PLANO, Texas — Parents, students and former staff who used to call New Hope Christian Academy home are still scratching their heads after the school abruptly closed the week of Nov. 3.
Former staff tell WFAA that they have yet to receive their income tax records and final paychecks from the Plano private school near 5000 Village Creek Drive, and some parents have reported not being able to access their child's student records so that they can transfer to a new school and continue their education.
One parent of a senior told WFAA she's struggled to get her child's records so that he can move on and graduate by the end of the school year in 2025. Other parents are still waiting to hear if they will be reimbursed for tuition.
Nathanael Lay, who paid half of the academy's nearly $12,000 tuition at the beginning of the semester, says he and his wife haven't been reimbursed for schooling their child didn't receive.
"All of a sudden, it was just like they pulled the rug out from under you," Lay said. "My wife and I were like, where did this come from? We're owed roughly $1,000. It was shocking and upsetting."
The private Christian school, which has been around since 2017 and is operated by its Head of School, Dee Dee Mims, provides education from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.
Former staffers say that around 75 students were taught there. Lay's son was in the middle of his first year at the academy when they received a jarring email from Mims informing them they would stop classes on Nov. 8.
It also said that administrative staff would be accessible through Nov. 21 to help with transitioning school records and withdrawal forms. Lay said he and other parents were left in the lurch without warning or explanation.
"We don't really have a clear picture of what happened," Lay said. "We had no idea there was any trouble with the school. Even the week before, they planned some social events. We also had to decide how we wanted to talk to our child and let him know what had happened and work our way through that, because that was emotional."
A sign on the doors of the school's two spaces in a business lot suggests that financial woes surrounded the academy in its final days — that it could not even afford rent.
Katy Hobby, a former special education teaching assistant, told WFAA that many teachers and staff have not been paid since Oct. 1.
"We were told in meetings that we would be doing free labor until they could figure out how to pay us," Hobby said. "No one was allowed to say anything because, in Mims' words — if we tell parents, they will start pulling their kids from the school, and there would be no fighting chance to save it and keep it open."
Hobby told WFAA that she's owed about $2,000 in income and that other teachers she knows are owed more. She added that she's struggled to get her income tax information, like her W-2, from Mims.
"There are so many violations here — I was never spoken to again by Mims or her husband or anybody employed there," Hobby said. "Parents had days to figure out what to do with their children, and there was just no empathy."
Mims and her husband, Jim Mims, president of the NHCA Board, have not answered calls from WFAA or emails regarding reimbursing tuition payments, paying staff their final paychecks, or explaining why the school closed.
Mims did offer parents alternative education options at other private schools, but those institutions varied in their willingness to honor tuition or offer discounts.
Lay and Hobby told WFAA they expect to receive no money from New Hope and are moving on as best they can.
"We already got our son into another school," Lay said. "We had to run through options quickly but thankfully were able to find a better place to land."
Former staffers tell WFAA they have also filed a report with the Plano Police Department regarding the school and their pay and are waiting for investigators to examine what happened more closely.