Question: Can you help me get my daughter's academic transcript from Word of Life Academy? I'm worried because the school is closing in June. I had to take my daughter out of the school last year because of unforeseen circumstances and enroll her in public school, but there is still a balance due on her tuition. Word of Life did reduce the payment to help me, but said I needed to pay the balance before they would release the transcript. I can't pay it yet.

Answer: You will be able to get a free copy of your daughter's transcript after Word of Life Academy closes June 5.

All academic files will be transferred to the Hawaii Council of Private Schools, which is affiliated with the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, said Royce Tanouye, headmaster/high school principal of Word of Life Academy.

The council provides transcripts for the alumni of closed schools. However, it will not have the school's records until the end of June, when everything is finalized and transferred, Tanouye said.

The Hawaii Council of Private Schools manages all matters related to the licensing of nonpublic schools in Hawaii, explained Robert Witt, executive director of HAIS. That includes archiving student records from private schools that have closed.

Witt said his organization has been in contact with officials at Word of Life, and expects a transfer of records shortly after the close of this school year.

After that, parents and/or students needing a copy of a transcript can call Myrna Medeiros at 973-1540, “;who will be pleased to make a copy and mail (it) free of charge,”; Witt said.

Student records at the Hawaii council are scanned and kept in digital format, “;and thus are easy to access, copy and mail,”; he said. “;Requests are typically handled within a few days.”;

The council does not keep financial files or business-related documents, “;so will freely distribute transcripts without holds,”; Tanouye said.

He also said you should have obtained a copy of release papers from Word of Life, which allowed your daughter to enroll in her new school. Those papers would have included classes taken and grades.

“;All we hold onto are the originals documents in a student's cumulative folder,”; Tanouye said.

As for what you owe, Tanouye said business matters will be up to the school/church to decide after the last day of school.

Question: I just heard that Sweet Nothings Bakery has closed. I have some unused gift certificates—can I receive a refund? I attempted to contact the owners, but an answering machine says it cannot accept more messages. I also e-mailed, but thus far, no response.

Answer: Pacific Business News reported the Waimanu Street bakery's closing last month (see hsblinks.com/2af), but quoted the owner as saying he hoped to reopen elsewhere.

If you are unable to get through to the owner, you can file a complaint with the state Office of Consumer Protection: call 587-3222 or go online at hawaii.gov/dcca/ocp.

Whether you can get a refund depends on the circumstances, said Office of Consumer Protection Executive Director Stephen Levins.

“;An extreme example would be if a company knows it's going out of business and, despite that, continues to sell gift certificates. That would be a serious concern for us,”; he said.

Write to ”;Kokua Line”; at Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).