Midtown International School's unexpected closure leaves parents with unanswered questions

The unexpected closure of a North Druid Hills school has left parents scrambling.

The Midtown International School's Board of Trustees told parents on Monday that it would be closing its doors this Friday.

H.D. Shah and Ankita Patel's daughter is a fourth grader at the Midtown International School. They said she was devastated when she realized her school was closing.

"She cried all day yesterday after coming home from school," Patel said. "She cried — put herself to sleep crying."

On top of trying to figure out where their daughter will attend school next year, they're also trying to figure out when and how they'll be refunded tuition money for the remainder of this school year and payments made toward the next one.  

The couple said they were paying nearly $30,000 each year in tuition.

"We talk about this situation getting worse because they have already taken our next year's fee, and they are not communicating how they are going to refund that," Shah said. "That is a pretty miserable situation because this is a high-fee, high-price kind of school, and they should not be keeping our money if they are not going to teach our kids."

According to an email sent by the Board of Trustees on Monday, the school's enrollment dropped by more than 20 students across kindergarten through seventh grade.

The email goes on to say the school was not positioned to absorb the funding gap.

"We don't know what to do for the rest of the school year for our kid, we don't know where to go next year, we don't know if we're going to get the money back, and all of the other schools' registration for the new kids is closed," Patel said.

The Board of Trustees said it consulted with independent schools across metro Atlanta and found that applications among private schools were down 20 to 30 percent this year.

They said that drop, combined with economic pressures, are putting a strain on private schools of all sizes.

Shah and Patel said the school is giving them a certificate of completion for this school year.

CBS Atlanta reached out to the Board of Trustees for MIS about refunds for parents; we are waiting for a response.