By NATALIE GALLENTI
FORMER Mowbray College families are threatening to leave the municipality after their hopes of an independent school taking over one of the three campuses vacated by the school were dashed earlier this month.
Parents from Caroline Springs and Hillside told Star they would consider moving to another suburb if they could not find suitable schools for their young children.
Earlier this month Star revealed Intaj Khan, the CEO of the Western Institute of Technology, purchased the Town Centre campus for $6.73 million. His company will offer courses in building and construction at the site from November.
Last week it was announced that Werribee-based Heathdale Christian College bought the Patterson Campus in Melton, and will reopen in 2014 as a kinder to year 4 school.
Grace Children’s Services bought the Brookside campus in Caroline Springs, with plans to run a preschool there and lease the remaining buildings to other schools.
This has left many parents wondering where they will send their primary school-aged children next year.
One Caroline Springs resident said the recent developments had not made a difference to their current situation.
The mother, who did not want to be named, said she was forced to send her daughter to a state school for the remainder of the year but had hoped another independent school would open in the area.
“It has made no difference. Parents still have nowhere to send their kids,” she said.
“We just have to wait and hope for the best.”
She said she had been told by Southern Cross Grammar and Overnewton Anglican College that there are no spots available and her daughter was among hundreds of other students on the waiting list for Bacchus Marsh Grammar and Westbourne Grammar.
Another unhappy parent said she was “dumbfounded” by the recent announcement.
The Hillside mother-of-two said she was disappointed with the state school her children presently attended but had nowhere else to turn, unless she enrolled them in the Catholic education system.
“I’m resigned to the fact that they will be in the state system until Year 7. But even all the state schools in the area have become zoned after Mowbray closed,” she said.
“We want a non-denominational school in the area. At Mowbray my child was exposed to all religions, not just one.”
She said younger children were the forgotten victims of the collapse and were now dealing with the repercussions.
“I don’t want to pull my kids in and out of school. It’s not healthy for them. As a parent of younger children, we’re now looking at the future of our children and there is a lot of anger out there.”
