ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Montessori Preparatory School abruptly closed its doors amid a pending complaint against one of the school’s founding partners, filed by the second partner.

Teachers say that they have had issues receiving their paychecks from the school. Payments have bounced, while others received Venmo payments instead of traditional checks.

Some parents say they paid more than $10,000 in tuition up front for the school year and found out at around midnight that the school would be closing.

According to Dominique Hines’ lawyer, she and a woman, known as Nani Hook, formed the Montessori Preparatory School of Lee, LLC in 2019.

He said the following:

Hines sued in 2022.

Now, a Lee County judge signed off on an order, granting Hines’ legal team a temporary injunction. Preventing Hook from disposing of the school’s assets without Hines’ consent and accessing the school’s bank account until a hearing can be scheduled.

Hines’ lawyers said the following:

In the meantime, parents like Kimberly Isbell are left trying to find childcare.

“If there are financial struggles, I feel like there could have been a conversation about raising tuition, looping the parents in on what’s going on, and that was never a conversation that was had, so we were left this morning with our children not being enrolled in school,” Isbell said.

WALB spoke with two staff members who did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation. They said that parents are reaching out to them to babysit their kids.

We reached out to Nani Hook for a response, but they went unanswered.

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