Mowbray College News Update: Closing of Mowbray College Causes Distress to Parents
The news about the closing of Mowbray College has caused a lot of distress both to students and their parents as the school did not enlighten them about the school's financial status. Many parents were outraged when they realized that they will not be able to refund the school fees they already paid to the school.
Parents are expressing their anger towards Mowbray College because the school was not able to communicate the depth of the school's financial difficulties though there were already rumors circulating about this subject. They were only able to learn about this situation when an email was sent to the parents of their students stating "as you are aware, the college has been facing significant financial difficulties for some time".
Though the parents received the email, the exact details were never disclosed and discussed. David Robertson, the acting principal for the school explained that the closure was due to a "lack of available funding required to keep the college fully operational on an ongoing basis". He also added that the "the administrator, Mr Jim Downey, is in the process of reviewing all payments made by parents up to and beyond the end of this term."
Aside from anger towards Mowbray College, parents are also angry towards the National Australia Bank because of its decision not to intervene in order to keep the school open even up to the end of the year. The National Australia Bank (NAB) refused to grant the school any loan when it was revealed that Mowbray College already has AU$18 million debt with the bank. NAB officers was supposed to meet with the school administrators but the meeting between the two parties was cancelled. Mowbray College is set to close tomorrow.
On the other hand, parents are also scrambling to find another school that would cater to their children. Other schools have taken up the initiative to offer their school in order to help Mowbray College students and their families. Schools that gave a helping hand includes Melton Secondary, Staughton, Brookside and Catholic Regional colleges in Melton and Caroline Springs. These schools have given tours and interviewed Mowbray families in order to help them.
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