ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County charter school that received taxpayer dollars is faced with a tough decision.
Pinecrest High School was given an ultimatum by the Orange County School District: voluntarily close or be closed.
The decision came after the charter school approached the school board in October 2012 and applied to open a fourth location. But when the district took a closer look at enrollment numbers, it discovered the six high school students who signed up at the beginning of the year had transferred out with the help of school officials.
Pinecrest didn't receive any tax money from the district for those students, but it has received at least $34,000 for the two years it operated the high school. That money was given to the charter from the district based on per-pupil spending.
Enrollment numbers show only 12 student completed the ninth grade, according to the school district. The district says no students ever continued on to 10th grade.
When WFTV went to the school on Tuesday afternoon at the old Valencia Community College annex, the principal of the school would not agree to speak on-camera, saying, “Our questions should be addressed by the Pinecrest Academy chair person.”
Pinecrest High School’s Judith Marty told WFTV in a written statement “to date, we have been unable to secure a permanent facility for the high school. As a result, the program we are able to offer has been limited, and enrollment in grades 9-12 has been affected.”
Pinecrest High School was given 2½ weeks to make a decision.
After that, Pinecrest Academy grades K-8 will remain in the building on Daetwyler Drive. Pinecrest Charter’s two other locations in Orange County have had steady enrollment since the locations opened in 2010, and they will not be affected.
WFTV
