Atlanta, Georgia: Parents Sue Midtown International School Over Sudden Closure and Unpaid Tuition Refunds

Several Atlanta families who lost thousands of dollars when Midtown International School shut down without warning in the spring are now taking the school to court. The parents have filed a class-action lawsuit against the private school and its board of trustees, demanding refunds for tuition they paid for schooling their children never received, including money paid toward the 2026-2027 school year that never began.

The school, which served gifted and high-achieving students on Sheridan Road in DeKalb County, told parents in an email on Monday, March 30 that it would close permanently at the end of that week. The final day was Friday, April 3, nearly two months before the school year was supposed to end. Parents said they had paid tuition for the full semester and had already begun paying for the next year, and at the time they asked in person for answers and got none.

What the lawsuit alleges

Attorney Shimshon Wexler of S Wexler LLC, who represents the families, said one parent had already paid more than $16,000 toward tuition for the 2026-2027 school year before the shutdown. "They paid for a service that they were not provided," Wexler said. "Any other company would be liable for refunds, so why isn't this private school?" The lawsuit alleges that the school's final financial report showed only $18,000 in cash on hand while carrying an estimated $370,000 in debt owed to parents. "We're going to find out what happened here, and we're going to turn over stones," Wexler said.

At the time of the closure, parents H.D. Shah and Ankita Patel told reporters they were paying nearly $30,000 a year to send their child to the school. Patel said her family had paid $8,500 toward the next semester and $2,000 for a field trip to Washington, D.C. that was planned for May. Archived tuition information put annual tuition at about $26,000 to $27,000 depending on the grade, and parents estimated the school served 100 to 150 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Why the board said it closed

The board told families the school had lost more than 20 full-pay students across the elementary and middle grades, that applications had declined, and that more families were asking for financial aid. That combination, the board said, created a financial gap the school could not absorb, and it consulted other independent schools that were reporting the same enrollment pressure before deciding that continuing was not sustainable.

The closure also hit the school's teachers, who had signed contracts for the full academic year. Staff learned they would be paid only through the final operating day. Former teacher Stephanie Lightsey described the months since as one of the darkest periods of her life, saying the institution offered no compensation or help beyond guidance through the unemployment process.

Months later, parents and former teachers say they still have no clear explanation of how the school's finances collapsed so quickly or where the tuition money went. FOX 5 reported that it reached out to attorneys representing Midtown International School, and they had not responded as of Wednesday evening. The case will now test whether a closed school, and the trustees who ran it, can be made to repay families for a school year that was sold but never delivered.