Home Economy Economic Activity Report: Croft School to file for bankruptcy after failing to find buyer

Report: Croft School to file for bankruptcy after failing to find buyer

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PBN Staff

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06/03/2026

THE CROFT SCHOOL’s management board said its parent company, Oxford Education LLC, plans to file for bankruptcy this week “to wind down its operations and liquidate its assets,” according to a letter obtained by WPRI-TV CBS 12.

PROVIDENCE – The cash-strapped, private Croft School based in the upscale Wayland section of the city appears to be headed toward bankruptcy. The school’s management board said its parent company, Oxford Education LLC, plans to file for bankruptcy this week “to wind down its operations and liquidate its assets,” according to a letter obtained by

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PROVIDENCE – The cash-strapped, private Croft School based in the upscale Wayland section of the city appears to be headed toward bankruptcy. The school’s management board said its parent company, Oxford Education LLC, plans to file for bankruptcy this week “to wind down its operations and liquidate its assets,” according to a letter obtained by WPRI-TV CBS 12 on Tuesday. “It is extremely disappointing as we were hopeful that at least one of the prospective buyers would come to fruition,” the board wrote. “While three potential bidders expressed interest in purchasing one or more of the schools, all three ultimately withdrew from the process for reasons beyond Croft’s control.” The school also has campuses in Boston. Earlier this week, Croft School leaders said efforts to find a buyer were unsuccessful, leaving Oxford Street Education insolvent, WPRI reported. The team overseeing the sales effort stopped working on May 26. The immediate goal is to keep the Providence campus open through June 12, the final day of classes, according to the letter obtained by WPRI. The Croft School is facing a financial crisis and is being sued after its founder, Scott Given, was accused of forging a letter of credit and concealing $13 million in unsecured debt. On March 17, Croft School sent an email to parents explaining that the K-8 school needed $5 million to stay afloat after it was discovered that Given had allegedly kept “two sets of books” concealing the debt, according to media reports. The school operates in two separate buildings along Wayland Avenue in Providence’s Wayland neighborhood, as well as two locations in Boston. In a separate lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court in Massachusetts, a Boston property owner claims Given used a forged $500,000 letter of credit from Leader Bank to secure a $12.5 million lease for a South Boston building – a former supermarket – that would have served as a new campus. The plaintiff, 1421 Washington Associates LLC, is seeking $10 million for a breach of the lease agreement and $4.3 million for building devaluation due to the community backlash, according to previous report by Axios Boston. Given is accused in the lawsuit of using the letter of credit to avoid providing a cash security deposit to 1421 Washington Associates. The lawsuit says that when Given told the landlord on Feb. 6 that the school was no longer pursuing the expansion after it was met with community resistance, Leo Cocoran, a representative of the property owner, went to Leader Bank to get the security deposit. Bank officials told Cocoran they had no record of the letter of credit in their system after they called the police, according to a previous WPRI-TV report. The Croft School’s lender immediately declared a default and seized about $1.5 million in collateral from Croft’s operating account, leaving roughly $450,000 remaining, according to the school’s message to parents, WPRI-TV previously reported. The school’s board suspended Given two days later, after learning of “serious irregularities with respect to the financial management of our school,” according to the message sent to parents. The school’s board said it could only cover its payroll expenses until March 31 with an emergency capital contribution. Attorney W. Mark Russo, who served as receiver of the Providence Place mall, was been designated “special master” for the Croft School's Providence location on March 27. Tuition at the school is $30,000 per year, according to the report. Its campuses in Rhode Island and Massachusetts have a combined enrollment of more than 240 kindergarten and elementary students.