Parents of The Croft School’s South End and Jamaica Plain campuses are encouraged that the school will remain open through the end of the year, and that there is now a potential buyer after weeks of financial uncertainty.
The private, for-profit early childhood and elementary school with the two Boston campuses in Boston and one in Providence, Rhode Island, was on the verge of closure after parents learned on March 17 that the school was $13 million in debt.
Now, a potential buyer has come forward to purchase the Boston campus locations and is considered the lead bidder in a court-supervised sale.
Families were able to pull the school back from the brink of insolvency after a group at the South End campus formed a non-profit called the South End Village Academy, or SEVA. They raised $1.2 million dollars to keep the school afloat through the end of the academic school year.
Ming Min Hui, a SEVA board member, said the group has secured pro bono legal support and launched a fundraising campaign to pay for teacher contracts and set the groundwork for a possible sale.
“We had over 200 donors who contributed to the fundraising campaign to keep the lights on and keep our school operational for the school year,” she said.
Hui, who serves as executive director of the Boston Ballet, has a son at the South End campus and said she’s excited about a new future for the school.
“When it became clear that there was not enough liquidity to keep the school going past April 1 … the immediate clarity with which a lot of the community rallied behind in the school, among the families, among the parents, was that we needed to figure out a solution to ensure that our kids could stay enrolled in this school, and we could keep the community together,” Hui said.
On March 13, the school’s board suspended founder and executive director Scott Given over allegations that he hid $13 million in debt by keeping two sets of financial records. A parent also accused Given of running a Ponzi scheme in a lawsuit filed in Norfolk Superior Court. The suit claims Given solicited parents to buy so-called “Croft Bonds”, promising guaranteed 12% returns and that the funds would support school expansion.
In a past statement, the board has indicated that Given was under investigation by state and federal authorities. Given has denied any wrongdoing.
While the SEVA board has declined to publicly discuss the school’s current legal hurdles, Marc Sorresso, a SEVA board member, said the community rallied to save the school and dedicated significant time and effort to the cause.
“There were tears, there were literal tears from families knowing that we had gotten over the hurdle of March,” said Sorresso, a former educator with two young sons. “We kept the school open through June. Everyone was confident in that. We had maintained the support of our staff. The teachers are incredible. But then the dread kind of sunk in around, once we cleared that hurdle, what does this mean for our community moving forward?”
The Croft School operates multiple campuses with approximately 370 students at its Boston and Jamaica Plain campuses, and another 220 students at its Providence location. It serves students from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Thirty-five percent of families at the South End campus were said to be receiving financial aid.
The school is currently owned by a for-profit entity, Oxford Street LLC. The company is now in a court-supervised process to find a new owner-operator for the Croft School.
Dukes Education, a London-based education group, has been selected as the lead bidder for the Boston locations.
Sorresso said the board is optimistic about Dukes as a potential buyer, and that the for-profit education group shares the school’s deep commitment to community and diversity.
“One of the things that is particularly special about this school is that, being in the South End, it means that our kids ... attend school with one another, but then they see each other in the playgrounds and they walk to each other’s homes for play dates. And it’s built a rich community,” he said.
The sale to Dukes would not include the Providence campus, the future of which is unclear. It’s expected that a sale will close in conjunction with the end of the school year.
For parents, Hui said the last few weeks have meant navigating uncertainty, and that they have done so with goodwill, community and cooperation.
“This is not an ordinary response to a crisis. I think all of us have seen this as a once in a lifetime show of support and teamwork and camaraderie,” she said.
