By NATALIE GALLENTI
THE Mowbray College story neared its final chapter last week when administrator Jim Downey announced the school had gone into liquidation.
The independent school, which had two campuses in Caroline Springs and one in Melton, closed last month under the strain of an $18 million debt.
Despite bids from potential buyers and petitions from hopeful parents, Mr Downey last week revealed liquidation was the only viable option as the school was insolvent and no longer trading.
He said while the cause of the collapse remained unclear it was likely to be a combination of high borrowings to fund capital expenditure, particularly at the Caroline Springs campuses; high operating costs; declining enrolments; slow payment of fees; high turnover of directors and key staff; and governance issues.
In other reports it was revealed that many parents will never receive refunds for fees paid in advance, with some families owed thousands of dollars.
It’s believed many parents who enrolled their children into prep for 2013 will lose up to $1000, with parents who already had children in the school facing much higher losses.
And another battle looms with parents continuing to fight to preserve the school’s history with an online petition created to call for heritage protection of the Norman Day architecture of the Mowbray College Patterson campus in Melton.
The petition describes Mowbray’s buildings, designed by Day, as “Melbourne’s most joyful set of postmodern structures” and “thoroughly inventive and rich complex of school buildings”.
“These buildings, once the site of a school that has done great good for its students and community, deserve heritage protection. Given the unfortunate circumstances, the need to protect them is urgent,” the petition states.
