Parents who paid up to $50,000 in advance tuition and boarding fees face major delays to learn whether they will get money back

Parents owed thousands of dollars from the recently closed Colmont School in Kilmore have vented their anger as they wait to learn whether their money will be returned.

Parents and contractors owed tens of thousands of dollars by the collapsed Colmont School could be left waiting up to six months to learn whether their money will be returned.

In a letter to the school community on Tuesday night, senior accountant Andre McPherson from the school’s administrator Cor Cordis said a bid was underway to push back outcomes of parents’ money.

Creditors, including parents who paid up to $50,000 in advance tuition and boarding fees and workers who helped rebrand the former Kilmore International School, were told that the delay was due to proposals to salvage the school being reviewed.

“I advise that the Administrators have filed an application to extend the Convening Period for a period up to six months, to enable the Administrators’ investigations and proposals regarding the future of the school to be progressed,” he said.

Colmont students and parents protested outside Parliament House earlier this month. Picture: Ian Currie

Creditors with objections to the extension were given less than 24 hours to submit their concerns with the extension application, with submission required to be made by close of business on Wednesday.

Leigh Eeles, who’s year nine and grade six sons attended Colmont after moving to Kilmore just to be closer to the school, said parents were outraged over the delay.

“To say we are very angry about this is an understatement. The last time we heard from the Administrators was August 10,” he said.

“Many parents have told me this morning they did not get last night’s email.”

Parents of Colmont School students are outraged over the delay. Picture: Supplied

It comes after the school community voted out previously appointed administrators, Vince and Associates from Dandenong, on August 5.

Directors of Skywriters, the company that owns the land on which the school is located, at the time lashed the Vince and Associates’ “failure” to accept financial offers that would save the school from closing permanently.

Colmont School announced its sudden closure to parents and students in late July, just weeks after undergoing a complete overhaul, which included being renamed to Colmont, new uniforms and rebranding of the school’s signage and colours.

Parents had confirmed enrolments for 2023 and advance fees just days before the school closed down, forcing almost 300 students, including 60 Year 12s, to be taken in by other colleges such as Assumption College in Kilmore and Our Lady of the Way in Kingsbury.

Questions remain over the school’s unorthodox corporate structure, with the school having to pay $900,000 a year to the site’s owners.

It also had to pay $520,000 a year for the school’s name and branding – an agreement in place since 1992 when the White St premises were sold.

The administrators have been contacted for comment.