The management of Colegio de San Lorenzo in Quezon City has already prepared all the checks to refund the school fees paid by parents and enrollees before it announced its closure last 15 August, the first day of classes.
In a statement, school officials said they were refunding all fees.
As of 24 August, all the checks have been prepared to be claimed by parents and enrollees.
“We have already refunded 100 percent of tuition fees for K-12, Basic Education, and more than half of the tuition fees of the college students have been processed,” it said.
Meanwhile, lawyer Mark Vixen Dorado, the school’s legal counsel, said it took the school management a long time to announce the closure because they were “hopeful” they could prevent the institution from shutting down.
Dorado, the school’s legal counsel, said the family operating Colegio de San Lorenzo tried to find an investor to acquire the school and operate it even if they could no longer be part of it.
“The very reason why it was done last minute is because of our desire and our hope to keep the school open. We were looking for investors, (but) an investor did not materialize at the last minute,” Dorado said in a press briefing.
“We wanted to make sure that we can hold to our students and to our faculty. As again, closing the Colegio de San Lorenzo is very heartbreaking for us. It was not an easy decision,” Dorado added.
Despite the Covid-19 lockdowns, the school management lowered student fees and subsidized the school’s operations using the family’s personal funds.
“We fought to the last minute and we can say we have done so much more than what people think. The family has used their personal funds just to save the school. At the height of the pandemic, we lowered the tuition fees and that is a very risky move for a school in a pandemic,” the lawyer said.
“Closing was our resort. However, we were pushed against the wall and given that the investor did not materialize, we had no other option but to close and move forward,” he added.
In a statement, Colegio de San Lorenzo said it is working with the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education to assist students transition to other schools.
“Without costs, we are releasing the transcript of records for all students to their owners, helping them obtain their academic credentials,” the school management said.
“We are working with other schools and universities who are willing to absorb our population. These schools have set up booths at the CDSL gym where students can process their transfers seamlessly,” it added.