Kilmore’s Colmont School shutdown despite $80m taxpayer, parent funding boost

Colmont School’s sudden closure left hundreds of students stranded — so where did millions of dollars of taxpayer and parent grants go?

Questions have been raised about the millions of dollars poured into Colmont School over the years — and why wasn’t enough done to prevent the sudden closure.

Questions are being asked about how regulators allowed Colmont School to close with two days’ notice given that it had received more than $80 million from taxpayers and parents in recent years.

Year 12 International Baccalaureate classes will continue at the school – formerly known as Kilmore International School – for the time being, but Friday was the last day of classes for more than 200 year three to ten students.

More than 30 independent and Catholic schools have offered to take the students, with at least some able to be accommodated.

Colmont School received more than $50m from parents over the past seven years.

The Herald Sun can reveal that over the past seven years, Kilmore International School received more than $50 million from parents, nearly $28 million from the federal government and $2 million from the state.

Save Our Schools campaigner Trevor Cobbold said the school’s sudden closure was “yet another regulatory failure by education authorities” and “taxpayer money down the drain”.

Independent schools in Victoria are regulated by the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority, which has the job of making sure schools are “capable of managing their own finances”.

“Students are also consumers, so we may take action to protect their interests if issues around a school’s financial viability arise,” the VRQA website says.

However, the state government wouldn’t respond to questions as to why not more was done by the VRQA to look after Colmont School’s 360 students.

$28 million was also poured into the school by the federal government.

A state government spokesman said: “We know it’s a challenging time for families at Colmont School – and that’s why we have stepped in to make sure every student has access to a great education, supporting every family who wishes to enter the government system”.

A spokesman for Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said the school’s administration was “disappointing for the students, the teachers and the families impacted”.

He noted that the school was told it should try and access the Choice and Affordability Fund, established to help support non-government schools, through Independent Schools Victoria.

However, Michelle Green, chief executive of Independent Schools Victoria, said the fund, which totalled $250,000 to help all schools in special circumstances, “would not have resolved the school’s parlous financial position” and the school did not apply.

Nathan Clark, whose daughter Ella in Year 11 attended Colmont School, said he hoped all VCE students would be able to transition to another school and receive full credits for their subjects.

“If schools can’t offer a single subject, it’s our hope they might consider allowing students to do that subject via correspondence,” Mr Clark said.

Leigh Eeles, whose children in year 6 and 9 attended the school, said he was “appalled” at parents’ calls to bail out the school.

He said the school’s financial situation showed it was not viable for the school to reopen.

Originally published as Kilmore’s Colmont School shutdown despite $80m taxpayer, parent funding boost