible to avoid further disruption to their studies.”
The closure leaves more than 1200 students stranded and 200 teachers unemployed.
VCE classes will finish after mid-year exams thanks to a $1.4 million cash injection from the State Government.
Parents and politicians called for a solution to save the school.
Local MPs Don Nardella and Marlene Kairouz tabled five notices of motion in Parliament last week, including:
– providing a linking bus service between Mowbray Melton campus and Sydenham CRC for the students completing Year 11 and 12 to attend their classes once the campus closes after term two; and
– that the Baillieu Government work with the Voluntary Administrator, the Victorian Independent Employees Union and teachers of Mowbray College to assist in gaining all the entitlements due to them.
Deputy Opposition leader and Shadow Education Minister James Merlino said students were now “stranded” and the Government had a responsibility to put them first.
“This is devastating for families and students,” Mr Merlino said.
“The Government simply bought forward a payment they would have made in the long-term anyway.”
A notice of motion was also tabled to either salvage the school so it can continue into the future or to assist the community to establish a new independent non-denominational school in the outer west.
